Red Rainbow glossolepsis insicus

[Rawson1]

Hi
This is a bit strange for me has I used to consider myself as a experienced fish keeper having 3 6 ft tanks keeping wild discus but I haven't had a tank in over 12 years and just moved to a bigger house I have space to fit a 125 litre tank and thought about angel fish but these would not be suitable from what I remember about the size then I remberberd a tank I had seen in America with just rainbow fish and loved the glossolepsis I think I can have 5 has there has to be a shoal but would have to be same sex any help much appreciated

 

[Essjay]

These are big fish growing to around 15 cm (6 inches). They need a tank 120 cm (4 ft) long. How long is your tank? (My old 125 litre was only 82 cm long)
There are smaller rainbows though.

I think you have hard water in Southport, which is good as most species of rainbowfish need hard water. Can I ask you to check your hardness by typing your postcode in here https://www.unitedutilities.com/help-and-support/your-water-supply/drinking-water-quality/ it will give your hardness in degrees Clarke. Post the number here and we can convert it inot the two hardness units used in fish keeeping ( German degrees also called dH; and ppm)

 

[Colin_T]

Besides the tank dimensions and GH, rainbowfish should not be kept in odd numbers, especially of all males. If you have 5 males they will fight and the biggest ones will bully the smaller ones.

Male rainbowfish should be kept in even numbers (2 males, 4 males, 6 males, etc). The males have to be the same size or the biggest male will dominate and bully smaller males. If you want 5 fish in the tank, get 1 or 2 males and the rest females. Male Glossolepis incisus are red and get deep bodied (tall), females will be silver or bronze and have no red at all on them. If the fish have any red colouration, they are males.

If you want a smaller species of red rainbowfish, look for Glossolepis pseudoincisus. They don't grow as big and have slightly nicer red colouration. They are also more peaceful than Glossolepis incisus.

All rainbowfish need plant matter in their diet and Duckweed is a good plant to grow in their tank.

The following link has information about different species of rainbowfish.

Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae

A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea

rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au