Medaka Black 3cm

Medaka Black

Medaka also known as ricefish are quickly rising to be a popular aquarium fish. These adorable nano fish are incredibly hardy, cold-water tolerant, and come in an assortment of colours through the art of selective breeding. They would be ideal beginner fish because of these reasons and are even kept in outdoor ponds in the colder regions of Australia, all year round.

The black medaka is an incredibly common and popular strain of medaka due to just how much contrast it provides. As their name suggests, black medaka are jet black from head to tail, this sort of complete black is rarely seen in the aquarium hobby with just a handful of species such as night rams which is why black medaka are so popular. Occasionally these fish can present a grey underbelly and have some metallic scales across the body and back. Their name ‘rice fish’ is derived as these fish can look like long grains of rice but the body shape is very easily comparable with the tropical guppy. The Medaka is far more underrated and in most cases much more beginner-friendly!

The black medaka will max out at a size of 4cm. These fish have a peaceful personality and would be a different addition to any community aquarium. Telling the difference between males and females is difficult in medaka as they do not have any immediate distinguishing factors. When breeding though the female will carry her eggs on the outside of her body for a short time until the male fertilises them, she will then attach them to a soft or leafy surface which is a truly unique behaviour to these fish. Wild medaka can be found in the cold rivers of Japan.

Tank Recommendations for your Medaka Black

The black medaka is a very active little fish and would be fine in a tank that is 40 litres. A larger aquarium would be ideal as these fish are best kept in groups and the larger volume will allow for other tank mates. Medaka is not fussy at all when it comes to the substrate but will love a densely planted aquarium. This would also ensure that if the fish end up breeding, which is highly likely, the fry has a good chance of surviving. Bright green plants and an aquarium light with an increased white spectrum will put a glow on these jet-black fish.

Suitable Tank Buddies

The medaka is a very peaceful species that is best suited to be kept with small community fish.

Usually Compatible

Small community fish like neon tetras, ember tetras, or rasboras, and even livebearers like guppies.

Sometime Compatible

Anabantoid species such as bettas, gouramis, and species of a similar sort. These species offer a risk of predating on small medaka or outcompeting them.

Rarely Compatible

Aggressive species such as convict cichlids or kribensis will certainly, end up preying on the medaka

Feeding your Medaka Black

The black medaka much like most small aquarium fish is very easy to feed. They are an opportunistic surface feeder and will take to a wide range of prepared aquarium foods. Their diet should contain good quality micro floating pellets with frozen food that have a high protein such as bloodworm, brine shrimp, and daphnia. This feeding can simply occur once a day.