Red Rainbow Fish

[donna123]

Hi,
im looking for something different for my 260ltr tank.
ive been looking at red rainbow fish,
my book says they like to be in groups and get around 6inch.
i have gourami and platy at the moment, will these be ok?

 

[oddball_lover]

As far as I know, red rainbows would be fine with those fish

(ETA: Is that a black headed caique in your avatar? I love those birds!!!)

 

[donna123]

As far as I know, red rainbows would be fine with those fish

(ETA: Is that a black headed caique in your avatar? I love those birds!!!)

Hi,
thankyou for the info ,
yes its a black headed caique, her name is Roamer,
she likes to shower under the mixer tap, says thankyou, hello, and alright! lol

 

[helterskelter]

Ye that are fine but you may not get many fry from your platies

Also red's can be bred quite easily when that are mature
males in breeding codation are stunning, they get a golden strip on the head which the can flash on and off with in a few seconds.

Helter

 

[donna123]

thanks Helter,
thats fine, so long as they dont get agressive with the others thats good.
do they need to come as a pair or can i keep one?
also how do you tell the sex?
thanks,
donna

 

[helterskelter]

All rainbows prefer to be in groups of 4 min...

Red are not difficualt to sec, the females are not as red as the males, they tend to be a red/silver colour (difficuaslt to sex though when their small)

 

[oddball_lover]

Hmm, they are schooling fish so one on it's own won't really be happy. A single red rainbow will also be unlikely to show it's full bright colours!

Females tend to be a duller, more silvery colour and healthy, breeding condition males will be a nice bright red!

The shape of the dorsal and anal fins are also slightly different - the posterior ends of the females fins are more rounded, whereas in males they are pointed.

 

[wendywc]

Hi Donna! I've been looking into rainbowfish also... in hopes of one day setting up the 55 gallon that I have. Anyway, I thought that red rainbows only got up to 4" each and the Dwarf/Praecox Rainbows were 3" each. At least according to the book I have, unless it's in error.

Everything that I've seen (in print and online from others) is to keep them in groups but they are peaceful.

 

[helterskelter]

Red's can get to 6" if in a largeenough tank, preacox and stunning fish and dead easy to breed as well (reared fry with adult preadcox)
3" on them are a good size male femals a usualy smaller than the males.