Celebes Rainbow - Marosatherina (Telmatherina) ladigesi

Synonyms
Telmatherina ladigesi, Atherina ladigesi, Marosatherina ladigesi (since found near town of Maros)

Alternative Names
Celebese Rainbowfish, Celebese Sailfish

Family – Telmatherinidae / Alterinidae

Minimum Tank Size - 20g/29g

Care Level - Moderate

Temperament - Peaceful

Water Conditions – 68-82 degrees, 7.0-8.0 Ph, medium hard – hard dh 12-20 – sensitive to changes

Strata - Middle

Max Size - 2.5" – 2.75”

Color Forms – Black, clear gold, blue stripe, black fins

Diet - Omnivore - They will accept flake and frozen food, but they will fare better with the addition of live food.


Origin – Streams and estuaries in Indonesia (Celebes) near the city of Maros

Sexing - In juveniles and females the second dorsal and the anal fins are rounded, while in adult males they are elongated and pointed to separations at the tips.

Environmental Specifics - Slow moving clear streams in the hilly parts of Celebes, Indonesia. Also estuaries that lead into salt water, meaning faster moving brackish water. The tank should be heavily planted in areas, but also have a large open area for swimming. The addition of some floating plants will also help mimic its natural habitat. Not the easiest fish to care for, they require good water conditions. Frequent small water changes are a must and the tank must have excellent filtration.

Behavior – In their natural habitat, most of their day is spent hiding among the leaves of plants, where they eat small worms, insects or vegetable debris. In aquaria, they inhabit all levels, mostly middle.

Tank Compatibility – Should be kept in schools of 5-6 or more and do well with other small peaceful community fish and bottom dwellers.

Breeding - The spawning period can last for several months. The courtship is fast paced and intense with the male always driving at the female. Once completed, the female will lay the large, clear yellow eggs among the plants. You will see them hanging by threads from the underside of the plants. They will eat their spawn so if possible you should remove the eggs to a rearing tank. At around 80°F the eggs will hatch between five to ten days. The fry will remain just below the waters surface and must be fed the smallest of flake food or paramecia. They grow fast and are sexually mature at around seven months of age.




Overview

The Celebes Rainbow is a schooling fish that should be kept with other peaceful fish. The colorful male has an extended second dorsal and anal fin and is easily recognizable.
The aquarium for this peaceful Rainbow should have plants but also needs large, open spaces for swimming. Water conditions should remain stable, as the Celebes is sensitive to changes. Natural lighting intensifies its colors.
Although the Celebes Rainbow has a large mouth, its throat tends to be narrow. Small pieces of an omnivore diet of prepared flakes, algae, or live foods should be fed.
This is a beautiful fish that can spawn fairly easily if water conditions are kept well.

I'm gonna have to find some of these.There cool!Great info!Great job!

These are great fish...active and attentive, beautiful fins and coloration
Thanks for the 411 bcijoe

I love the light shade of yellow. Again nice article. Keep them coming!

Recentey have seen a few in the LFS that have a reddish tint to them....I looked them up (with no sucess) was wondering if this is a new Variation or a total differnet fish?

Beautiful fish and really nice article . Everyone follow suit and do a library article on Just one or two of the fish you keep EVEN if it's common Guppy.

Ellrollo was it a variation of a lemon tetra? I've seen people confuse them at LSF.

Yeah as far as I know this is not a variation of another fish.

I have never seen another fish like this... the only thing somewhat similar would maybe be a threadfin rainbow, but it is quite different.

When you see these in their prime, good yellow, shiny blue highlights, yellow and black fins fully extended, they are quite impressive and unlike anything else out there really!

Here are a couple other pics of them:

http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fishimages/2509_celebes_rainbowfish.jpg

http://oddballfish.com/fishpicts//celpairthum.jpg

http://www.livefishdirect.com/images/fish/Marosatherina_ladigesi_male_DSC_0959.jpg


and then NEXT is a threadfin rainbow (different fish):

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=95564&stc=1&d=1244769136

I have always loved these rainbows but have never owned one.

I really should have paid more attention to the fish in the tank. Might have been an imature threadfin in the tank with them. That would explain why I could not find any info about red finned celebes rainbows. Thanks again for the info on these fish.

Come on FV lemon tetras give me a little credit

sorry! But I've seen Petsmart employees saying lemon tetra were just young rainbows. I knew you knew the difference.

thats alright I got my 5 electric blue rams because they were neons lol
have to love the under educated trying to sell

lmao, they almost sold me an abramite marbled headstander as a colombian tetra.

One is diamond shaped, black and yellow, and gets 6" valued at $21.99

The other round, silver with blue and red, 3" and valued at $2.69

If I wasn't such a nice guy, and didn't go there so often, I would've done it and gotten them in trouble. but I didn't.

I help them ID a couple fish a week. lol


then the other store had a leporinus fasciatus labeled as a 'zebra headstander'.

the headstander gets 6" and the leporinus gets 16"