Dwarf Blue Neon Rainbow (Melanotaenia praecox)?

[John P.]

http://www.akwafoto.pl/fotoreport/zabrze2002/inne1.php

Curious if any of you have experience with these? I'm getting a 26 G "show" aquarium--36" L x 10" W x 16" H. I appears these stay ~2".

Are they tight schoolers?

Water? The tap water in my town is: hardness = 232 PPM, pH = 8. Of course I'll pull the pH down with CO2 injection. I've read these rainbows like water on the soft side (compared to others). Any luck keeping & breeding in harder water like mine will be?

[corigan]

No Experience with them in hard water, but I have 5 or so in my softer water (that I have to buffer up since it is so soft). They spread out pretty far when they are comfortable, but sometimes you see them schooling together. Mine also seem to enjoy schooling and swimming with some black/gold fin tetras that I have. They stay pretty small and are definately awesome rainbowfish.

Matt

[John P.]

Do you have them in your 55G or the 30G?

Any pictures?

[TeeItUp]

I only have 2 mixed in with a bunch of other rainbows in a 55. From what I have seen in other tanks I would not call them tight schoolers if that is what you are looking for.

[John P.]

Originally Posted by TeeItUp

I only have 2 mixed in with a bunch of other rainbows in a 55. From what I have seen in other tanks I would not call them tight schoolers if that is what you are looking for.

I wonder how they'd school in a species-only setup with 6-8 individuals?

Do you know if yours are males, females, or 1 of each?

Got pictures?

[TeeItUp]

Originally Posted by John P.

I wonder how they'd school in a species-only setup with 6-8 individuals?

Do you know if yours are males, females, or 1 of each?

Got pictures?

Both of mine are males. The females have some yellow where the red is on the males. I have seen 20+ in a 20 long and they were all over the tank, not tight schoolers sorry.

[pixelcrayon]

i have several different rainbows in my 75gal tank. and i wouldnt consider any of them to be tight schoolers. may i suggest putting only one type of rainbows in your "show" tank. i wish i did. i think its a better effect. the madagacar rainbows school the tightest--for me atleast. the bosemani and the new guinea are the nicest you can find at the LFS. you can go on aquabid and search for rainbows. some guy on there has some amazing selections.

[John P.]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'd really like a small, schooling species of fish that will thrive & breed in relatively hard water conditions. The search continues . . . .

[LaserJock]

I like Amano's picture of these rainbows in a 3X3 formation.

http://www.adaeurope.com/

[corigan]

Originally Posted by John P.

Do you have them in your 55G or the 30G?

Any pictures?

I have 5 of them in my 55g with a bunch of other species of fish. 2 males and 3 females. The Females seem to school together the most while the males are always shooing each other away and trying to attract the ladies. I will try to get some pictures of them tonight for you. Mine are still fairly young and are definately not at full adulthood yet as I just got em a few weeks back. They color out better if you have lower lights and lots of shady areas. I notice the colors on them are the best when my light cycle is at it's dusk/dawn phase where it is only running 30w out of 160w max. I definately enjoy these rainbows though, great personality. They are always happy to come over and greet me when I'm up close watching the tank.

matt

Matt

[John P.]

[quote=LaserJock]I like Amano's picture of these rainbows in a 3X3 formation.

http://www.adaeurope.com/[/QUOTE]

Nice pic. I was thinking of using Glosso with them, too.

[John P.]

Originally Posted by corigan

I have 5 of them in my 55g with a bunch of other species of fish. 2 males and 3 females. The Females seem to school together the most while the males are always shooing each other away and trying to attract the ladies. I will try to get some pictures of them tonight for you. Mine are still fairly young and are definately not at full adulthood yet as I just got em a few weeks back. They color out better if you have lower lights and lots of shady areas. I notice the colors on them are the best when my light cycle is at it's dusk/dawn phase where it is only running 30w out of 160w max. I definately enjoy these rainbows though, great personality. They are always happy to come over and greet me when I'm up close watching the tank.

matt

Matt

Thanks Matt. I look forward to the pics!

[Georgiadawgger]

I have two M. praecox now (had 6, but worms got a hold of them...bad LFS that I no longer go to . Anyways, they really didn't school much and the males chased each other around a bit after the only female I had. However, I find my praecox, my M. boesmani and G. incisus always take part of the day and stand "lined" up against the outflow of my canister filter. A lot of playing and weaving in and out of my plant thickets make them fun to watch. The best thing about them is their display (nape stripe). In the morning they are always doing the "face-to-face" display. I've noticed the praecox and boesmani have a white nape stripe and my G. incisus have a yellow one. Really pretty when their irritated at each other!!! Just my 2 cents.

[John P.]

Originally Posted by Georgiadawgger

I have two M. praecox now (had 6, but worms got a hold of them...bad LFS that I no longer go to . Anyways, they really didn't school much and the males chased each other around a bit after the only female I had. However, I find my praecox, my M. boesmani and G. incisus always take part of the day and stand "lined" up against the outflow of my canister filter. A lot of playing and weaving in and out of my plant thickets make them fun to watch. The best thing about them is their display (nape stripe). In the morning they are always doing the "face-to-face" display. I've noticed the praecox and boesmani have a white nape stripe and my G. incisus have a yellow one. Really pretty when their irritated at each other!!! Just my 2 cents.

Good stuff.

I've read that keeping more females to males results in better behavior among the group.

Ugh. Tough choices here! Cardinal school in hard water, Praecox, or reverse osmosis filter for Cardinals.