Should I buy it?
Chili Rasbora
Boraras brigittae
Also known as: chili, boraras brigittae, Chili, Boraras brigittae
Fishori provides conservative planning guidance, not guarantees.
Based on multiple reputable aquarium care sources with strong agreement. Use the numbers here as planning defaults — your room, water, and routine still shape real-world outcomes.
A 2 cm nano fish that shows full red colouring only in soft blackwater with tannins. Hard, bright, busy tanks wash the colour out completely.
Best for
Blackwater nano planted tanks 20–40L at pH 5–6.5 with dark substrate, tannins, and no active predators.
Avoid if
Your tap water is hard, you run bright lighting without tannins, or you keep any fish over 5 cm.
Top things that go wrong
- Group welfare — not a solo display fish. Plan at least **8** together for normal behaviour; smaller groups often mean stress, colour loss, or nipping depending on species.
- Shrimp & snails. Shrimp: compatible in most setups. Cherry shrimp and other dwarf species coexist with peaceful small fish, though baby shrimp are food for almost any fish that gets to them.
Common mistakeSoft tap water without tannins. The fish stay pale pink regardless of other care without the specific blackwater chemistry.
What most shops don't tell you
- 1.Buying three or four to start. Chili Rasbora settles in a group of 8 or more. An understocked school sulks at the back of the tank and loses colour within a fortnight.
- 2.Tiny fish. Any large tank mates will eat them. Soft acidic water is essential. Best as a species tank or with other micro fish only.
About this species
Chili rasboras are 2 cm Indonesian micro fish from peat swamps. The deep red intensifies in soft acidic water over dark substrate. Easily missed in a planted nano without a school of eight or more.
- Celestial Pearl Danio30L min · same group, comparable tank size
- White Cloud Mountain Minnow40L min · same group, similar adult size
- Cherry Barb60L min · same group, similar adult size
- Dwarf pencilfish60L min · same group, similar adult size
- Harlequin Rasbora60L min · same group, similar adult size
- Lambchop / Espei rasbora60L min · same group, similar adult size
- Zebra Danio60L min · same group, similar adult size
- Golden / Beckford's pencilfish80L min · same group, similar adult size
- Cardinal Tetraalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Celestial Pearl Danioalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Clown Killifishalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Dwarf pencilfishalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Golden dwarf cichlid (Nannacara)also intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Green neon tetraalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Adolfoi cory tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Agassiz’s dwarf cichlid tank mateslists this fish among its safer mates
- Black phantom tetra tank mateslists this fish among its safer mates
- Celestial Pearl Danio tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Checkerboard cichlid tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Chocolate gourami tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Clown Killifish tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Cockatoo / crested Apistogramma tank mateslists this fish among its safer mates
Plan grid
Key limits are shown above; this section adds planning detail: pH band, swim level, bioload and activity, and the radar.
Swim zones
Planning trait chart
Six indices for comparing species on paper before you spend.
- Beginner ease38
- Peacefulness90
- Community fit79
- Small-tank fit100
- Hardiness54
- Energy24
Numbers are deterministic planning indices from Fishori fields — not a scientific score of your individual fish.
Common setup sketches
Conservative patterns from Fishori fields — still run the pair checker for every species you add; sketches are not a stocking guarantee.
Rough 90L+ layout: one calm centrepiece, 8–12 small tetras/rasboras, 6–8 corydoras-type bottom fish — verify every name in the pair checker before buying.
Safe directions on file include: Celestial Pearl Danio, Pygmy Corydoras, Otocinclus.
Prioritise 8+ of Chili Rasbora in 20L+ with filtration sized for messy feeding — add only mates that already pass pair checks with this species.
Tank mate intelligence
Use the "Often compatible" lists as a shortlist, not a stocking plan. Always run the pair tool and check the footprint of your actual tank first. Verify behaviour for Chili Rasbora against your own reading before you buy.
Pair-level compatibility with this fish as anchor.
Read the blocking rule on each pair page before experimenting.
Do-not-stock combinations on conservative hobby rules.
Compare with
Run a real pair check: Chili Rasbora + Celestial Pearl Danio
Behaviour, temperament, and what to watch
Prose and lists come from the same record: read temperament first, then glass-level signals so you are not surprised after day three.
Chili Rasbora is peaceful in mixed company.
Stress / aggression triggers on file
- Sudden crowding
- Poor water quality
Fin nipping: Not a habitual fin-nipper, but individuals can still test fins under stress or in a crowded tank.
Predation: Not a predator toward similarly-sized community fish. The usual community caveats about mouth size still apply for very small fry or shrimp.
Territory: Not strongly territorial, but still claims a working area in the tank. Give it room to settle without overlapping the next species' patch.
Planted tanks: excellent — easy plant ideas
In the glass: typical and warning signs
- Often calm on the glass — bursts of movement around food or tank disturbance.
- Shoaling/schooling: most colour and confidence show when the group meets **8+**.
- Clamped fins, gasping at the surface, hiding non-stop, or refusing food after the first week.
- Rapid breathing when parameters swing — fix ammonia/nitrite first, then reassess mates.
- Low listed risk — still watch new introductions.
- Separate or rehome if injuries appear, one fish is pinned, or feeding becomes a daily chase.
- If water is stable but behaviour worsens, reduce stocking or remove the highest-impact species first.
Fish behaviour can vary between individuals and tank setups. Always observe new fish closely after introduction.
Care parameters: water, food, inverts, grouping
Chemistry and group rules sit here so you are not re-reading the same line from tank mate or temperament blocks. Swim level is in the plan grid above.
Hardness
soft
Diet
omnivore
Mixed diet: a quality flake or pellet as the staple, with frozen or live foods two or three times a week.
Shrimp & snails
Shrimp: compatible in most setups. Cherry shrimp and other dwarf species coexist with peaceful small fish, though baby shrimp are food for almost any fish that gets to them.
Shoaling species. Buy 8 or more of one species together. Smaller schools sulk, lose colour, and redirect their schooling energy at whatever else is in the tank.
Egg scatterers and schoolers still spawn in stable tanks. Have a plan for the fry, or accept that the parents and tank mates will eat them in a community setup.
- Hold 24 to 28 °C steadily on a real thermometer, not the dial on the heater.
- Aim for pH 4 to 7 and a hardness you can re-test in two weeks. A one-time strip in the shop car park is not a water test.
- Schooling species. Buy 8 or more from the same tank on the same day before adding any centrepiece fish.
- Tank volume meets or exceeds 20L published minimum for adults.
- You can stock at least 8 individuals (group welfare).
- Heater can hold 24–28°C without cooking cooler-water tank mates.
Explore and stocking hubs
Same library as the rest of Fishori: tank-mate index for this species, category peers, guides, and litre-based stocking lists where min tank on file is within the hub volume.
Plan with tools
Pair-level rules and multi-fish stocking use the same conservative engine — add this fish in the tank builder only after mates pass pair checks.
Filtration & heating
A 20L minimum tank needs a filter rated for at least 80L/hr turnover and a heater to hold 24–28°C reliably.
Plant suggestions
Chili Rasbora does well in planted tanks. Plants compatible with 24–28°C and pH 4–7:
Profile status: partially verified · Evidence tier: high · 3 linked source(s). Fishori does not fabricate citations.
Fishori uses conservative planning rules based on these sources.
Confidence is explained in the summary at the top of this page (same tier as here), not repeated below.
How Fishori evaluates compatibility (same logic as pair and tank tools).
- Seriously Fish. Boraras brigittae
Primary: aquarium size, water chemistry, behaviour, and compatibility (URL verified in upgrade script; recheck if site content changes).
- FishBase. Boraras brigittae
Secondary: taxonomy, distribution, and maximum length in nature; cross-check with aquarium import lines and measured tank parameters.
- Wikipedia. Boraras brigittae
Secondary: general species context; verify all husbandry numbers against a dedicated aquarium care sheet and your test kit, not a single table row.
Evidence notes
- The Seriously Fish profile for the binomial in this record was successfully reached as the primary aquarium reference.
- FishBase contributes natural-range size and habitat context. Translate those numbers through your heater, your water report, and your tank footprint before stocking.
- Wikipedia is only cited if the article URL returned OK. Use it for orientation, not as the only care sheet for an import.
- All compatibility text reflects typical hobby experience and the Fishori model. Individual fish, shop stress, and the order tank mates are added in can still defy a single-paragraph label.
- Fishori profiles work from typical aquarium trade sizes and hobby care norms. Specialist site checks and literature review for this species are not yet recorded here, so the ranges on this page are planning numbers rather than guarantees.