Emerald Eye Rasbora 3cm

Emerald Eye Raspbora

The Emerald Eye Rasbora is a sleek and striking nano schooling fish that adds instant movement and shimmer to any peaceful aquarium. With a maximum size of just 3-4 cm, they're perfect for nano tanks, aquascapes, or peaceful community aquariums where small, elegant fish can shine. These rasboras are easy to care for and especially captivating when kept in larger schools.

As their name suggests, the most defining feature of these fish is the glowing neon green "emerald" shimmer in their eyes, which reflects light beautifully and gives them a magical look. Their body is semi-transparent with a subtle silvery-peach tone, while a dark spot near the tail base is outlined in gold. The fins remain mostly clear, helping highlight the fish's fluid, darting movement in the water. When kept in a school, especially under soft lighting, their reflective eyes flicker like tiny green stars.

Breeding the emerald raspbora in the home aquarium is possible, but it needs a lot of preparation and care because of how small these fish are. The eggs are incredibly tiny and can be eaten by almost any other tank mate, including snails and shrimp. There are no easy distinguishing factors between males and females to the best bet is to have a school in a well-planted or dedicated breeding aquarium and let the fish breed naturally.

Tank Recommendations for Emerald Eye Rasbora

Being a small and relatively easy to care for fish, the emerald raspbora can be kept in smaller aquariums with a minimum being 60 litres. This aquarium size allows for a decent school of these fish, along with other clean-up crew-style tank mates if required.

The main thing to know about emerald eye raspbora is that they are incredibly shy and may spend the first few weeks really taking their time to get used to the environment. Two main things can help these fish display themselves more readily: the first of which is a decent school of as many as you can get into an aquarium. Whilst the minimum is around 6, the most ideal group would be 20+. They will also highly appreciate a well-planted aquarium and hardscape that gives them refuge.

Suitable Tank Buddies

Since the emerald eye rasbora is a slow-moving and tiny fish, there is a high chance for predation if there is not a proper selection of tank mates. Ideally, then should be kept in a species-specific environment or with fish that are similar in nature.

Usually Compatible

Shrimp, Celestial Pearl Danios, emerald green rasbora, khuli loaches, borneo suckers, ender guppies, and similar nano species

Sometimes Compatible

Dwarf gorami, betta, larger fast-moving tetras, rams, and dwarf cichlids such as apistogramma.

Rarely Compatible

Giant danio, angelfish, Raphael catfish, and any species that will outcompete or predate the small rasbora.

Feeding your Emerald Eye Rasbora

Though this species is incredibly small, it should be fairly easy to feed. It is best to feed them a crushed flake or even fried food to ensure their small mouths can eat the food provided. They can also be supplemented with baby brine shrimp or micro worms for added variety.