[gmoses]

i have a 55 i am setting up and i am getting cpds and as soon as the place has scarlet badis back in stock i will be getting those... i was wondering with tropical community fish is size as important? i am used to cchlids. can i put a rainbow fish in that take or will they get too big? what about killis?

 

[jstehman]

Depends on the Rainbow sp. for size.

For instance, my dominant male turquiose is about 4.5", but my Kamaka males are only 2.5"..

I think any Rainbow would be fine.

 

[gmoses]

thanks for the response... i will start looking at the rainbows. are they easy to breed?

 

[jstehman]

Not too difficult, but I've only had one successful spawning that had fry. They usually try for a secluded spot with moss or a "spawning mop" (yarn) then the eggs can be removed if they are in danger of being eaten.

Every day my Rainbows are tryin... there's just too many others who consider eggs a delicacy.

 

[gmoses]

Whats your favorite rainbow?

 

[50089]

I have Spotted Blue Eye Rainbows with my CPDs; they are a smaller Rainbow but very stunning especially when they flare. Get at least 3 females per male though as the males will harass the females to death.

 

[bethyMT]

I think a school of five(that's the maximum) of the larger rainbowfish would probably be OK with your 55, ideally if it's a 48 inch long. Larger rainbows include australians, bosemans, turquoise, and others of that type. I've got a school of four (long story)bosemans in my long 55g, and they are happy. They do not bother any of the smaller fish, which are black skirt tetras and male guppies.

They do, however, occasionally uproot plants. It's not bad, but it does happen, esp with bunch plants.

If you are interested in smaller rainbows, threadfins are absolutely beautiful...I saw them for the first time today and am regretting that I don't have space for them.

 

[Bruce_S]

You might also consider the dwarf neon rainbows, M. praecox. Pretty, active, but stays smaller than most Melanotaenia. Easily sexed as well, males have red fins, females are more yellow / orange.

~Bruce

 

[gmoses]

I spotted threadfins the other day and i was not impressed. They didnt have much color. Is that the norm? As so many people seem to love them but the ones i saw at the pet store were not impressive. It was a petsmart so could be a low grade stock.

 

[bethyMT]

Well, gmoses, some fish tend to wash out in the store. I had no idea how colorful my bosemans would become until they were in my tank for a couple of days.

The threadfins I saw were in petsmart too...and their color was pretty good. I was more in awe of their beautiful finnage, but their colors, though not bright by any means, still looked nice.

I think a lot of very nice fish get overlooked because they are so washed out while at the store. Another situation where it pays to do research beforehand, so you know the potential beauties before you see them at their worst.

 

[gmoses]

thats why i am here asking because i was surprised but yes when they open up the finnage was beautiful..

 

[Aquatic Delight]

GO KILLIFISH!

i'm going through a killifish phase right now. and i have to admit the gardneri (steel blue) are spectacular. you can do them in schools, but unlike alot of other killis they are bottom to midwater dwellers.

 

[gmoses]

any good sources for killifish? i seen pics of awesome ones but dont see to many breeders? def interested though...

 

[zorack]

killifish are amazing fish i breed gardneri and austrails the like colder water and they are jompers

 

[m00se]

There are a bazillion breeders. They are a lot like Ham radio operators in that they stick to their own and unless you know who they are you will shoosh right past them! It is a worldwide loosely organized group of fanatics and many of them are in Europe. They trade live fish as well as eggs.

http://www.aka.org/ is the American Killifish Association. I am not even close to breaking the surface of the intricacies of this hobby and don't profess to know jack-doodly about it (yet!) but I'm working on it! My introduction to killifish has been through the American flag fish... What a cool animal it is! Good luck. You might want to check the killifish ads on aquabid but the weather is now pretty cold so a lot of sellers are holding back at least through the Christmas season and possibly till spring when the weather warms up again.

Oh and aquabid has a forum associated with it too that you might want to visit.