Quarantined | Chili Rasbora (Boraras brigittae)

What “Quarantined” means

Every animal sold under this listing goes through YoCamron’s Aquatics full quarantine program — treated preventively for the common pathogens, observed daily, and confirmed eating — before it goes home with you.

Most livestock losses in this hobby aren’t bad luck. They’re pathogens that arrive with a new animal — ich, velvet, gill and body flukes, internal parasites — and stay invisible for the first 1–2 weeks while the animal is stressed from shipping. By the time you can see the problem, it’s in your display tank, and every animal you own is in the fight. Quarantine exists to run out that clock in our tanks instead of yours.

Our process

• Dedicated quarantine systems, separate from our display and sale tanks.
• Preventive treatment for the pathogens that actually kill new arrivals, instead of waiting for symptoms.
• Daily observation — breathing rate, body condition, behavior — so problems get caught while they’re still small.
• Feeding confirmation. Nothing goes home until it’s eating in front of us. An animal that eats is an animal that travels well.

Quarantined to order

Nothing we sell online is pre-quarantined and waiting on a shelf. Every quarantined animal is quarantined to order — your purchase starts the process, and the clock starts the day your animal reaches our facility.

For a freshwater animal like this one, plan on up to 60 days before it goes home.

Add up to two more weeks in front of that. If we do not already have the animal in-house, sourcing it is the first step — and that time sits on top of the window above.

This is not a rush purchase, and it can’t be turned into one — the entire value of quarantine is time. If you need your livestock by a particular date, contact us before you order and we’ll schedule the arrival around it. If you need something this week, the non-quarantined listing is the honest choice. The full process — and how to decide which tier is yours — is explained in Quarantined vs Non-Quarantined.

The guarantees

• Shipped — Early AM Overnight only: 48-hour live arrival guarantee from confirmed delivery. Next Day Air (standard Overnight), 2-Day and USPS Priority carry no live arrival guarantee, on any tier.
• Local pickup or delivery: 28-day live guarantee — bring a water sample from your aquarium so we can test it before your livestock goes home with you.
• Maintenance clients: 60-day live guarantee on any livestock you buy from us, for as long as we service your aquarium on a plan of at least twice a month — weekly, every 10 days, or biweekly. Monthly plans carry 28 days. Nobody else in the trade puts that in writing.
• Sourcing: if the animal is not already in-house, add up to two more weeks in front of the window above — that applies on every tier.
• Claims: video of the sealed, unopened bag, opened on camera, with the animal on a white paper towel, inside the window.

Why quarantined is the right choice

If you have an established display tank, the math is simple: the premium on a quarantined animal is small next to the cost of treating — or losing — everything already in your tank. It also means you can skip running a hospital tank at home, which done properly is its own aquarium, its own months of patience, and its own chance to get something wrong.

The honest caveat: many of these species are also available from us non-quarantined for less. Those carry a 1-hour live arrival window on Early AM Overnight — or 24 hours on local pickup or delivery with a tested water sample — and no refunds, returns, or credits beyond that. There is also a middle rung: the Lightly Medicated listing gets one short prophylactic course and is covered for 24 hours on Early AM Overnight, or 7 days on local pickup or delivery with a tested water sample. Next Day Air (standard Overnight), 2-Day and USPS Priority carry no live arrival guarantee, on any tier. If you already run a proper quarantine setup at home, that’s a fair trade and you should take it. If you don’t, this listing is the right one. (You’ll sometimes see “quarantined” abbreviated as QT — same thing.)

The Chili Rasbora (Boraras brigittae) is one of the smallest true fish available in the freshwater hobby, topping out at well under an inch — which makes it easy to underestimate until you see a proper school of them lit up in a planted tank. That deep red coloring, broken by a dark lateral stripe and iridescent reflections, intensifies measurably with good water quality and a darker substrate. A group of fifteen or twenty moving together reads less like individual fish and more like a single shifting cloud of color.

Native to blackwater peat swamps in Borneo, B. brigittae evolved in some of the softest, most acidic water in the hobby — pH under 5 in wild populations, with near-zero hardness and heavy tannin staining. They don’t require those extremes in captivity, but they genuinely do better in softer, slightly acidic water than in hard alkaline tap. RO water remineralized with a soft-water profile (or plain aged tap if you’re lucky enough to have soft water) and light botanical tannin supplementation will show the best coloration and longest-lived specimens.

Despite the delicate look, they’re genuinely hardy once established in appropriate water. Their tiny mouths mean tankmates need to be equally small and completely peaceful — anything that treats a Chili Rasbora as a snack, will.

Scientific name: Boraras brigittae
Origin: Blackwater peat swamps of southwestern Borneo — heavily tannin-stained, extremely soft and acidic water
Water parameters: Temp 72–82°F · pH 5.5–7.0 (softer and more acidic = better color) · GH 1–6
Tank requirements: 5 gal minimum; best in a planted nano tank with dark substrate; groups of 10+ recommended
Diet: Omnivore — micro-pellets and small crushed flake; supplement with baby brine shrimp and micro-worms
Compatibility: Peaceful nano fish; must be kept with equally tiny, non-predatory species only
Husbandry note: Coloration is directly tied to water quality and stress. In hard, alkaline, or brightly lit tanks, Chili Rasboras turn pale and stay pale. Dark substrate, low light, and soft slightly-acidic water are the three biggest drivers of the red color you see in photos.