Flora & Fauna

Graceful, slender fish with a translucent body and vivid red snout and tail on males. Endemic to Inle Lake — prefers cooler, harder water than most aquascaping fish. Stunning in large groups.

Jewel of nano tanks — males are deep red with vivid blue-edged scales. Only 0.8 inches. Refuses dry food for most keepers; needs live or frozen micro prey. Worth every effort.

Schwartzi corydoras has a distinctive pattern of dark spots and a prominent black stripe through the eye. It is an active, peaceful schooling fish that spends most of its time foraging along the bottom. Well suited to soft, acidic planted tanks.

Slender, schooling dartfish with a distinctive forked tail and blue-grey body. Best kept in pairs or small groups; will share a burrow. Reef-safe and active in the mid-water column.

Solitary LPS coral with a single large fleshy polyp in extraordinary colour patterns. Slow-growing but stunning. Target-feed meaty foods for best growth and coloration.

Elegant, understated tang ranging from brown to blue-grey with fine markings. Peaceful and hardy. Excellent algae grazer and reef-safe.

Bright green, tissue-thin sheets of macroalgae familiar on coastlines worldwide. Fast-growing nutrient exporter and a relished food for tangs, urchins, and rabbitfish. Tolerates a very wide temperature and salinity range. Can become weedy if not harvested — keep export-focused.

Ancient, armour-plated fish that walks along the bottom on its fins. Breathes air using a primitive lung. Peaceful with fish too large to swallow. Fascinating species.

Serpae tetras are vivid red fish with a distinctive black comma-shaped shoulder mark. They are hardy and bold, but known to be fin-nippers especially in small groups — keep 10 or more to redirect aggression within the school.

Large, deep-bodied cichlid with a friendly temperament for its size. Comes in green, gold, and red colour variants. Often bonds strongly with its keeper and will hand-feed.

Tiny brown-orange shrimp with white polka-dots and a characteristic upward tail-bob dance. Commonly lives among anemones and Zoanthids in groups. One of the most endearing nano reef invertebrates.

High-grade Caridina with a reverse panda pattern — black where panda shrimp are white, and white where they are black. Requires the same soft, acidic conditions as Crystal Reds. Collector's shrimp.

Unmistakable calcified macroalgae resembling an old-fashioned shaving brush — white stalk topped with a tuft of fine green filaments. Anchors in sandbed. Relatively short-lived (months to a year); when it dies it releases calcium into the water. An endearing curiosity for Caribbean reef displays.

Tiny Tanganyikan cichlid that lives inside empty snail shells. Males are larger and guard a harem of shell-dwelling females. Perfect for a dedicated shell-dweller nano tank.

The Siamese Algae Eater is one of the few fish that will actively consume black beard algae (BBA), making it highly sought after by planted tank hobbyists. It is a streamlined, active fish with a distinctive black horizontal stripe from snout to tail. Unlike the similar-looking Flying Fox, it is a true algae specialist rather than just a grazer. Best kept singly or in groups; young fish are more active algae eaters than adults.

A compact, narrow-leafed variant of H. corymbosa popular in Dutch-style planted tanks. The smaller leaf size makes it easier to fit into midground positions. Very tolerant and undemanding.

The classic wild-type angelfish with a silver body and bold black vertical bars. Its triangular profile and long trailing fins make it a centrepiece fish. Prefers tall tanks with vertical driftwood or broad-leaf plants that mimic Amazonian floodplains. Semi-aggressive during spawning but generally peaceful with similarly sized tank mates.

Large, disc-shaped silver fish that schools impressively in groups. Voracious herbivore — will demolish live plants. Best kept with hardy tankmates in a spacious aquarium.

Unique keel-shaped body adapted for surface dwelling. Can leap out of water to escape predators — a tight lid is essential. Prefers surface insects and small live food.

The silvertip tetra gets its name from the bright white or silver tips on every fin, which flash attractively as the fish moves. Males have a warm orange-copper body colouration while females are more silvery. It is a very active, somewhat nippy species that is best kept in large schools of 10 or more to distribute any fin-nipping behaviour.

Similis corydoras is a small, attractively spotted species with a distinctive dark spot at the base of the tail fin. Peaceful and active, it mixes well with other calm community fish and is hardier than many of its relatives.

Singapore Moss is a fine-leaved aquatic moss with a slightly more organised, fan-like branching structure than Java Moss. It grows into dense mounds on hardscape and creates effective moss walls on mesh. Fast-growing and undemanding, it is a popular beginner moss for aquascaping and a favourite refuge for shrimp and fry.

Active and colourful wrasse with six horizontal blue stripes. Pest controller — eats flatworms and small pests. Can be territorial with similar species.

The skunk corydoras has a distinctive arched black stripe running from snout to tail over a pale body, resembling a skunk's marking. It is a peaceful, active bottom-dweller that does well in soft, slightly acidic water with fine sand substrate.

Small, peaceful cichlid with iridescent blue-green scaling and an expression resembling a smile. One of the best cichlids for planted community tanks — rarely aggressive and plant-safe.

Betta channoides, the Snakehead Betta, is a mouthbrooding wild betta from East Kalimantan, Indonesia, named for the slightly flattened, elongated head profile reminiscent of snakehead fish. Males and females display striking orange-red coloration with dark scale edges. Like other mouthbrooders it is less belligerent than bubble-nesters, and well-conditioned pairs can coexist in adequately sized planted tanks.

Snowball shrimp are prized for their opaque white coloration and the pearlescent white egg clusters that females carry, which inspired their common name. Like other neocaridina variants they are adaptable and breed freely in established planted tanks. They add a clean, high-contrast element to darker aquascape substrates.

Spectacular black-and-white patterned eel. One of the most reef-compatible morays as it eats crustaceans rather than fish. Needs a very secure lid.

Soft Hornwort is the more delicate relative of the common Hornwort (C. demersum) with even finer, softer leaves. It floats freely in the water column, requiring no substrate or roots. Grows rapidly and absorbs ammonia and nutrients aggressively. Excellent for cycling tanks, fry tanks, and shrimp tanks where it provides cover and nutrient absorption.

The Sparkling Gourami (Pygmy Gourami) is a tiny, jewel-like labyrinth fish barely 4 cm long whose body glitters with iridescent blue-green spots. It produces a distinctive chirping or croaking sound during spawning, which is audible outside the aquarium. Its diminutive size makes it perfect for nano tanks with fine-leaved plants; it should not be housed with boisterous or much larger tankmates.

Spiky Moss forms distinctively pointed, spiky tufts that radiate outward from attachment points, giving it a starburst appearance. It grows readily on rock, wood, or mesh and is easier to shape than Java Moss due to its tidier, more structured growth habit. Popular in Nature Aquarium styling.

Bright green filamentous algae with distinctive spiral chloroplasts. In small amounts it's a natural part of the ecosystem and a food source for many invertebrates. Can quickly overtake a tank if nutrients or CO₂ are out of balance. Best controlled by reducing phosphates and manual removal.

The splendid rainbowfish is a large, hardy, and adaptable species that comes in several regional colour forms varying from blue-green to reddish-orange. Males develop a deep body profile and bold colouration. It is a robust, undemanding fish that tolerates a wide range of water conditions, making it popular with beginner rainbowfish keepers.

Tiny blue-eyed rainbowfish with yellow fins spotted with black. Gorgeous in groups in a heavily planted nano tank. Males display with raised fins in bright iridescent colours.