Should I buy it?
Celebes Rainbowfish
Marosatherina ladigesi
Also known as: celebes rainbow, sulawesi rainbow
A nano rainbow with a hard-water requirement. Pair with rasboras and corys, not cardinals and discus. Stable parameters and a six-fish school for colour.
Celebes Rainbowfish tank mates · 80L tank size hub
peaceful · intermediate care
Sources & confidencemedium · partially verified · beginner: caution
Typical care sources — real tanks still vary. Numbers here are a careful starting point. Your tap water, tank size, and habits decide the rest. How we evaluate.
Best for: Hard-water planted community tanks 80L or more with a school of six alongside corydoras and rasboras.
Avoid if: You run very soft acidic water, keep discus or cardinals, or can only source fewer than five fish.
Common mistakeMixing Celebes rainbowfish with soft-water tetras is how keepers invent stressed neons and washed-out rainbows in the same glass. They prefer hard alkaline water that soft-water fish hate. Run a hard-water school tank — or skip the mix entirely. Compromise chemistry serves nobody for long.
Top things that go wrong
- Group welfare — not a solo display fish. Plan at least **6** together for normal behaviour; smaller groups often mean stress, colour loss, or nipping depending on species.
- Shrimp & snails. Cherry shrimp and other dwarfs can coexist with peaceful small fish; baby shrimp are food for almost anything that finds them.
What most shops don't tell you
- 1.Myth: Celebes rainbowfish mix fine with soft-water neon tetras in any planted community if the tank is big enough. Reality: they prefer hard alkaline water that stresses soft-water tetras — keep hard-water companions, not a chemistry compromise that fails both.
- 2.Stocked into a soft-water Amazon community. The fish lives but never colours up and stops shoaling.
- 3.Trio purchase. Celebes need six or more for males to display; below that the colour stays muted.
- 4.A nano-friendly rainbowfish, but the water chemistry is the catch. Celebes want hard alkaline water (pH 7.0 to 8.5, hard), which rules out the soft-water community with cardinal tetras. They pair well with hard-water community fish (rasboras, corydoras, mollies).
About this species
Celebes rainbows are slender shoaling fish from Sulawesi streams. Males show extended dorsal and anal rays edged in yellow and black, with a translucent body that catches light. Unlike most rainbowfish, the species wants hard alkaline water rather than the softer water Australian rainbows tolerate.
- Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish100L min · same group, similar adult size
- Threadfin rainbowfish60L min · same fish family
- Boesemani Rainbowfish150L min · same fish family
- Turquoise / Lake Kutubu rainbowfish200L min · same fish family
- Adolfoi coryalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Bamboo Shrimpalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Black ruby barbalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Bolivian Ramalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Brown / hockey-stick pencilfishalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Cardinal Tetraalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
No reverse lookups listed yet.
Plan grid
Key limits are above. Here: pH band, swim level, bioload, and activity.
Swim zones
Care snapshot
Quick compare before you buy. Not a score of how “good” the fish is.
- Beginner ease38
- Peacefulness90
- Community fit69
- Small-tank fit100
- Hardiness54
- Energy54
Numbers are deterministic planning indices from Fishori fields — not a scientific score of your individual fish.
Example setups
Starting points only. Run the pair checker for every fish you add.
Prioritise 6+ of Celebes Rainbowfish in 80L+ with filtration sized for messy feeding — add only mates that already pass pair checks with this species.
Compatibility
Tank mates for Celebes Rainbowfish
No unconditional “safe” tank mates are listed for Celebes Rainbowfish — this shortlist has CAUTION pairings that need specific conditions and RISKY pairings to avoid. Conditional (CAUTION — read the pair page before buying): Bristlenose Pleco, Common Pleco, Corydoras Catfish, Discus, Dwarf Gourami. Avoid (RISKY): Oscar. Every name links to a live pair check — the lists are a shortlist, not a stocking plan.
Usually safer
Open a pair page with this fish as the starting point.
None listed. Use the pair checker before mixing.
Needs planning
Read the blocking rule on each pair page before experimenting.
Usually avoid
Do-not-stock combinations on conservative hobby rules.
No safe-mate list on this record yet. Use the fish index to find species with similar care, then run a pair check before you buy.
Behaviour and temperament
Celebes rainbowfish are peaceful schoolers that stay calmer in groups of six or more in hardish alkaline water with open midwater. They do not bully robust neighbours. Stress shows as fading and skittish pacing when chemistry is soft acidic or the school is only a token handful.
What sets them off
- Sudden crowding
- Poor water quality
Fin nipping: Not a habitual fin-nipper; stressed or crowded individuals can still test fins.
Predation: Not a predator toward similarly sized community fish; fry and dwarf shrimp are still fair game for most species.
Territory: Not strongly territorial, but still needs room so its working space does not overlap the next fish.
Planted tanks: excellent — easy plant ideas
In the glass: typical and warning signs
- Six or more hold midwater in hard alkaline open water with plant edges.
- Males show when the school feels secure after lights soften.
- Faded fish in soft blackwater usually mean chemistry mismatch first.
- A nervous handful needs more of their own kind before a different pellet.
- Low listed risk as aggressors.
- Fin-nippers and large cichlids are the usual failure modes — not Celebes malice.
- Move soft-water tetras out before adjusting hardness upward for Celebes.
- Grow the school before adding another 'active' species to fix shyness.
Fish behaviour can vary between individuals and tank setups. Always observe new fish closely after introduction.
Water, food, and grouping
Hardness
hard
Diet
omnivore
Celebes rainbowfish are omnivores that take micro-pellets, quality flake, and fine frozen foods in a school of six or more. Hard alkaline water suits them better than soft tetra defaults. Feed small portions in open midwater, keep chemistry honest for hard-water fish, and never starve them on a soft-water planted schedule meant for neons alone.
Shrimp & snails
Cherry shrimp and other dwarfs can coexist with peaceful small fish; baby shrimp are food for almost anything that finds them.
Six or more, ideally with at least two males so the display behaviour fires. Solo males stay grey.
- Hard alkaline water (pH 7.0 to 8.5, hard hardness). Tap with low carbonate hardness needs remineralising.
- Mature tank with stable nitrate under 20 ppm.
- A group of six or more for proper display behaviour.
- Compatible community: rasboras, corys, mollies, livebearers. Not Amazon soft-water tetras.
- Tank volume meets or exceeds 80L published minimum for adults.
- You can stock at least 6 individuals (group welfare).
- Heater can hold 22–28°C without cooking cooler-water tank mates.
Explore and stocking hubs
Tank-mates hub, matching guides, category peers, and litre stocking lists around this species’ minimum tank.
Plan with tools
Check mates as pairs first, then add this fish in the tank builder for the full stocking.
Filtration & heating
A 80L minimum tank needs a filter rated for at least 320L/hr turnover and a heater to hold 22–28°C reliably.
Plant suggestions
Celebes Rainbowfish does well in planted tanks. Plants compatible with 22–28°C and pH 7–8.5:
Research: partially verified · Confidence: medium · 2 linked source(s). We do not invent citations.
How Fishori evaluates compatibility (same logic as pair and tank tools).
- Seriously Fish. Marosatherina ladigesi
Primary: species page on Sulawesi limestone-stream origin (which explains the hard alkaline water requirement) and the extended-fin display in males.
- Practical Fishkeeping. Celebes Rainbowfish Profile
Secondary: editor coverage of stocking, water chemistry, and the colour development that needs months of stable water.
Evidence notes
- Celebes rainbows are sensitive to nitrate. A mature tank running clean (NO3 under 20 ppm) holds colour; the same fish in a 40 ppm tank fades within weeks.
- Wild Sulawesi habitat is limestone karst streams. The high pH and hardness are not an option, and tank-bred specimens still decline in soft acidic tanks within months.
Featured compatibility checks
Curated pair pages for Celebes Rainbowfish. Each opens a full verdict — not just a list label.
Common questions about Celebes Rainbowfish
- How big do Celebes Rainbowfish get?
- Celebes Rainbowfish adults reach about 7 cm. Shop fish look smaller; stock for the adult length.
- What size tank does Celebes Rainbowfish need?
- 80L is the planning floor for adult swimming space and bioload. A 100L+ tank is the more comfortable long-term footprint. Length and depth matter as much as raw litres for active or territorial fish.
- Are Celebes Rainbowfish aggressive?
- Celebes rainbowfish are peaceful schoolers that stay calmer in groups of six or more in hardish alkaline water with open midwater. They do not bully robust neighbours. Stress shows as fading and skittish pacing when chemistry is soft acidic or the school is only a token handful.
- Do Celebes Rainbowfish need to be kept in a group?
- Six or more, ideally with at least two males so the display behaviour fires. Solo males stay grey.
- What is the most common mistake with Celebes Rainbowfish?
- Mixing Celebes rainbowfish with soft-water tetras is how keepers invent stressed neons and washed-out rainbows in the same glass. They prefer hard alkaline water that soft-water fish hate. Run a hard-water school tank — or skip the mix entirely. Compromise chemistry serves nobody for long.
- What fish can live with Celebes Rainbowfish?
- This profile currently has no curated unconditional safe-mates shortlist for Celebes Rainbowfish. Other species may still return GOOD in the pair checker, so check the exact pair rather than treating this shortlist as exhaustive. Bristlenose Pleco, Common Pleco, Corydoras Catfish, Discus are conditional (CAUTION): workable only with the specific conditions on each pair page. Avoid Oscar (RISKY). Run the pair checker for your exact water and tank size before stocking.