Boeseman's Rainbowfish

[JollieMollie]

I apologize if this is in the wrong subforum; I wasn't sure about the classification.


I currently have a mature 30 gallon tank stocked with a handful of guppies. I'm about to tear it down partially because it needs to be moved, so in the process I'm looking at new ways to set it up. I want to have something better than a messy tank with lots of guppies (-:


In looking around, I thought boeseman's rainbowfish might be a neat new species for me. I've always wanted to have some. Taking my current stock and tank size into consideration, what would you suggest as far as how many rainbowfish to put in?

I also have a bit of a problem with snails and was thinking about a clown loach or two to help with that. Would they be compatible with the rainbowfish, and even if they are would I be running out of room in the tank too quickly? I would hate to resort to chemically killing the snails off once I had all my plants in...




Aside from those two specific questions, I'm also looking for general advice. What would you do if you were revamping a 30 gallon tank with a few guppies? Here's a few specs for your further information:


- The only plant I have at this point is one I don't even know the name of; I think I got it free at a store. It's long and thin and doesn't like to be planted; it's a huge tangled mess at the top of my tank. Long stems with short spiky leaves all over. I liked it alright but it looks messy, blocks light, and I think I might get rid of it.

- I have a gravel substrate.

- I am using an old (at least 10 yrs.) powerhead underground filtration system. It works alright but it kind of noisy.

- I don't know what kind of bulb I have, but it's a single fluorescent bulb located in the middle-ish of the hood and I'm wondering if I need more light to have better luck with growing plants. What should I look for in a tank of this size? EDIT: It is an F20T12. I looked it up: this is a 20 watt bulb.

- The tank has been running for over a year at this point.

- I have some misc. rocks and a piece of wood that I use to decorate.




Any suggestions at all are welcome; help me turn an average aquarium into something beautiful!


PS My parents maintain the tank during the school year as I attend college out of state, so it wuold ideally be something I can spend the summer doting over and establishing, then do most of the heavy maintenance on every few weeks when I come back; not something that needs daily grooming of some sort. (-: Thanks!

 

[Nick16]

tank is to small for a bosemani im afraid. they really need something like a 55G preferably more. (long not high) you could look at getting something more unusual instead.

 

[Davo86]

tank is to small for a bosemani im afraid. they really need something like a 55G preferably more. (long not high) you could look at getting something more unusual instead.

A large shoal of Praecox would be fine though

 

[minxfishy]

I agree, 55g minimum for boesemani, the praecox would be good though, 8-10 shoal. The clown loaches would grow too large also for that tank, you could try an assasin snail though, they work slowly but will keep the population under control.

Also try putting some cucumber/lettuce in the tank overnight and in the morning, lots of snail will be munching on it, you just remove it and dispose of the snails.

I would go with the praecox and a group of corydoras for the bottom. Are you keeping the guppies?

 

[JollieMollie]

Praecox sounds like a very entertaining and beautiful little fish from what I've read so far (-: Thanks for the good idea! How many would be suitable for this size tank? And I was considering corys already; those are some of my favorite little fish.

I take it the assassin snail won't reproduce asexually?



I'll look into those fishes some more. Did anyone have thoughts about the filtration and/or lighting? Perhaps I should ask more about that in a different subforum. I read somewhere that I should be looking for 2-5 watts per gallon for a planted tank; mine is only 20 watts in a 30 gallon tank so I'm thinking about more light?




Thanks for the ideas!

 

[minxfishy]

8/10 praecox, 8 corydoras. Are you keeping the guppies?

Lighting should be 1.5 - 2w per gallon for a planted tank, but better advice will come from the planted tank peeps in the planted section

I would go for an internal filter if you want to upgrade or an external for good flow and bacterial capacity, run it alongside your current UGF for a good four/five weeks to allow it time to colonise bacteria before removing the UGF.

The assasin can I believe reproduce asexually, however, they dont do it particularly quickly and providing you dont overfeed, you wont have a problem. If you find you have more than you want, you can always sell them

 

[JollieMollie]

I found three praecox locally, but I think it's two males and a female. Does the ratio matter with this species, and do they need to be in groups larger than three? They are lovely. (-:

I don't know if I'm keeping the guppies or not. What would I do with them if not?

I'd like to consider a pair of ram as I've always admired those beautiful fish. Once the tank has settled in and is established with its new occupants, do you think I could introduce a pair?



Finally, if I decide to just keep the UGF, I'm wondering if a new powerhead would be any quieter. I've been happy with the filtration but not so happy with the noise level. Have they gotten quieter since ten years ago? (-:

 

[AdAndrews]

i dont want to create an argument, but i feel a 30g is ample for this fish, i have 2 in my 60litre, some may say its cruel but i find them to be great, the male of mine is 3inch, while female is 2 inch

i would have 5 bosemani's
2 iran rainbows
8 neon blue rainbows
maybe soon lake kabutu rainbows

and then a plec

good luck

 

[Davo86]

have you actually seen an adult bosemani or red iranian rainbow? They can hit 5 inches easily

 

[AdAndrews]

have you actually seen an adult bosemani or red iranian rainbow? They can hit 5 inches easily

yea, your problem is..?

just stunt um if you cant get them to get to adult size.. stunting wont effect the fish if its not tradgic, like stunting an oscar dow to 2inch, then that would be bad, but taking an inch off it, if that then i think it will be fine

good luck

 

[minxfishy]

Why do you have to say crap like that?

Id like to stick you in a room 3ft x 3ft x 4ft and see how you feel about it then. We've had this convo on another thread, keeping the boes in the 60L is not on, but you clearly dont give a toss. Dont even know why Im bothering to respond to this, you will see it as something to continue to boast about and act the little ##### you obviously are.

 

[AdAndrews]

Why do you have to say crap like that?

Id like to stick you in a room 3ft x 3ft x 4ft and see how you feel about it then. We've had this convo on another thread, keeping the boes in the 60L is not on, but you clearly dont give a toss. Dont even know why Im bothering to respond to this, you will see it as something to continue to boast about and act the little ##### you obviously are.

FACT-- theres no point in getting really angry, i just wanted to voice my opinion, good or bad, thats what a forum is for, im not arguing, im not swearing, im not saying anything wrong at all. if they dont like it then dont get into a jiffy about it(please dont think i am saying this in an angry tone, this can sometimes be confused with, when typing your opinion), im not really sure where the problem lies, when people keep 6 inch fish, like firemouth cichlids in a 30gallon??? like YOU have advised me on!

ok rainbows may like to swim more, but i feel there will be no harm done in a 30gallon tank, most 30's are either 80cm/90cm, the latter obviously being prefered...

i am still confused where you rant is leading to

 

[kizno1]

[
yea, your problem is..?

just stunt um if you cant get them to get to adult size.. stunting wont effect the fish if its not tradgic, like stunting an oscar dow to 2inch, then that would be bad, but taking an inch off it, if that then i think it will be fine

good luck
[/quote]
its never of to stunt a fish no mater how little you take of it should be given the space it needs to grow and live its life to its full potential

 

[DarkEntity]

just stunt um if you cant get them to get to adult size.. stunting wont effect the fish if its not tradgic, like stunting an oscar dow to 2inch, then that would be bad, but taking an inch off it, if that then i think it will be fine

good luck

With an attudide like that to fish keeping you shouldnt have them imo. No matter what the fish an answer like "just stunt um" is appalling, we as keepers are suppsed to be making their lives better and less hazardous not worse.

 

[Amunet]

have you actually seen an adult bosemani or red iranian rainbow? They can hit 5 inches easily

yea, your problem is..?

just stunt um if you cant get them to get to adult size.. stunting wont effect the fish if its not tradgic, like stunting an oscar dow to 2inch, then that would be bad, but taking an inch off it, if that then i think it will be fine

good luck

Wow..... just..... wow.

OP, we have hybrid rainbows. No idea what they're mixed with lol, but they are some VERY active fish and ours have gotten pretty large in a short amount of time. So in a 30gal, I would not recommend the bosemani that can get to 5.
There are a ton of other gorgeous fish to pick from though