Rainbbowfish

[swifty]

Hey people,

For my 4' x 18" x 22" heavily planted tank after my plants gro back i was thinking of making it a discus tank with a school of about 6 of them, but someone suggested that keeping Rainbow fish in a good planted tank would look nice. Anyone got any info on these fish or some experience?

Thanks.

Rob

[Dark Morelia]

Hi Rob,

I have a bit of experience with Rainbows, not that i claim to be an expert or anything

They're mostly pretty tough fish. They'll eat ANYTHING, and survive under nearly ANY water conditions, as long as it's got a good oxygen level.

They seem a bit prone to tuberculosis, but only when stressed, or have a bad diet with no variation. I've personally only ever had one that developed it, but it seemed to go away after a while on his own.

Some of the New Guinea species are more prone to stress than the Australian species, in my experience Melanotaenia lacustris are very prone to stress, but I've heard many of the harder to get PNG species are the same.

I've never tried breeding Rainbows, i've only ever had display tanks.

They are constantly on the move, and constantly displaying at each other, flashing their colours and flaring their fins, but they hardly ever get physical, and if they do, the worst they do to each other is a few split fins.

Best colours are obtained if you put in a few females with a big bunch of mixed species males.

(For all you anti-hybrid peoples out there reading this, i've never had any eggs survive to hatching, let alone have any fry survive, in this situation.)

Mine were fed...

On alternate days...

Flakes in the morning, Bloodworms at night.

Spirulina Flakes in the morning, Frozen Brine shrimp at night.

Tetra bits in the morning, Bloodworms or Brine at night.

But this was always mixed around, and they had one starve day a week, sometimes 2 if i forgot to feed them

The only species i've ever had (much) trouble with is the dwarf neon rainbow (Melanotaenia praecox)

They seem to be far more touchy than other species, mostly due to getting stressed out by larger Rainbow species.

A good-sized school of praecox in a planted tank with discus would look awesome.... as long as the discus don't eat the praecox when they get really big.

So yeah. If you want lots of colour, and non-stop activity, then Rainbows are a great choice, and they're extremely easy to care for.

Links....

Home of the Rainbowfish

If i've missed anything here, just PM me

[Note] My most favouritest Rainbow i ever had was a Hybrid. He was sold to me from a well-known lfs as a Melanotaenia boesmani cross Glossolepis Inciscus. anyone interested, PM me and i'll email you a pic.

Cheers,

Andy

[swifty]

thanks for the help but i still dont know ...... =\

Would the rainbows mix with a school of about 12 rummy's and a few BN's?

Thanks

Rob.

[Dark Morelia]

Since most Rainbows are capable of reaching 10cm, and are very active, they tend to stress tetras at larger sizes. Rummies are a bit more active than some other tetras, so they could be alright. M. praecox would be fine with smaller fish, as they only reach 4-5cm at the largest, and aren't quite as over-active as other rainbows.

Rainbows take no notice of non-rainbow tankmates at all, except if they're small enough to eat, they love eating fry. BNs would be fine, even small ones, they're quick enough to get away if a rainbow decides it's small enough to try and eat.

Andy.

[swifty]

hmmm Thanks again for the help....

Once the plants grow back ill think more about it =)

Rob.

[Dark Morelia]

You're quite welcome

Do give them a go, they're great, yet under-appreciated fish.

I was mad on them before i discovered cichlids. I still have 2 stragglers though.

Andy.