Glass Fish 3-4cm

Glass Fish – (Parambassis ranga) also known as Indian Glass Fish, Indian x-ray fish, or Indian glassy perch is a transparent fish that likes to shoal together in very bold and active groupings. They are almost completely transparent which means you can see right down to their bones and internal organs!  A moderately hardy fish that grows to 8cm length (adult) and recommended for intermediate aquarists with tanks greater than 115 litres.

Sometimes these fish are injected with dye to color them and sold as Painted Fish – our fish HAVE NOT BEEN DYE INJECTED!

While it has been widely believed that these aquarium fish are more difficult to care for because of their need for specific brackish water conditions, they will easily acclimate to freshwater tanks just as well and are as easy to keep as most other tropical fish!

Glass fish have a large native range and can be found across most parts of Asia, including Japan, India, Pakistan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Behaviour

Glass Fish prefer slow-moving to standstill water and can be found in both fresh and brackish water conditions, especially during the rainy season when reproduction is high. Alone, these fish tend to be shyer and like to stay hidden in thick vegetation. In groups of five or more, you will find them actively swimming around in more open water.

Glass fish are very peaceful and are more likely to get picked on by other fish than they are to bother other fish. The only time they might become aggressive is during breeding periods, though any physical damage is not likely.

Tank Conditions

One Glass Fish will need a minimum aquarium size of 60 litres. Since this is a shoaling fish and should be kept in a group size of at least five to keep them from hiding all the time. In order to have enough space for these and other fish, an aquarium size of at least 115 litres is recommended.

They acclimate well to both brackish and freshwater tanks.

A dark substrate will especially make your glass fish pop! Plenty of plants should be added so that your fish has places to hide in your aquarium. Rocks and driftwood may also be added to create a more natural effect. Water flow should not be too strong as these fish come from calm waters.

Compatibility

Glass Fish are peaceful and shy which means they can be kept with lots of different kinds of tank mates, it just depends on if you have freshwater aquarium or a brackish one!  In a freshwater tank, good tank mates would be guppies, tetras, rainbowfish, corys, and loaches. In a brackish tank, good tank mates would be mollies and possibly bumblebee gobies.

When stocking your aquarium, make sure that the other fish aren’t overly active or aggressive and are of a similar size.

Feeding

Glass fish are mostly carnivores and should be provided a large variety of live, frozen, and freeze-dried foods, like bloodworms, brine shrimp, and mosquito larvae. See Fish Food for Carnivores for list of suitable foods. Sometimes Glass Fish refuse to eat flake foods, so first watch to see if they eat them before continuing to feed.

Care

These fish are found in both fresh and brackish waters in the wild. According to most resources (including the majority of internet sites), this species requires the addition of salt to its water to keep it at it’s best, often stating that it is susceptible to fungal infections when kept in freshwater. This is simply not true. Whilst the fish can indeed be acclimatised to mildly brackish water (and are found in brackish conditions in some of their habitats in nature), it is found most often in freshwater. Additionally, many of these freshwater habitats actually contain quite soft, acidic water.