Anyone know anything bout rainbow fish?

1445 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Diana, Sep 7, 2012

Racie_Gracy

Discussion Starter · Sep 6, 2012

Im still undecided as to what type of rainbow fish I'm going to go for. But I think I'm ready for the commitment of waiting for the fish to grow and show off it's true colours. I've Been doing my research, but there are a few things I just want to double check, theres so much conflicting information...

My 55gallon (Juwel 240liters) tank is in the living-room and I want a few big colourful fish in there.

I've found a rainbow dealer who sells only true species (or so he says) of rainbow fish, very conveniently, only a 15minute drive from where I live

Can I mix species? I know they are a a schooling fish so I know I need at least 6.. but can I have 2x Boesemani's, 2x Turquoise rainbow-fish, and 2x yellow rainbow-fish? With appropriate male female ratio.

Oooorrr, do I get 6xboesemani's and use the rest of the bio-load room for other community fish to fill it up, I realise of course that this will mean spawning could be more difficult.. or impossible... but I'm honestly not sure if I'm worried about that or not.

How many fish can I comfortably fit into my tank? With at least 6 rainbows.What tank mates would be good?

My tank only has 4 ottos in it at the minute + a handful of Malaysian trumpet snails, fully cycled, its planted heavily with dwarf sag, bacoba australis, anubias, anubias nana, complete with a java moss tree, everything still needs a while more to "fill in", but I'm in this for the long haul, so I'm hoping everything grows the way I want it to.

I have 2 hob filters, an aquael 1000uv led and a stingray 15. I really cant afford to buy a canister at the minute.
it works out that my water is being filtered at 1300litres (286galllons) per hour, which is a turnover rate at 5.2. Is that an adequate amount of should I invest in an external... ?

I already have 2 aquariums that get weekly water changes, so I'm well aware of the work that goes into fish keeping...

RAINBOW FISH KEEPERS, GIVE ME ALL YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
I NEED YOU NOW!!

Thanky!

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Imi Statue

· #2 · Sep 6, 2012

If your just into the colors you can buy 1-2 males from each species for that splash look, but if breeding is your thing get groups of males and females. and keep the females separate from those species that look to similar. (males usually are the more colorful but females can look almost indistinguishable from each other).

I like the Salmon red males with dwarf, and Bosemani.

Here's a link for different species:

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/rainbowfish/

Imi

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Kelli

· #3 · Sep 6, 2012

I just got into rainbowfish myself. My only suggestion is that if the fish your supplier has are true species then I would make that the focus of your tank and encourage breeding since so many of the varieties are threatened naturally. It's apparently getting harder and harder to find non-hybridized varieties.

~Kelli

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Imi Statue

· #4 · Sep 6, 2012

Agreed; the hybridization is mostly due to the females having almost totally same coloration, shape and size, but the young do grow out slowly for most of these for the first six months so beware and have the tank space to let them grow.

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KrazyFish

· #5 · Sep 6, 2012

Using a 55 gallon tank, I would suggest focussing on one species. This way yoo will be able to keep an adequatly sized school (+/- 7 fish) which lead to more natural behaviours.

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if_fishes_were_wishes

· #6 · Sep 6, 2012

They are jumpers! I found out the hard way

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Racie_Gracy

Discussion Starter · #7 · Sep 6, 2012

Another question..... How many should I introduce at one time? My tank is fully cycled with 4 ottos, but can I throw 6 boesemanis in one time? or do 3 and 3... if i have to do 3 and 3, how long would I have to wait before I before I stock the rest?

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brainwavepc.com

· #8 · Sep 6, 2012

Get bosemanis, just add 6 at once you will be fine

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Alec8100

· #9 · Sep 7, 2012

KrazyFish said:
Using a 55 gallon tank, I would suggest focussing on one species. This way yoo will be able to keep an adequatly sized school (+/- 7 fish) which lead to more natural behaviours.

I'm totally agree with you.You'r 100% good here that using a 55 gallon tank.This way yoo will be able to keep an adequatly scaled institution (+/- 7 fish) which cause to more organic behaviors.

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Diana

· #10 · Sep 7, 2012

If the tank is planted the plants will remove the ammonia. 6 young (small) Boes should be fine.

If there are no plants and all you have are 4 Otos then go buy some Nitrospira. This is the actual species of bacteria that the tank has so little of (just enough for 4 little Otos). Then you could add 6 full sized adults if that is the way you want to go.

Rainbows are not very aggressive or territorial. If you cannot get all 6 at one time there is no problem with adding them as you find them.

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