Freshwater Fish
Scissortail Rasbora.
A silvery, active rasbora named for its scissoring, black-and-white forked tail. Peaceful and beginner-easy; keep an energetic group in a 20-gallon-plus tank with room to swim and a lid, since they're jumpers.
We keep this species at our Erie store. Come and see it in the tanks, or call (814) 456-9445 and ask what we have in right now.
Sea Cave keeps this species. You will find these in the tanks at 660 East 14th Street in Erie. We never ship live animals.
- Condition
- new
- Fulfillment
- Local pickup — Erie, PA
We never ship fish, coral, or invertebrates — every animal here is one you meet in person. Each one is acclimated and health-checked in-house before it goes out into the display tanks. This is a species we keep, and what is swimming on any given day changes with the deliveries, so please call (814) 456-9445 before you drive in.
Care at a glance
What to know before you take one home.
- Care level
- Beginner
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Community
- Community safe
- Adult size
- 4"
- Min tank size
- 20 gallons
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Scientific name
- Rasbora trilineata
Good tank mates
Scissortails are peaceful and community-safe, and being active, slightly larger rasboras they suit a roomier community tank. Good matches are other peaceful, active fish: larger tetras, other rasboras, corydoras, peaceful barbs like cherry barbs, and peaceful gouramis. A few real examples are harlequin rasboras, lemon tetras, and bronze cories. Avoid aggressive or much larger fish, steer clear of known fin-nippers, and don't pair them with anything big enough to eat them.
Good to know
The scissortail rasbora is named for its deeply forked tail, whose black-and-white lobes open and close like scissors as it swims.
What is in the tanks and each animal's temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for pairing advice.
Good tankmates
Plays well with.
Species we’d keep in the same tank, with why each pairing works. What is in the tanks and each animal’s temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for advice on pairing.
New to stocking a tank? Read our guide on which fish live together.
Bronze Cory
Peaceful bottom dwellers that occupy a completely different tank level than scissortails. Water parameters align well (soft, slightly acidic). No size, aggression, or dietary conflicts. A textbook community pairing.
Harlequin Rasbora
Well-documented pairing across multiple authoritative sources. Both are peaceful schooling cyprinids with identical soft, slightly acidic water requirements. While harlequins are smaller (4–4.5 cm) than large scissortails, rasboras are not piscivorous and their small terminal mouths are not adapted for eating other fish. Fishiology and AquariumStoreDepot both explicitly confirm compatibility.
Zebra Danio
Active, fast mid-water schoolers with overlapping pH and temperature ranges. Zebra danios' fin-nipping tendency specifically targets slow-moving fish with long, trailing fins — not the compact, forked caudal fin of a fast-swimming scissortail. AquariumStoreDepot specifically lists them as compatible.
Siamese Algae Eater
Occupies the bottom level, creating no spatial competition with scissortails. Any adult territorial behavior is directed at conspecifics and similar-looking fish, not at mid-water rasboras. Water parameters are compatible. Suitable in tanks with adequate space and cover.
- R
Rainbowfish
Comparable adult size, active peaceful temperament, and sufficient parameter overlap (pH 6.5–7.5, 74–78°F works for most Melanotaenia species). SeriouslyFish's species profile for Rasbora trilineata specifically endorses rainbowfish as tankmates. Hobbyists should select species with softer-water tolerances (e.g. M. praecox) rather than hard-water specialists like Boesemani.
Visit the store
660 East 14th Street,
Erie, PA.
Mon–Fri 12–6 · Sat 11–4 · Sun closed. Call ahead on livestock — what's on the floor rotates.