New Guinea Red Rainbowfish..not getting on

[littleme1969]

I just purchased a pair of Rainbows. I asked for a male and female, but what came from the breeder was 2 males. On getting them home I see one male has a split tail and a wound on his side. At first they seemed happy in each other company..but now they have settled the stroger one keeps talking a nip at the other one .
They are in a 5ft 95UK gallon tank so its not like there is a lack of space
I only have a 8.5 gallon tank that I can put the beaten up fish in..will he be alright in there? or would that do him more harm than being nipped by the other fish?
GGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRR I hate it when this happens..had the same problem with a pair of gouramis..they were too young to sex and ended up with 2 males.

Having just read the post with regard to a female not eating.. it seeems getting beaten up is a problem with these guys, and I thought they were supposed to be peacfull fish ..

Any advice from fellow rainbow keepers would be a help.

 

[The-Wolf]

I don't have rainbow fish, perhaps someone can help you more.

for the nipped fins regular water changes and melafix will help heal it quicker, also raise the temp to 82f to speed up recovery.

 

[luxum]

Rainbowfish are schooling fish, they need to be kept in a group, and you need females to defuse male aggression towards each other. A good ratio is 1:2, 2 females for each male. I'm afraid if you keep just the 2 males, pretty soon all you'll have is the dominant one. The 8 gallon tank is too small to keep one of these longterm, and they shouldn't be kept alone anyway. I suggest you return to the breeder and get at least 2 females (although you should really keep them in a group of at least 5-6), perhaps return the sub-dominant male and let the breeder take care of him since it was his mistake.

 

[parker313]

Yup. I had 3 Boesemanis and 3 Australians and I am pretty sure they were all males and they were total demon fish. They killed 3 turquoise rainbows and an angel fish (and were on their way to killing another but I saved it). They even started picking on my Green Severums

At least 6 of one kind with a good male/female ratio is pretty important

 

[littleme1969]

Thanks for the info. But at £6 a fish I don't think I will be getting anymore
As for the current situation...neither fish is really eating after about 30 hrs in the tank. And the battered one seems even more withdrawn. If I take it back to the shop it will end up stuck in a small 10 gallon tank with other community fish and non of its own kind...so I can't win really. If I'm left with the one male would he be OK on his own? I know you said they should be kept together but the thought of paying out more mega bucks on fish that just kill each other seems pretty stupid to me.
I did a fair amount of reaserach on these fish before I bought them and no where did I see any mention of the aggressive nature.. *easy to keep peacefull community fish* is all that ever came up.. I think someone neds to re write their fish descriptions.
I was advised to get these by people on here, so I'm a bit shocked to be having these problems.
You live and learn... stick to what you know is the moto from now on!!

 

[littleme1969]

The strangest thing ............... these fish never seemed to eat anything. I was late feeding the tank last night (I usually feed about 11pm and a small amount in the morning) It was about midnight....the rainbow fish had ignored breky...just swam around underneath the other fish looking like they wanted to , but dare not. .. well I fed the tank.. mixed dried flakes...mixed dried bloodworm/dafnia and pellets for the bottom feeders, as I always do...then turned the main lights off and put the moonlight on. The living room was dark with just the telly on as I like to watch the fish skip in and out of the moonlight beams ... then suddenly both fish made a bee line for the surface and started troffing for England ... how mad is that?...seems they will only eat in the dark ..is this normal for rainbows? or is it just the way they have been raised , so its the only time they feel safe?. I'm stunned .. all of the fish I have bought before have been starving when brought home, never had a problem with a fish not eating
Well as they are looking better after a good feed and the melafix has done a good job on the wounds on the less dominant fish I have just ordered 3 females for them...would that be enough? I dind't want to order anymore just in case the weaker fish dies.

Fingers crossed he makes it till next wednesday when the others come

 

[luxum]

*easy to keep peacefull community fish* is all that ever came up..

Well, they ~are~ easy to keep peaceful community fish, but they have to be kept in mixed sex groups, they are schoolers and have to set up a pecking order. I'm sorry you never saw that info in your research, i saw it listed everywhere when i was researching the group of dwarf neon rainbows i had at one point. (The group was sadly decimated by an unquarantined oto, DOH!) The real problem is that most fish in stores are spontaneous buys, and most people won't buy females of species where the females aren't colorful. So fish stores tend to stock only males which causes aggression problems in certain species.

Perhaps you could return both New Guineas and get Dwarf Neons Rainbows instead? The females of that species are colorful, so they are usually available. You can sex them by looking at the fins, the males have red fins, the females have orange/yellow fins. They also reach a smaller max size, so you could keep a larger group of them with less bioload considerations.

Regarding keeping just one, i know many people are successful doing this. I personally don't recommend keeping a single specimen of a schooling fish. They will be prone to unnatural behaviors, in the case of a male rainbowfish, the aggression could be turned against the other tank mates, much like if you keep a single tiger barb without a school.

As far as the eating at night, they are just getting settled in probably. My rainbows didn't like the lights of the aquarium initially, but they got used to it after a week or so.

Good luck.

 

[parker313]

I saw that they were schooling fish, but never saw that they should be kept in mixed sex groups I had just one Boesemani and just one Australian for a couple of weeks and they did FINE with everyone else in my tank. It was when I swapped out my rosy barbs for 4 more rainbows (thinking I was doing the right thing) that my troubles started.

Yeah, they may just be used to eating in the dark, who knows! If I were you, I would return the battered one and keep the other one, esp. if you can get store credit for returning it. Then, keep an eye on the other one.

 

[littleme1969]

I'll see how he goes..they don't seems too bad now.. more chasing that nipping and the wound seems to be healing. I'll give them ago with the 3 females and see how that works out. They are the only large fish in the tank so space should not be an issue.
I'm goind to remove all the livebearers before I put the other rainbows in. I have decided to keep my 3 hex tank and use it just for these. Letting them breed amongst each other..and rehoming and buying in the odd male/female every so often to keep the genetic pool strong. I'm not going to sell them as I would prefer them to go to passionate people who will care for them..so they will be offered free on here. I have both platies and guppies needing homes so if your interested and in the Yorkshire UK area PM me

Thanks for all the info guys.....much appreciated as always
I'll let you know how it goes

 

[CathyG]

I have three Boesemans, 2 male and one female and they get along absolutely fine. I have noticed (since their colours have started to peek through) which of the males is likely the dominant one, but their behaviour is no indication, and to me they are perfect community fish! I am planning a much bigger tank in the very near future, and hope to increase the numbers of these wonderful fish! They feed very well, but are not surface feeders, per se, they will not compete with the likes of Danio etc, but they catch most of what is dropped, and have even worked out the advantages of taking food from my hand

 

[littleme1969]

I have three Boesemans, 2 male and one female and they get along absolutely fine. I have noticed (since their colours have started to peek through) which of the males is likely the dominant one, but their behaviour is no indication, and to me they are perfect community fish! I am planning a much bigger tank in the very near future, and hope to increase the numbers of these wonderful fish! They feed very well, but are not surface feeders, per se, they will not compete with the likes of Danio etc, but they catch most of what is dropped, and have even worked out the advantages of taking food from my hand

Thats great to hear ..some good news at last. I guess I will have to just watch and see. But I must admit they seem a little more at ease with each other today and with the addition of the 3 females I'm crossing my fingers that they settle.
My hubby thinks they are really ugly fish..lol I see where he's coming from but with full colour and when they are more settle I'm sure they will look great with the bright red males and the smaller silver females.

Thanks for the info

 

[CathyG]

I have read, at least with regards to Boeseman, that it can take a year of maturation to start to show their colour - and therefore "true" beauty (half blue, half yellow). My males are already showing deeper physical bodies than the female, as happens with most Rainbow...but their colours change throughout the day lol! The evening is when I start to see the blue come through (in stripes so far - no solid colour yet, but the yellow is always there) but they are relatively juvenile still (guessing about 6 months old). The female never shows any blue, she is also very slender but still a beautiful, graceful looking fish

Good luck with your new additions, I might be tapping you for tips when I come to increasing my numbers!