Dwarf Neon Praecox Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia praecox), Tank-Bred
- Low stock - 3 items left
- Inventory on the way
* For the safety of our animals, we now ship live fish exclusively via UPS Next Day Air. If your order contains this item, you will only see UPS Next Day Air as a shipping option during checkout *
The Dwarf Neon Praecox Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia praecox) is one of the most popular and colorful rainbowfish species. It lives in very large schools in areas with dense vegetation, so it is an ideal candidate for the planted aquarium and appreciates floating plants in its habitat. As an adult, this rainbowfish's body features iridescent scales in several different shades of blue, accented with bright red fins. As with most rainbowfish, mature males display the brightest coloration, particularly while competing/posturing with other males. Females also possess the same attractive coloration, but to a lesser extent.
The Dwarf Neon Praecox Rainbowfish is generally peaceful with other fish species of similar size, but smaller shrimp fry may fall prey. Its mouth and throat are relatively small for its body size, so it might be possible to keep it with adult dwarf shrimp. All other invertebrates (including larger Amano, Bamboo, and Vampire Shrimp) should be compatible with no problems.
The most intense color will be displayed when this fish kept in schools of 6 or more (including multiple males) in a heavily planted, spacious aquarium to ensure that subdominant males are not overly harassed by dominant males. As with many rainbowfish, darker substrate will also often result in better coloration. The Dwarf Neon Praecox Rainbowfish is very easy to feed and will accept most high quality dry foods, but also requires various frozen and live foods in its diet for optimal health and coloration.
- Active, schooling community fish that thrives in planted aquariums
- Compatible with many invertebrates
- Adults display brilliant red and blue coloration
- Active and easy to feed
- Temperature: 73° - 82° F (23° - 28° C), although 72° - 82° F is optimal
- pH: 6.8 - 7.5
- KH: 8 - 12 dKH
- Minimum tank size: 20 gallons
- Diet: Omnivorous. High quality dry foods will be accepted, but should be supplemented often with small, meaty frozen and live foods.
- Social behavior: Schooling/shoaling, should be kept in as large of groups as possible. Dominant males may attack or kill subdominant males in small aquariums. Peaceful with most other comparably-sized fish.
- Origin: Tank-bred, but indigenous to New Guinea, Indonesia.
- Average adult size: 2.5 - 3.2 inches (6.4 - 8 cm)
- Average purchase size: .5 - 1 inch (1.2 - 2.5 cm)
We ship all of our packages out of our warehouse located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
UPS 2 Day is a premium service that has two day delivery to nearly every address in the United States.
UPS 1 Day is an overnight service to all continental addresses. We have been able to negotiate excellent rates with UPS, and our longtime customers will notice a 25%-60% savings when compared to our previous overnight shipping service.
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- Dry Goods Only Shipping
Dry goods will ship for FREE if you spend $50. There will be an $8 shipping fee for dry goods for any amount less than a subtotal of $50 on dry good only orders.
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- Shipping Details
UPS 2 Day and UPS 1 Day is a description of the shipping time and service. Please refer below for up to date handling times. Using UPS 2 Day and 1 Day does not guarantee the package will be shipped on the second or next day from which the order was placed.
All of our packages are shipped via UPS 2 Day or 1 Day if animals are included in the order. USPS is an option for dry goods and plants only.
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- Shipping Rates
Shipping rates will vary based on shipping service, how far the package has to travel from our location in Indiana, and how big the package is. We currently offer three shipping price rate tiers for small, medium, and XL size packages. All rates are calculated automatically at checkout.
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- Extreme Cold Shipping Advisory
Winter temperatures are here and parts of the country may be too cold for us to safely ship using UPS 2 Day Shipping services. If the overnight lows in your location or here in Indianapolis, IN where we are located are too cold, we will suspend shipping as needed for the safety of our animals and your investment. (we reserve the right to hold an order in extreme weather if we deem it is unsuitable to ship for the safety of the animals) You may always contact our Customer Service team via email at info@AquaticArts.com with any questions or concerns.
Delays in shipping may occur when temperatures in shipping destinations or here in Indianapolis, Indiana where we are located reach 90 degrees or more, overnight lows are 30 degrees or below, or when postal holidays occur for both UPS and USPS shipments. The temperature cut offs for UPS 1 Day are above 110 degrees or overnight temperatures are below 20 degrees. We will send you an email when we print your shipping label, and that will be the day we ship your order out. This email will include your tracking number as well. Your package should take 2 days to arrive after that if you chose UPS 2 Day or if you chose UPS 1 Day your order would arrive the next day after shipment. If your order contains only plants or dry goods then your order may ship with USPS if that is the shipping option you chose at check
- Our Normal Shipping Schedule by Carrier
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- Current handling time is 1-9 business days
- Pricing is by size of package needed to fill order and distance it must travel. It will be calculated at checkout.
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- PO Boxes We do not ship Live Animals to PO Boxes. If you enter a PO Box address during checkout, you will receive a message that says: "There are no shipping methods available for your cart or destination".
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- Handling Time
Our current handling time is 1-9 business days, although they can occasionally be longer. If you order with UPS 1 Day (which is STRONGLY recommended during the winter as well as summer), your package will almost certainly ship within 1-9 business days. The only exception would be if temperatures are too extreme to safely ship the animals out. The handling time for a UPS 2 Day order is variable based on outside temperatures, postal holidays, and the size of the order. During the summer and winter, UPS 2 Day orders as well as USPS orders may have significant delays (up to 60 days in severe cases) before we can ship them to you due to extreme temperatures. (we reserve the right to hold an order in extreme weather if we deem it is unsuitable to ship for the safety of the animals).
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- Final Note
Orders are shipped in our choice of boxes in order to custom fit each order so shipping rates can very pending on what exactly is ordered. UPS rates are based on size of package needed to ship an order, distance the package must travel, total weight of the package and which UPS shipping service is being used. We will also include heat packs or cooling packs with orders when temperatures warrant a heat pack or cooling pack to be included at no cost to you.
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In the event of any problems with your shipment, please CONTACT US via email at info@AquaticArts.com - We will be happy to help!
All orders come with our 100% Live Arrival Guarantee at no charge. You can read more about that HERE, on our Live Arrival Guarantee page.
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