Blue badis (Badis badis) care guide

Group
Freshwater fish
Other names
Chameleon badis, Chameleon fish, Badis, Dwarf badis, Blue perch
Family
Badidae (chameleonfishes)
Origin
Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mahanadi basins of India, Bangladesh and Nepal, also Bhutan; slow, shallow, often murky streams, ponds and ditches with plants.
Water
freshwater
Maximum size
6 cm
Temperature
15–25°C
pH
6–7.5
Hardness
Soft to fairly hard, 3–15 dGH
Minimum tank
72 litres
Care level
intermediate
Temperament
semi_aggressive

Care

The blue badis is a quiet, slow-moving little predator best kept as a single male, a pair, or one male with a few females. Rival males can fight hard in a small tank, so only keep more than one male where there is plenty of room and plenty of territories. A tank with a base of at least 80 × 30 cm (around 72 litres) is a sensible minimum. Give it a soft sandy or fine substrate, lots of plants, driftwood and several caves (small pots or coconut shells work well), with gentle flow and fairly subdued light. In the wild it lives in shallow, slow, often turbid water among lily beds and submerged plants. It is a subtropical fish that does not need high temperatures: about 15–25 °C, pH roughly 6–7.5 and soft to fairly hard water suit it. A cooler spell in winter is natural. The name chameleon fish comes from how quickly it changes colour with mood: males can switch from drab to deep blue with dark bars when displaying or breeding. Males are larger, more colourful and longer-finned; females are smaller, rounder and plain. Several similar Badis species were split from B. badis after 2002, so fish sold under this name are sometimes another species; don't mix Badis species, as they may hybridise. The species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. Sources: Seriously Fish (seriouslyfish.com/species/badis-badis/); FishBase (fishbase.se/summary/Badis-badis.html); Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badisbadis). Checked October 2026.

Diet

A micropredator that hunts small invertebrates. Feed small live or frozen foods such as Artemia, Daphnia and glassworm; most will not take dried food. Go easy on bloodworm and Tubifex, which tend to make them fat.

Breeding

A cave spawner that forms a short-lived pair. Give each male a cave; when ready he colours up strongly and courts a female into it. She lays roughly 30–100 eggs, after which the male guards and fans them alone, so remove the female. Eggs hatch in 2–3 days and the fry swim freely at around 6–8 days old. Feed them infusoria-sized foods first, then newly hatched brine shrimp. Remove the male once the fry leave the cave, and raise them away from adults.

Compatibility and tank mates

Too shy and slow to compete with lively community fish, and males fight each other. Suits a species tank, or calm company such as small peaceful cyprinids (e.g. small Danio or Rasbora-type fish) that keep to the upper water. Avoid other territorial bottom-dwellers and other Badis species.

Last updated 5 October 2026. Community-edited care guide on Aquatic-Auctions.

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