Japanese Rice Fish medaka – Black

Black Medaka

Medaka also known as ricefish is 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 or Youkihi medaka has a wonderful saffron Black colour with highlights of red near the fins and cheek plate. This vibrant Black can also be contrasted with a white belly and metallic silvery eyes, making this fish stand out. Its body shape is very easily comparable with the tropical guppy however 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. Much like their beautiful colours these fish also have a beautiful, peaceful personality and would be a really 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 fertilizes them, she will then attach them to a soft or leafy surface which is a truly unique behavior to these fish. Wild medaka can be found in the cold rivers of Japan.

Tank Recommendations for your Black Medaka

The Black Medaka is a very active little fish and would be fine in a tank that is 40 liters. A larger aquarium would be ideal as these fish do best kept in groups and the larger volume will allow for other tank mates.

Youkihi medaka is not fussy when it comes to the substrate but will love a densely planted aquarium. This would also ensure that if the fish end up highly likely breeding, the fry has a good chance of surviving.

A great aquarium setting for these fish would be to have a black tank background, bright green plants, and an aquarium light with an increased red spectrum that will showcase the Black of this medaka strain.

Suitable Tank Buddies

The Black 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 out-competing them.

Rarely Compatible

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

Feeding your Black Medaka

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.