Madagascan Rainbowfish – Bedotia madagascariensis

Mada­gas­can Rain­bow­fish – Bedo­tia mada­gas­carien­sis is known to inhab­it small streams and low­er reach­es of rivers that drain into a series of coastal lakes/lagoons in Atsi­nanana region, east­ern Mada­gas­car. A pop­u­lar nature aquar­i­um fish. These beau­ti­ful fish are unde­mand­ing and are not aggres­sive which makes these fish a great begin­ner species.
Com­mon Name:Mada­gas­can Rain­bow­fish

Sci­en­tif­ic Name: Bedo­tia mada­gas­carien­sis

Typ­i­cal Adult Fish Size: 8 – 10 CM

Nat­ur­al Habi­tat: Inhab­its clear streams in Mada­gas­car that are shad­ed. Mada­gas­can Rain­bow­fish thrive in water that is slow­ly flow­ing. Juve­niles are found in shal­low water, where­as adult Rain­bows often will pre­fer the deep­er waters.

Ide­al Tank Ecosys­tem: Rain­bows are a very pop­u­lar aquar­i­um fish, and don’t require any­thing spe­cial. A peace­ful com­mu­ni­ty aquar­i­um. Rain­bows are the per­fect addi­tion to intro­duce into a plant­ed tank.

Rec­om­mend­ed Aquar­i­um Capac­i­ty: 20–60 gal­lon aquar­i­um

Species Com­pat­i­bil­i­ty: Peace­ful com­mu­ni­ty tank mates like Mol­ly, Gup­pies, Platy and Tetras.

Care Lev­el: Begin­ner+

Aquar­i­um Water Tem­per­a­ture: 23 – 32°C/ 73 – 89°F

Aquar­i­um Water pH: Range pH 4.5 – 7.5

Feed­ing: Rain­bows should be fed once or twice a day. It is very impor­tant not to over-feed your Rain­bow. All food should be con­sumed after just a few min­utes. Any left­over food should imme­di­ate­ly be scooped out of the aquar­i­um water with a fine mesh fish net. Flake food diet is a great base for the Rain­bow, how­ev­er should be sup­ple­ment­ed with live foods. Your Rain­bow will sur­vive sole­ly on flake food alone, but the live food makes the Rain­bow even­ly nour­ished and much health­i­er. Frozen or live brine shrimp is a pop­u­lar Rain­bow fish food since brine shrimp are quite eas­i­ly pro­duced at home. Blood­worms, fruit flies, microworms, mos­qui­to lar­vae, daph­nia and diced Earth­worms are exam­ples of var­i­ous suit­able foods for your Rain­bow.

Sex­ing: Adult males fea­ture more of an ornate pig­men­ta­tion in their unpaired fins than the females do and pro­duce more col­or. Females are fuller in the body, espe­cial­ly when they are notice­ably gravid.

Breed­ing: Mada­gas­can Rain­bow­fish – Bedo­tia mada­gas­carien­sis deposit eggs in veg­e­ta­tion or oth­er suit­able sub­strate with moss­es like Java moss. It’s best spawned in a pair or group con­sist­ing of one male to two or three females in a tank.

Adults can be placed into the spawn­ing tank leav­ing in place for a week or so, until the first fry are seen. Alter­na­tive­ly, you can check the sub­strate dai­ly for eggs and remove them man­u­al­ly. Males can har­bor aggres­sive behav­iors when find­ing pair­ing females. Fill­ing an aquar­i­um with large-leaved plants and oth­er decor or rock will ensure that they have hides/cover. This will also reduce the stress lev­els in your aquar­i­um.

Oth­er Con­sid­er­a­tions: A pop­u­lar choice. Mada­gas­can Rain­bow­fish – Bedo­tia mada­gas­carien­sis come in an exten­sive vari­ety of col­or vari­a­tions. Very easy to care for. Great for the begin­ner aquat­ic hob­by­ist.

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