Scissortail Rasbora Fact Sheet
The "Scissortail Rasbora", "Rasbora trilineata", is also called the "Scissortail Shark", and simply the "Scissortail". Alternative scientific names are "Rasbora calliura" and "Rasbora stigmatura". It is not shark like in its behavior and only vaguely shark
like in its appearance. The Scissortail Rasbora grows to about 4 inches
(10cm). It is fairly peaceful and is suitable for a mixed collection of
small fish.
The Scissortail Rasbora comes from South Eastern Asia, including Malaysia and Indonesia.
This fish has attractive black and white markings on its tail, and the
movement of these as the fish swims reminds some people of the action
of Scissor blades.
Water Conditions
The
Scissortail Rasbora comes from soft acidic waters and these are the
ideal conditions for it in an aquarium. They will adapt to neutral pH
(7) and some hardness in the water. 24̊ C (75̊ F) is a suitable
temperature. In the wild, the Scissortail Rasbora often inhabits
flowing water, as in a river or stream. Some water movement from a
filter in the aquarium is beneficial.
Food
The
Scissortail Rasbora is an omnivore. It will eat any normal fish food
and loves live food like mosquito larvae and daphnia. Frozen blood worms and frozen brine shrimp are also gobbled up eagerly.
Companions
The Scissortail Rasbora likes conditions similar to the preferred conditions of many of the South American Tetras.
Some suitable companions are Pristella Tetras,
Paraguay Tetras, Rummy Nose Tetras, Harlequin Rasboras, Lemon Tetras,
Neon Tetras, Flame Tetras, Buenos Aries Tetras, Black Widow Tetras,
Cardinal Tetras, Emperor Tetras, Head and Tail Light Tetras, Glowlight
Tetras, Neon Tetras, Peppered Catfish, White Cloud Mountain Minnows and
Zebra Danios.
The Scissortail Rasbora can also be kept with Swordtails, Glass Bloodfin Tetras, Guppies, Endlers Guppies and Mollies,
but the water conditions for a mixture like this would be a compromise
between the ideal conditions for these different fish and would not be
ideal for any of them.
Breeding
The Scissortail
Rasbora is not a very easy fish to breed. The females tend to be a
little larger than the males and will be plumper when ready to breed.
Conditioning the fish with black worms or other rich food like frozen blood worms is a good idea.
The breeding tank needs to have
soft, acid water. A lowered water level may also help stimulate
breeding. Cleanliness is very important for this species and the
addition of an anti fungus medication may help prevent the eggs from
getting infected.
The Scissortail Rasbora will eat its own eggs and babies and the parents should be removed after spawning.
The eggs will hatch in 24 hours and will take small
live food like the finest screened Daphnia as soon as the egg yolk is
fully absorbed.
Sources of Information for This Fact Sheet.
Aquabank, Fish Profiles, Aqua World, Aquatic community.
Steve Challis
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Scissortail Rasbora
Photo by: I, Lerdsuwa [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
