Turquoise Rainbowfish (melanotaenia Lacustris) Questions

[EddyBearr]

I've read that Rainbowfish need a 4ft (120cm) tank at least, but I am wondering if I can use a 3'x2'x1' tank (90x60x30) for them. Will that be sufficient, or should I be wary? (45 gallons / (~170 liters)

Will turquoise rainbowfish get along with angelfish?

Would I be able to breed rainbowfish in a tank that size?

Will they get along with Bristlenose plecos?

Can they breed in a 45 gallon?

If I were to breed them, what should I set up as a spawning bed?


Thanks in advance for any help! I'm hoping for an aquarium with blue angelfish and blue rainbowfish.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Melanotaenia lacustris could only be put in a 3-foot tank while youngsters in my opinion, even though yours has a good footprint at 3x2, as they get older it is the length of tank they really need to use their energy. Given that they are usually sold at ~5cm, I feel you would need to give them an upgrade to a longer tank by the time they reach ~6cm.

My hunch is that combining them with Angelfish might be problematic, because the rainbowfish are energetic fish that zip around (even more so at meal time), while Angelfish are quite sedate movers and feeders. In addition, Lake Katubu Rainbows are not a great temperature match for Angelfish, the former do well in a cooler tanks at ~20C while Angelfish are mainstream to high end tropical.

I'd expect BNs to be fine alongside Lake Katubus, they typically inhabit the lower section of the tank (as opposed to mid/upper), plus they also do well in a low end tropical setup.

If you are trying to match a fish to the tank dimensions, I would look to Celebes/ Dwarf Neon/ Forktail Blue Eye Rainbowfish (the last two make a lovely yellow/blue contrast, Heiko Bleher did a lovely "biotope tank" display withe those two combined).

I almost forgot to mention, but Angelfish need a far deeper tank than 30cm, you should be looking at at least 45cm of water, but a 60cm deep tank would serve them far better as they go almost as big top to bottom as they do long. Shallow tanks are known to stunt growth, preventing the classic triangle look, plus with so little depth they can barely change their height position in the tank.

 

[EddyBearr]

Melanotaenia lacustris could only be put in a 3-foot tank while youngsters in my opinion, even though yours has a good footprint at 3x2, as they get older it is the length of tank they really need to use their energy. Given that they are usually sold at ~5cm, I feel you would need to give them an upgrade to a longer tank by the time they reach ~6cm.

My hunch is that combining them with Angelfish might be problematic, because the rainbowfish are energetic fish that zip around (even more so at meal time), while Angelfish are quite sedate movers and feeders. In addition, Lake Katubu Rainbows are not a great temperature match for Angelfish, the former do well in a cooler tanks at ~20C while Angelfish are mainstream to high end tropical.

I'd expect BNs to be fine alongside Lake Katubus, they typically inhabit the lower section of the tank (as opposed to mid/upper), plus they also do well in a low end tropical setup.

If you are trying to match a fish to the tank dimensions, I would look to Celebes/ Dwarf Neon/ Forktail Blue Eye Rainbowfish (the last two make a lovely yellow/blue contrast, Heiko Bleher did a lovely "biotope tank" display withe those two combined).

I almost forgot to mention, but Angelfish need a far deeper tank than 30cm, you should be looking at at least 45cm of water, but a 60cm deep tank would serve them far better as they go almost as big top to bottom as they do long. Shallow tanks are known to stunt growth, preventing the classic triangle look, plus with so little depth they can barely change their height position in the tank.

Thank you for your reply. I thought I should note that the tank is 60cm high, 30cm wide. While it's good news for the angels, I guess that makes it disconcerting for the rainbows.

Based on a few sources, websites either put the limit at 90cm or 120cm for rainbows, so I'm wondering if there would be some way to design it to make it work for them.