Glowlight Rasbora (Trigonostigma hengeli) Species Profile & Care Guide

The glowlight Rasbora is very small but is surprisingly eye-catching in appearance. These Rasboras are an excellent fish for the beginner aquarist who wants something special for a peaceful community tank.

Even more exciting than their looks is their engaging, fast-paced lifestyle, they are a charm to watch. It would be best if you maintained these fish in a school of at least eight individuals as the company of their own species is essential to their well-being. You can house these Rasboras in a nano tank or a planted aquarium.

Their colour ranges from translucent ivory to a pink-blushed orange. Their fins are a sharp lemon yellow and the most distinguishing feature is a brilliant strip of neon orange just above a thin black marking along the back half of their body.

Natural Habitat of the Glowlight Rasbora

The Glowlight Rasbora originates from the Malay Peninsula through Singapore, the Greater Sunda Islands of Sumatra and Borneo, and possibly in Thailand and Cambodia in Southeast Asia.

You will find them in massive groups filling entire streams.

They inhabit heavily-vegetated, soft and slightly acidic water that is calm, peaceful and gently flowing in sluggish streams usually with decomposing organic debris which typically stains the water a yellowish-brown with tannins and other chemicals. Their habitat is usually well shaded from tree canopies.

Other Rasboras of interest

Diet

It is easy to feed Glowlight Rasboras In the home aquarium. They will usually accept any food but for optimum condition and colours offer them regular meals of small live and frozen fares such as artemia, bloodworm and daphnia as well as good quality dried flakes and granules.

Sexing the Glowlight Rasbora

The Glowlight Rasbora can be relatively tricky to sex. However, mature females are typically larger and deeper-bodied than males. In contrast, males will be more vibrantly coloured and much slender than females.

Breeding the Glowlight Rasbora

Breeding the Glowlight Rasbora can be quite challenging, but there are some reports of spawning being successful in the home aquarium. As long as they are kept in a well-established aquarium with dense planting, you may see some young fish appear without intervention. These fish exhibit no parental care for the young. These Rasboras vary slightly in their spawning method. Instead of scattering their eggs in the open water, they attach their eggs to the undersides of broad-leaved plants or other objects in the tank.

However, if you want to maximise the yield, a more controlled approach is required. You can still condition the adult group together, but a smaller breeding tank should also be set up and filled with mature water.

The tank needs to be dimly lit and the bottom covered with a mesh with large enough holes so that the eggs can fall through but small enough so that the adults cannot get to them. The widely available plastic grass matting can also be used and works well, as does a layer of pebbles or glass marbles. Alternatively providing the tank with plenty of fine-leaved plants or spawning mops can also deliver satisfactory results.

The water itself should be slightly acidic with a temperature towards the upper end of the required range. You should also include an air-stone or air-powered sponge filter this will provide the fish with the correct oxygenation and water flow.

Once the adults are well-conditioned, and the females look gravid, you should then introduce one or two pairs into the breeding tank, and spawning should commence early the next day.

An alternative method is to spawn the fish in a group with half a dozen individuals of each sex, although a larger aquarium may be necessary.

In either situation, the adults will more than likely consume the eggs if given a chance so you should remove them once the eggs are noticed.

The eggs should hatch within 18-48 hours then 3-4 days after that the fry will become free-swimming. It would be best if you gave them infusoria type foods for the first few days until they are big enough to accept food like artemia, nauplii and microworm.

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