Melanotaenia Praecox Neon Rainbowfish

This is an active, beautiful and hardy fish - of
the half dozen I bought a year ago, five are still doing well (the one that didn't was a little too aggressive chasing fish flakes on the surface and actually leapt out of my tank!). Males are smaller and narrower and have more of the silvery bluish tinge in their bodies and more orange in their fins. The females are larger and have more yellow in their fins.

This is my favorite fish to watch in my tank (a 70 gallon community w/ a handful of corys, rasboras, a gourami and a flying fox) - and fast studies in food acquisition. They do extremely well with the other fish, but the five I have left have gotten adept at catching with their mouths whole shrimp pellets intended for the corys, holding the pellet in their mouth (even though it's too large for them to swallow) and letting the pellet soften in the water before attempting to eat them whole. Sometimes they'll chase each other around trying to force the chasee to drop its pellet; the smart ones have learned to get the pellet and go hide long enough for it to dissolve so that it can close its mouth over it. They've also learned to hang around the corys and the flying fox at feeding time, figuring that one of them will dig up a stray pellet remnants for them to try and eat. Sometimes the flying fox will chase them in what I swear appears to be an act of frustration!

When they're not trying to figure out how to swipe food from each other, the Praecox likes to school loosely and I'd recommend keeping them in at least groups of five to seven. Soft, alkaline water (an unusual combo, but that's what comes out of my taps) and 75 F temperature seems to suit them just fine. It is a good looking fish and among the more interesting to watch!