Would Dwarf Neon Rainbows Work?

[arobinson1984]

I have a 33 gal tank, standard rio 125L size.

Tank is 3 years old, and filtered by eheim 2217+ so not worried about slightly stretching the stocking limit a little, religious weekly 50% water changes and gravel cleans are performed.

Current occupants are:

Pair of bolivian rams
Trio of apistogramma cacatuoide double red (1m, 2f)
BN plec
2 Swordtails (1m, 1f)
Albino rainbow shark
7 Sterbai cories

Tank is moderately planted and dosed daily with liquid carbon and TPN+ hoping to add presurised co2 system at xmas.

I'm wanting a decent size shoal of fish with some colour as the tank currently looks empty. Hoping to add 10-20 shoaling fish

I like the dwarf neon rainbows, would these be suitable for the tank?

Or any other ideas welcome, also like hengeli rasbora


Andy

 

[Wills]

I reckon 10-12 dwarf neons would work really well in that tank Though with that stock you could also consider fish like the forktailed rainbow as well and get a greater number as they stay smaller than the dwarf neons.

Wills

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

arobinson1984, this is a classic case where what I've read on the net could well conflict with real life experience...

From what I've read since mid-March, an 81cm long tank is too small in the long term for five dwarf cichlids; seven stocky corys and a Bristlenose. From what I've read, this amount of "ground level" stocking should need something in the region of 48"x12" footprint or more, in order for long term harmony.

How have you stopped a "last cichlid standing" scenario being played out? I would genuinely love to see a pic of your tank layout, to see how such a concentration of cichlids can work.

Has it helped that there has been no egg laying to date, that will bring out the aggression?

A group of 15+ Hengelis would be an awsome sight, they are one of my favourite "micro fish" (recently had a new number 1, the Filament Glassfish that came into Aquajardin this last week, which I'm now researching to see if they could thrive in the Korrall60 with my six Aborichys elongatus and my seven Pearl Danio fry that moved in today).

A group of ~10 Neon Dwarf Rainbows could work, although I personally think they would be a little claustophobic in a tank < 3 feet long. The Forktail Blue-Eye Rainbows (Pseudomugil furcata) however, like Wills wrote, stay significantly smaller and are less hyperactive. They hover near the water surface like beatiful little yellow butterflies... These are probably my number 2 favourite "micro fish."

 

[arobinson1984]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll get a pic of the tank on Monday goat.


Andy

 

[arobinson1984]

Hi nobody of the goat, some pics below of the tank as promised.

You are correct when mentioned that no egg laying has taken place whilst they have all been in there together.

The pair of bolivians have been in there about a year, the trio of apistos were added about 3 months ago after members on the forum agreed it would be ok.

There have been no signs whatsoever of aggression so far so I'll have to keep a keen eye out for any occuring as they mature, they swim happily together at this present time.

Overall pic of tank

1 of the bolivians and 1 of the female apistos

Better pic of one of the bolivians

1 bolivian, male apisto and both females as well as albino rainbow shark

Both bolivians and male apisto

Sorry for quality of pics, taken with iphone camera so not brilliant and the little buggers never keep still



Andy

 

[Always Learning]

I don't see any issue with the Bolivians and Apistos.
Generally, the Bolivians are fairly laid back as far as dwarf cichlids go and with plenty of cover and hiding places, you'll be fine. Personally, I would add more in the way of caves, somewhere towards the back of the tank... not that I have really seen any Rams using them, but the Apistos would feel more secure when it came to breeding, as well as providing a bit more cover for the fry and reducing the area they parents would claim to protect.

For the Rainbows, I think you'll be pusing it with 10-12 of them in there really.

 

[Emissary of Pain]

Hey hey ...

I know I am new to fish keeping at this level and if I am wrong by all means correct me ... but ...

Isn't 125L (33g) way to small for albino rainbow sharks, I had 2 of them until my chinese algae eater got a hold of them, and they got pretty darn large, they were easily 12cm+ (+-5in)<12cm bein the smaller of the 2>.

If I am wrong I apologize.

Regards,
Richard.

 

[Always Learning]

You're correct that they can get to around 6", though generally a bit smaller and it takes a while. I would say 3' when advising the minumum tank size, although obviously, a larger one would be more suitable and appreciated by the Shark.. but the Rio 125 isn't too far off that.

My concern would mostly be over how the Shark is, or how it may turn out to be with the Rams/Apistos/Cory as they can be quite aggressive and territorial.. but as with anything, they all have their own personality so what doesn't work, can.

 

[Emissary of Pain]

Hey always learning,

I must admit my 2 rainbows were very territorial, they would swim against and nudge most fish except my pleco which was much bigger than they were ... lol

Then again ... I am very unlucky and always seem 2 get teh overly aggressive fish ... even my brichardi as tiny as it is ... picks on the much larger fish ... well tries 2 at any rate

Regards,
Richard

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Thanks for the pics, Andy, certainly looks like that "island" aquascape has plenty of line-of-sight barriers.

Lovely looking fish, too!

 

[arobinson1984]

Thanks nobody of the goat.

The plants have only been in the tank about 2 months and currently get dosed daily with TPN+ and flourish excel liquid carbon but I dont think the liquid carbon is ideally sufficient for the tank as it is lit by 2 x 28W T5's so at over 1.5wpg, I ideally should have a pressurised co2 system which I'm going to get at xmas. Once the pressurised system is installed I will be looking to add more plants.

Richard, I don't have any concern over the rainbow shark, think I was lucky on that score lol, he was in my old tank and has been in that current tank for nearly 3 years with no problems. He is about 4" now including tail. The only time he gets even remotely territorial is if I put cucumber in the tank, he sometimes chases fish off but never attacks them, then other times he will share like a good little sharky

Your problem you had with your rainbows could have stemmed from the fact you had 2 in the tank, ideally they shouldnt be kept together, normally just a single rainbow shark per tank.


Andy

 

[Emissary of Pain]

Your problem you had with your rainbows could have stemmed from the fact you had 2 in the tank, ideally they shouldnt be kept together, normally just a single rainbow shark per tank.

Hey there ...

They were sold 2 me as a breeding couple ... at the time I knew little bout that and they have died due to the chinese algae eater (I have replaced them since) ... They were happy together ... always swam next 2 each other ... slept next 2 each other ... etc ...

But u have way more knowledge than I do so I will go with what u said .. lol ...

The only reason I thought that you tank was 2 small is cause when I put my 2 ARS in my 3ft tank when I cleaned the 240L ... The ARS's were cramped ... but it is my inexperience talking.

Thanks for the extra info ... I will be more careful of buyin pairs in the future...

Regards,
Richard

 

[ajs2294]

I love love love your tank and background and of course your rams! I makes me want to go get more plants ASAP haha, but my Bolivians are a pain constantly spitting sand around and causing my plants to look dirty

 

[arobinson1984]

Thanks ajs2294,

The background is just one of the juwel stick-on backgrounds, I wanted a rock design to look more natural. The one I got is this one -> Juwel Background

This is my first real attempt at live plants and after some good advice from the plants section of the forum I compiled a list of plants that would be good for my tank, all seems to be going well so far. Plants were all bought from java-plants.com and I was quite impressed.

I had sand but found my eheim used to blow it all over the place so changed back to gravel.


Andy

 

[ChilliPepper]

How many foot long is the tank?