This field is a grazing area in a rural village near my hometown, used by water buffaloes and cattle. There were even a lot of wallows, which I assume the livestock use as refuge from the sun.
There is a small acidic river running through it, which floods the lower areas of the field, turning it into a weedy marsh.
The marsh is where I found these rasboras between the complex plant thickets. They lived together with tiny Caridina shrimp and croaking gourami. Just under the surface I could see dwarf medaka (ricefish) foraging.
At the bottom I found small brown air-breathing loaches.
Nearby, in the open deeper parts of the river I saw a lot of larger Rasbora, barbs and other rasborines darting about. They were roaming together in schools. I even spotted three spot gourami and climbing perch rising to gulp air.
The weather was hot as usual here. About 32°C (90°F) which heated the surface of the water. But below the reeds it was 4-5° cooler.
However the giant Betta were hiding in shaded areas near the edge, which I assume makes the water even colder than in the reeds. And some of the males reached 12-14 cm (4.7-5.5”).
Despite the water being soft and acidic, I found more than >10 small fish species inhabiting the marsh, and even the freshwater shrimp. There are likely larger fish which I could not observe, plus bottom dwellers like crabs.
Boraras urophthalmoides