What type of fish is this?

[Sweet_fishies]

I have a male and female of these lovely fish because they came in pairs. The aquarium told me they’re called dyublii eyes or something similar but when I look it up online no results come up! Anyone have any idea what they actually are??

Thanks

 

[Byron]

I believe that is a rainbowfish, in the Atherinid order, likely a Melanotaenia species. We have a rainbowfish expert here, Colin, who will know.

BTW, common names are often useless as stores can make them up. Most stores have an invoice from the supplier and the scientific name is usually (if not always) on their, and if you ask they should let you see it. If this is what I think it is, it should have a group as these are shoaling fish, but Colin can sort that out too.

 

[Sweet_fishies]

Thanks a lot for that Byron,
Edit: just found out it’s the right name, it’s this fish:

Melanotaenia duboulayi

Crimsonspotted Rainbowfish

fishesofaustralia.net.au

It’s a
Melanotaenia duboulayi
Thanks.

 

[Colin_T]

Either Melanotaenia duboulayi or Melanotaenia fluviatilis.

If you bought them in Australia as M. duboulayi, then that is what they will be. They will need time to colour up and show their full potential.

They do best in groups of at least 6, and you can mix different species together and they will all hang out. Have even numbers of males and make sure they are the same size otherwise the big males will bully the small ones.

The male has the longer pointy dorsal and anal fins, the female has shorter more rounded dorsal and anal fins.

Make sure they get lots of plant matter in their diet.

If they get sick, do a huge water change, post a picture on here, and add salt (2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres).

There's more info about rainbowfish at the following link.

Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae

A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea

rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au

If your interested in rainbowfish, you can look up ANGFA (Australian New Guinea Fishes Association). They are online and have groups in most states around Australia, with monthly meetings and auctions.

 

[Sweet_fishies]

Thanks Colin. They are the M. duboulayi type. I had my new tank set up cycling for a week and only put them into the tank along with the white clouds on Sunday. I live in Sydney and bought them from here.
Do you have any advice on how often to feed them? I don’t want to overfeed my school of white clouds. Also when is a good time to add more of the duboulayai, as I only have two. Should I buy more male and female pair(s) so it’s even?

 

[Colin_T]

If the tank is newly set up, only feed them a couple of times a week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Wait until the tank has been running for about 6 weeks before adding anymore fish. Check the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels and when there is 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and the nitrate is less than 20ppm, you can add some fish. But let the filters develop first (that will take about 6 weeks).

When you do get more fish, try to get even numbers of males, (eg: 2 males, 4 males, 6 males). And have a number of females to go with them. If you want 6 rainbowfish then have 2 males (the same size) and 4 females. If you want 8 fish then get 4 pairs (4 male & 4 female).

Watch the rainbows because the male might get a bit boisterous with the white clouds. If you see the white clouds hiding in a corner and the water quality is good (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, less than 20ppm nitrate), then the rainbow is probably picking on them.