Rainbowfish mixing

[Shifty1303]

Hi all.

Quick question on rainbows.. I have had multiple people tell me it's ok to mix various pairs of rainbows together if it is a rainbow only tank but I want to know what this forum thinks? Is it ok for me to put 5 pairs in my 200l? Or should it be minimum 5 fish of each rainbow derivative so 2 x 5?

I was thinking of getting
2x bosemani
2x fire red bosemani
2x lake kutubu
2x Axelrod or parkinsons
2x sentani

I can only imagine how beautiful they would all be in there together but I want to do what's best for the fish first

Cheers!

 

[Byron]

First point to make is that all rainbowfish are shoaling fish. This means you need a group of each species so they can interact normally. The number of species rather depends upon the size of the aquarium, though some rainbows do have differing water parameter requirements. A 200 liter (roughly 50 gallon) aquarium is not that large for some of the species. Length is more important than volume, as these fish are usually active swimmers.

The Bosemani (Melanotaenia boesemani) rainbow attains over 3 inches (females) or 4 inches (males) and needs a group of at least six, but males will be more colourful and less skittish in larger groups. A 4-foot tank is minimum for this species. Moderately hard and slightly basic (pH above 7) suits this species.

The Lake Kutubu rainbowfish (Melanotaenia lacustris) is even larger, slightly, up to 5 inches, and also needs a group in a 4-foot minimum tank.

The Parkinson's rainbow (Melanotaenia herbertaxelrodi) is also not a small fish, reaching close to 4 inches, but being less active will manage in a 3-foot in a group of 6-8 minimum.

The sentani rainbow (Chilatherina sentaniensis) attains over 4 inches, needs a group, so a 4-foot tank. This species requires soft slightly acidic water.

Byron.

 

[Shifty1303]

Thanks as usual for the advice Byron. I'm at such a loss as to what to stock now. It seems all the fish suited to my water which I like are just too big for my tanks

I took an interest in rainbows and Malawis because they embody what i love about fish.. colour and activeness. Same reason I love my ruby barbs.

What would you do with a 200l and a 130l Byron if you had hard water like me? (Running fluval 306 and 206 respectively)

I'm open to moving the current residents between tanks if necessary

7 lemon tetras
12 ruby barbs
15 panda city
Bn plec
1 bronze Cory
1 preacox rainbow (not looking at these again as can't find decent stock near me)

Regards

 

[Byron]

Can you provide the numbers for the hardness and pH? I cannot remember from old threads, assuming it may have previously been mentioned.

"Panda city" I assume means panda cory?

 

[Shifty1303]

Hardness 18-19dgh
Ph 7.6 tap

Haha yes I meant Cory (thanks autocorrect). It is panda city with 15 of them though

 

[Byron]

That is quite a high GH which does make it less easy. Obviously livebearers would be fine. Some of the rainbowfish but as already mentioned, tank space is an issue for the larger species (there may be some smaller ones, I am not that up on Atherinids).

Pristella tetra have a wide range in parameters, due we believe to their wide geographical range. There are probably others, I would have to dig through SF.

 

[Shifty1303]

Unfortunately I'm ruling out livebearers purely because I could never give a fish up if they bred and became overcrowded like they so often do. Also I had guppies before and they were so damn delicate

Thats what led me to rainbows in the end with the exception of praecox because they don't seem to be doing so well lately. I think inbreeding has started weakening them too especially those that come from Singapore way. Eastern European fish tend to be better but are harder to come by.

I would look at other barbs and tetras but I would also like variety as I already have both. Is 100cm long tank definitely too short for bosemani? I thought of mixing something like that with my barbs in the 200 and moving the lemons to the 130 and maybe getting silvertips or something like that

 

[Byron]

Unfortunately I'm ruling out livebearers purely because I could never give a fish up if they bred and became overcrowded like they so often do. Also I had guppies before and they were so damn delicate

Thats what led me to rainbows in the end with the exception of praecox because they don't seem to be doing so well lately. I think inbreeding has started weakening them too especially those that come from Singapore way. Eastern European fish tend to be better but are harder to come by.

I would look at other barbs and tetras but I would also like variety as I already have both. Is 100cm long tank definitely too short for bosemani? I thought of mixing something like that with my barbs in the 200 and moving the lemons to the 130 and maybe getting silvertips or something like that

I'm not trying to force livebearers on you, but just to point out that acquiring only males solves the over-population, and guppies are notorious for being weak, probably due to the generations of commercial inbreeding. Other fish are showing this too, neon tetra comes to mind. I always try to get wild caught fish for this reason. And there are now very worthwhile programs like Project Priaba in SA that provide a sustainable fish collection industry with a good economic return for the local residents in the industry, and the wild populations are not overfished. A win all around.

SF recommends 120 cm (4 feet) tank length for a group of bosemani rainbows. I don't like pushing the envelope, but I also can't say definitively no. The water parameters certainly work. If you get a nice group of 7-8, should be OK.

 

[Shifty1303]

Hmm ok I'll think about it some more.

Which livebearers are best then? Platys seem very colourful and active to me

I assume the 8 bosemani would need to be in there alone with the pandas?

If all else fails I might just sell the 130 and save up for a 450l juwel rio haha

 

[Byron]

Hmm ok I'll think about it some more.

Which livebearers are best then? Platys seem very colourful and active to me

I assume the 8 bosemani would need to be in there alone with the pandas?

If all else fails I might just sell the 130 and save up for a 450l juwel rio haha

If this is the 200 liter, yes, the 7-8 bosemani plus a group of cories (7-10) would be it.

Platy are probably the most colourful of the livebearers. Swordtails can be the same (these two species being in the same genus have been cross-bred for years to obtain all the colours and patterns, the wild fish in both cases are much more plain), but they do get considerably larger, but not so much as to exclude them here.

 

[Shifty1303]

What if I added an additional filter? I have a fluval u4 I can add to the tank too. Or is it the nitrates that would get out of hand?

I shall take another look at platys too.

Thanks byron

 

[Byron]

What if I added an additional filter? I have a fluval u4 I can add to the tank too. Or is it the nitrates that would get out of hand?

I shall take another look at platys too.

Thanks byron

It is the physical space the fish need for their swimming activity that is the prime issue, not filtration. You could have ten filters, it would not make any difference to the number of fish in this case.

Filtration is often misunderstood. "More" is never better, provided the existing filter is adequate for the tank volume, provides the correct water current the fish require, and the fish load is balanced for the physical space. A filter only circulates water (some fish need less water movement, some need more) and then performs mechanical filtration (removing particulate matter to keep the water clear) and biological filtration (removing ammonia/nitrite).

As y0ou mention nitrate, this should never fluctuate once the tank is cycled and established. Nitrate will naturally be at some level, which should always be no higher than 20 ppm, and preferably lower. The lower the better for fish. If nitrate, once it is stable, fluctuates between water changes, it is a sign that the system is not functioning properly. This can be due to the fish load, filter, live plants, inadequate water changes, insufficient substrate cleaning, insufficient filter cleaning.

Byron.

 

[Baccus]

An absolutely stunning Rainbow fish is the Dwarf Neon Rainbow from PNG and don't grow any where near as big as my locally caught Melanotaenia splendida which are now huge and need moving from their current 4ft tank to my 1000L pond. My current Dwarf Neon Rainbows are happily living with a large mix of corydoras species (and a couple of Threadfin Rainbows) along with some locally caught Fly Specked Hardyheads.Craterocephalus stercusmuscarum in the wild rainbow fish and hardyheads can usually be found schooling together and if your lucky you will also come across Pacific Blue eyes also schooling with the rainbows and hardyheads. In the same creek system and often caught at the same time are Purple Spotted Gudgeons Mogurnda mogurnda http://www.aquagreen.com.au/plant_data/Mogurnda_mogurnda.html
and or Empire Gudeons Hypseleotris compressa http://www.aquagreen.com.au/plant_data/Hypseleotris_compressa.html
I don't know if they would be readily available to you but some other fish worth checking out and looking for would be almost any of the Blue Eye species Pseudomugil some require quite hard water while others prefer water on the softer side. There are also Rhadinocentrus and my favourite of these would have to be the Ornate.
http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Melano.htm.
So while you had your heart set on mixing multiple species of Rainbow fish as you can see you could make an amazing almost biotype tank using one species of Rainbow as the feature fish and using other fish from the same region/ habitat to build colour and variety. The benefit of mixing other fish that are naturally known to be found in the company of Rainbow fish is that as a general rule they will get along (but may predate on each others offspring), and you don't run the risk of accidently hybridising different species of Rainbow fish through cross breeding.
If you do decide to go with a live barer then I would recommend looking at a group of male Endlers, chilli and Black bars are both stunning fish.

 

[hobby5]

For something else check out the family of Godeidae. Some very interesting fish. And you could also help along some endangered species.

I would definitely say no to M. boesemani in a 100cm tank if you want happy fish.

 

[Shifty1303]

Hmmm ok thanks all. Will give it some more thought. I have never seen splitfins in the UK but will enquire.

Looks like I may be back to dwarf neon rainbows then. Beautiful fish no doubt. Let's hope I can find some better stock!

Are there any other good centrepiece fish I am missing that like harder water and don't mind being an individual or pair?

German blue rams seemed perfect when I found them but so hard to keep alive in hard water even if they are so extensively bred and supposedly "better adapted" to harder water by now