Melanotaenia splendida

Alternative names

 * Cape York Rainbowfish, ,

Sexing

 * Males have more vibrant colours while the females are more drab. The male Australian Rainbow has long, pointy dorsal and anal fins, and the females are more rounded.

Tank compatibility

 * Generally peaceful, although males may display to females and one another. Should be kept with similar sized peaceful community fish.

Diet

 * Tropical flakes, frozen bloodworms, chopped up earthworms(very small pieces because their throats are very narrow) are some of the foods this fish enjoys.

Feeding regime

 * Tropical flakes can be fed 2 times a day. The earthworms are a nice treat about once a week.  If you have other fish in the tank that eat only earthworms, it is okay if the Australian Rainbow has some, too!

Environment Specifics

 * Unknown

Behaviour

 * The male Australian Rainbow is aggressive towards the female and also to smaller, younger Rainbows. Australian Rainbows are a mid to top tank swimmer. They will search the bottom for food but prefer the middle of the tank to "catch" their food.

Identification

 * These Rainbows have a blue stripe running horizontally from their head to the tail fin. They also have smaller orange stripes running the same direction as the blue stripe, the orange stripes also run the entire length of the body (more noticeable in the males). Very colourful in the right light. Dominant metallic blue in sunlight.