Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish (Pseudomugil luminatus), Tank-Bred
- In stock, ready to ship
- Backordered, shipping soon
Species Overview
The Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish (Pseudomugil luminatus) is one of the most colorful nano fish available in the aquarium hobby. This stunning species combines glowing blue eyes with vibrant red-orange body coloration and brilliant red finnage, creating a display that often appears almost fluorescent under aquarium lighting.
Despite their small size, Red Neon Blue Eyes are remarkably active fish that bring constant movement and color to planted aquariums. Males frequently display to one another, extending their fins and intensifying their colors in an effort to impress nearby females. These displays are completely fascinating to observe and are one of the reasons this species has become so popular among nano aquarium enthusiasts.
Our Tank-Bred and Locally Bred Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish are well adapted to aquarium life and make excellent additions to planted community aquariums. Locally Bred specimens are typically offered at a larger purchase size, making them an excellent choice for hobbyists looking for more developed fish with emerging adult coloration. When maintained in groups, these fish display their best colors, most natural behaviors, and highest activity levels.
What We Love About This Fish
• Brilliant red-orange coloration and glowing blue eyes
• Constant activity and fascinating display behavior
• Excellent choice for planted nano aquariums
• Tank-Bred and Locally Bred for aquarium success
Quick Care Guide
• Care Level: Easy
• Temperament: Peaceful
• Diet: Omnivore
• Source: Tank-Bred | Locally Bred
• Adult Size: Approximately 1.2–1.5 Inches (3–3.8 cm)
• Average Purchase Size:
- Tank-Bred: Approximately 0.5–0.75 Inch (1.3–1.9 cm)
- Locally Bred: Approximately 0.75–1 Inch (1.9–2.5 cm)
• Lifespan: 2–4 Years
• Activity Level: Active
• Schooling Requirement: Yes, best kept in groups of 6 or more
• Swimming Zone: Upper to Middle Levels
Tank Parameters
• Temperature: 72–82°F (22–28°C)
• pH: 6.5–8.0
• GH: 4–15 dGH
• Minimum Aquarium Size: 10 Gallons
• Recommended Group Size: 6+ Individuals
• Water Flow: Gentle to Moderate
Natural Habitat
Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish originate from slow-moving streams, marshes, and vegetated waterways in New Guinea. These habitats are typically rich in aquatic vegetation, submerged roots, leaf litter, and marginal plants that provide both cover and feeding opportunities.
In the wild, these fish often inhabit calm waters where they feed on tiny aquatic invertebrates, insect larvae, zooplankton, and other small food items. Their small size allows them to thrive among dense vegetation where larger fish may struggle to navigate.
Replicating these natural conditions in the aquarium often results in improved coloration, increased activity, and more natural social interactions.
Aquascaping
Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish thrive in heavily planted aquariums that combine dense vegetation with open swimming areas. A planted environment helps these fish feel secure while also highlighting their brilliant coloration.
Driftwood, branchwood, leaf litter, and natural hardscape help recreate the appearance of a tropical stream while providing visual structure throughout the aquarium. Floating plants can be particularly beneficial, helping diffuse lighting while creating a more natural environment.
Excellent plant choices include Java Moss, Water Sprite, Guppy Grass, Rotala species, Ludwigia species, Cryptocoryne species, and various floating plants. Fine-leaved plants and mosses also provide ideal spawning locations and shelter for fry.
A densely planted nano aquarium with open swimming lanes is often considered the ideal setup for this species.
Diet and Feeding
Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish are omnivorous micropredators that naturally consume tiny aquatic insects, zooplankton, microcrustaceans, insect larvae, and other small food items.
In the aquarium they readily accept high-quality micro pellets, crushed flakes, nano fish foods, and other prepared diets. Due to their small mouths, appropriately sized foods should always be offered.
For optimal coloration and conditioning, we recommend supplementing prepared foods with baby brine shrimp, cyclops, daphnia, microworms, vinegar eels, and other small live or frozen foods. Males often display their most vibrant colors when maintained on a varied diet.
Offering multiple food types throughout the week helps support growth, coloration, breeding condition, and overall health.
Tank Mates and Compatibility
Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish are peaceful community fish that work exceptionally well with other small, non-aggressive species. Their active nature and small size make them ideal for planted nano aquariums.
Excellent tank mates include:
• Chili Rasbora (Boraras brigittae) – Nano Schooling Fish
• Phoenix Rasbora (Boraras merah) – Peaceful Nano Fish
• Least Rasbora (Boraras urophthalmoides) – Tiny Community Fish
• Pygmy Corydoras (Corydoras pygmaeus) – Social Bottom Dweller
• Otocinclus Catfish (Otocinclus spp.) – Algae Grazing Community Fish
• Celestial Pearl Danio (Danio margaritatus) – Colorful Nano Fish
• Clown Killifish (Epiplatys annulatus) – Surface-Oriented Nano Fish
• Neocaridina Shrimp (Neocaridina davidi) – Freshwater Cleanup Crew
Because they are naturally social fish, Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish should always be maintained in groups. Larger groups often display more natural schooling behavior, stronger coloration, and increased confidence.
Shrimp Safe
Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish are generally considered shrimp safe with adult shrimp.
Because of their small size and tiny mouths, they pose very little risk to mature shrimp. Newly hatched shrimplets, however, may occasionally be consumed if encountered.
Shrimp Compatibility Rating
Adult Shrimp: Excellent Compatibility
Juvenile Shrimp: Good Compatibility
Shrimplets: Moderate Predation Risk
Breeding
Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish are prolific egg scatterers that frequently spawn in mature aquariums. Males display intensely to females and often establish small display territories among plants and spawning media.
Eggs are typically deposited among fine-leaved plants, mosses, or spawning mops. Unlike many fish species, adults may continue spawning regularly over extended periods.
Given proper conditions, many hobbyists successfully breed this species in dedicated breeding aquariums, making them an excellent choice for those interested in nano fish breeding projects.
Breeding Difficulty
Easy to Moderate
Reproduction Type
Egg Scatterer
For the safety of our animals, we only ship live fish, crabs, and select other inverts exclusively via UPS 1 Day Air. If your order contains this item, you will only see UPS 1 Day Air as a shipping option during checkout. If other items are in your cart that can ship with 2 day or standard shipping options the only shipping method you can still select is UPS 1 Day Air.
UPS 1 Day is a description of the duration of time a shipment will spend in transit once it has been shipped. This does not guarantee the package will be shipped the same or next day from which the order was placed.
Shipping Schedule for this service
Current Handling Time:
1-9 business days
Here at Aquatic Arts, we consider the welfare of the live animals we are shipping to be of the foremost importance. This process is much more involved than simply creating a shipping label and affixing it to a box. Depending on the order, it takes from 4 to 7 people to complete this process properly. We check the weather conditions here where they fly out of the Indianapolis UPS facility and the destination for each shipment. We start early each morning and go through a multi-step process to have the day's shipments prepared in time for the UPS pickup. The volume of orders in our system also affects the processing time. Therefore our stated handling time is 1-9 business days.
Shipping Rate
Pricing is by size of package needed to fill entire order and distance it must travel. It will be calculated at checkout.
Live Arrival Guarantee
We stand behind the health and quality of every fish we ship. Each Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish is carefully quarantined, observed, and conditioned before leaving our facility.
Every order is backed by our 100% Live Arrival Guarantee. If an issue occurs during transit, please contact us with photos and order information within the timeframe outlined in our policy.
For complete details, please visit:
https://aquaticarts.com/policies/refund-policy
Questions? Contact us anytime at info@aquaticarts.com.
Best Fishes,
The Aquatic Arts Team
