My fascination with rainbowfish really began the day I happened to come across these fish at the pet store . They were beautiful and didn't have the "typical" shape of other rainbows I had seen I had to have them , so I closed my eyes to the price and made my purchase . I bought six as the person at the pet store said that they must be kept in schools . ( This waslater confirmed when I read up on them .)

The Madagascar Rainbowfish is a peaceful fish found in the mountain waters of Madagascar. It was first imported in 1958 . This fish is actually not a true Rainbowfish but a silverside from the family Atherinidae. They differ from rainbowfish in that they have two widely separated dorsal fins. Rainbowfish also have two dorsal fins but there is only a narrow separation between them. Like most rainbowfish the pectoral fins are high on the body and well to the front almost as if they could fly.

The top of the fish is brassy yellow , the back is darker , and the bottom is light gray. There is a dark purple stripe going horizontally from the mouth to the caudal peduncle. There is also a dark purple stripe on the dorsal , anal, and caudal fins.

Sexing these fish is easy. The males have scarlet along the outside of the dorsal , anal , and caudal fins. There is also orange on the inside of the dorsal and anal fins. Females have neither the scarlet nor the orange coloring.

Madagascar Rainbowfish require medium hard to hard neutral water , from 10 degree General Hardness and pH 7.0 . Clean water is a must , with weekly water changes of 10-20 % . They are flexible when it comes to temperature. From 68-75ø F. with 72øF being ideal. The tank must be adequate size and tightly covered as these fish grow to six inches and are accomplished jumpers.

Feeding these fish is quite easy as they accept anything from flakes to frozen brine shrimp . I found they liked freeze dried tubifex the best. Once a day feedings are fine , but for conditioning they should be fed at least twice a day . They will only accept food in the middle to top of the tank. (I keep two bristle nose plecos in the tank to clean up any left overfood.

Madagascars are peaceful fish and should be kept only with peaceful fishes. These fish are continuous spawners. They will spawn on plants or nylon mops , attaching the eggs with a fine sticky threads. For breeding , I used a 33 gallon tank planted with assorted Aponogetons and Crypts.

The temperature was 72ø F. , pH 7.0. I put in two mops , one in each of the front corners of the tank. About every three days I checked the mops. If there were a lot of eggs I moved the mops into ice cream pails with a clump of java moss and methylene blue . The pail isn't heated , I used a elbow lamp about 10 inches above the water for light and a little warmth. The temperature in the water is between 68-70 ø F. At this temperature the eggs hatch in 10-12 days. Once the eggs hatch I move the fry and mop to an unheated (68ø F.) five gallon tank that has aged water and a sponge filter. The fry stay at the top so the sponge filter can go right on the bottom. The fry are quite small so I feed fine powdered food twice a day for the first three days , siphoning any uneaten food with a turkey baster and replacing it with clean aged tap water.

The fry grow quickly and are about 1/3 - 1/2 " at 30 days. At this time I transfer them to a 20 gallon tank and heat the water to 72ø F. By 60 days they are over 1" long and the males are starting to get their coloring. I still feed brine shrimp twice a day and do 10% water changes every other day. These are interesting and very beautiful fishes. If you happen to come across these these fish, give them a try.