I'm unable to decide the final fish for my 75G planted tank.
I currently have 10 Rasboras (love these fish school very well together), 10 Neons (they suck at schooling but I like the color they add), 3 OTO's, 5 Corys, 4 RCS.
I was thinking about more schooling fish like Rainbows which I have never kept so was looking for advice on mixing them with the fish I have now.
The GBR that seem so popular in planted tanks. I have 220G with Cichlids already and thought I would try something different.
Any input on Rainbows, are they easy to keep, eat flakes or pellets, will they eat RCS babies?, How many should I get for a 75G?
Rainbows are very easy, colorful and some grow large (4-5 inches). They take any food and are aggressive eaters. They will make the tank seem small very quickly.
I would recommend the dwarf's if you can find them, as they are not so aggressive when feeding.
Very different fish that exhibit very different behaviors. Rainbows like to be in groups of at least 6, are hardy, swim around mid to top a lot, and are boisterous eaters. Rams stay relatively small, stay to the bottom, and are a little more delicate.
after reading about Rainbows, they prefer harder water and higher ph. My ph hits 6.2 with CO2 injected, so I think I will stick to south american fish.
I would love too but my backyard is now 80% water for Koi and 6 foot tank in the living room with Africans and 4 foot tank in the dinning room.
I'm leaning towards Dwarf Rainbows, as something different and it seems they should do well in low PH 4 foot tank.
I want something that schools well. I had forgotten that Neons don't really school most of the time, been 25 years since I had any. Rasbora's are great schooling fish.
I would prefer the Rainbows. I have 6 of the Dwarf Neon's in my 36 gal. They are very fun to watch. A previous person had used the word boisterous a as a way to describe the feeding behavior. That is an understatement lol. they REALLY love their food. Mine are always rushing to the feeding corner whenever I pass the tank. And when there is no more food floating in the tank, they take to the bottom picking every last bit that lands on plants.
To add my 2 cents, I have a 140 gallon with mostly rainbows and they OWN the tank. The only fish in the tank that make them back down are the 2 gold and 2 opaline gouramis I have in there. Mostly because they are a bit bigger and more territorial about "their spot" in the tank.
The fish you have in the tank now would be bullied for sure by rainbows. Most of the sites you look at if you research them on the net say semi-aggressive for most rainbows but in my experience that description is entirely relative. They are semi-aggressive if you have bigger or tougher fish than them (or just rainbows). Otherwise I would handily put them in the aggressive family. If you have any doubts watch them during feeding time. You would almost think your rainbows are piranhas the way they frenzy after food.
Agree with jjp2...I don't find that my rainbows school at all. They do a lot of chasing and are extremely active fish. I have a larger tank with boesemani and herbert axelrodi rainbows and they don't pay a whole lot of attention to the other fish. I have neons, glowlight danios, a few platies and swordtails in there and the rainbows are too interested in eachother to bother the other fish. I have dwarf neon rainbows in my smaller tank and they are equally as boisterous, just on a smaller scale. If I had a 3rd tank, I'd get a big group of the dwarfs. Great fish and they also get along well with all their other tank mates. I'd worry about having shrimp in the tank with the rainbows though. I have some pond snails in my tank, and if the snail population gets a little too high, I just squish the snails against the glass/rock/driftwood and the rainbows eat up the guts. They seem pretty opportunistic, and I could just see them eating shrimp like candy!
Rainbows love shrimp and anything else they can fit in their mouths. I've tossed in dozens of ghost shrimp from time to time just for the fun of watching them go nuts as they eat.
My bushynose plecos just laid eggs and my rainbows are eyeing them like a pack of hungry wolves, just waiting fo the male to move away. I'll pull them in a day or two so they can hatch.
There are basically 2 size groups of Rainbows.
The smaller ones (an inch or so), including Blue Eyes, Pseudomugil, Threadfins and other relatives tend to be delicate, and are often kept in species tanks. If the water conditions are OK, they can be kept with smaller fish like yours. Some of these Rainbows and relatives thrive in harder water than your current fish, but many are pretty adaptable if the changing conditions are handled slowly.
The larger Rainbows (4-6") are more adaptable to a really wide range of water hardness and will be fine in soft water. The problem is that some are so big that your smaller fish may get eaten.
Probably the best of the commonly available Rainbows is Melanotaenia praecox, the Dwarf Neon Rainbow. These are fine in soft water, and are a bit smaller than the 'larger' Rainbows. The males can be quite aggressive toward the females, though, so I would suggest one of these groupings:
All male. All female. 1 M: 3-4 F.
When there are females in the tank several males may not get along. In a large densely planted tank it might be better.
Ask around and perhaps find a local breeder, don't get imported, hatchery raised fish.
Quarantine and treat for whatever shows up. Unfortunately Rainbows are known to harbor Mycobacteriosis which usually does not show up in quarantine. :-(
Thanks for all the input. I like the idea of a school of dwarf or threadfin rainbows, I would then have safe shrimp and 3 different schools of fish in the 75G. I like the big rainbows but I think a 75G is not big enough for these fish at 5", they need a 6 foot tank in my view.
I like cichlids but have a tank full of them upto 10" fish to enjoy if I want cool behaviours.
threadfins are nice, not as colorful as they look in photos. They are a little sensitive though and very slow-moving fish. They are easily outcompeted by more vigorous fish.
Dwarf Neons will be fine with the other fish in your tank. They, as most Rainbows tend to stay high in the water column. Other Rainbows to consider are the Pseudomgiles. I have some p. grertrudae and they are great fish. Loaded with personality, vigorous and hardy. Not big enough to intimidate anything.
Neon Rainbows will be fine though. Mine share the space with Cardinal Tetras, Cherry Barbs Rummynose, Otos and the Gertrudae. No worries. The only downside to the Neons is that they have a reputation for being a little more senstive to water conditions than other rainbows. Mine do fair, but I lose 1 a month in my med-hard water. They are one of few Rainbows that do better in soft, low PH conditions. Not great for my setup, but they are very nice fish.
Was at the LFS today and saw threadfin's and several other tanks of Rainbows but the Blue Ram's were in stock and couldn't resist 4 of them. Threadfins were very cool looking fish but didn't really school from what I could see.
I think I will look for another schooling tetra. Rams look great in the tank.
my threadfins school loosely. They are always in the same area of the tank with each other.
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