Rainbowfish Species, Schools, Etc.

Ultimately, I want to breed all my fish, so I try to have at least a trio of any fish. And rainbow males do kill each other sometimes - you have to factor that in. An aggressive rainbow like a trifasciata or a lacustris is a very different proposition from a duboulayi.
At one time I had a nice group of kamaka that had to come out of a community because the trifs were dominating totally - but there is a size difference there.
I love my rainbows, but they can be stupid and brutish fish. Some individuals are awful. So having a plan B just in case helps.

 

Thanks for the info! Although I really like the trifs, I suppose this info should pretty much disqualify them at this time. Plus, they seem to be difficult to come by in my area.

I guess the question now is stick to just BosemanI and Red, or also keep a few of the Easterns. Of course the latter means I'd have less specimens of the other species. I'm also a big fan of the Turquoise, but they seem to max out below the others in temperature.

Ugh! I've now discovered the Yellow Rainbow (LFS had them when I purchased the BosemanI and Red, so I did some research), and I love these, too! I don't have enough room for all of these beautiful fish!

 

So, out of curiosity, is the consensus that ideally, a school of the same species best, but a mixed school is also ok, or that either of these are really the same?

I ask as I'm continuing to clear out the Easterns, and increase the new species, but in doing so, it seems that I had 6 Easterns and 1 Ornate. They were all sold to me as Australian at Petsmart (I know, I know). I actually like the Ornate quite a bit, but I'm not sure I have room for a group of them specifically.

 

Larger schools of fewer species is better, but mixing species seems to be okay too in rainbows. Like I said above, I would still aI'm for at least 4 or so of each species.

 

Thanks! Currently I have 3 Bosemani, 3 Irian Red, 3 Yellow, 1 Eastern and 1 Ornate. I plan to end up with 4 of the first three species, and to rehome the last Eastern (I'm donating them to the Science room at my job, they're just hard to catch and it's taking a few rounds). So I'm just debating what to ultimately do with the Ornate.

 

Remind me, you're keeping the Congos, right?

 

Yes, I'm keeping the Congos. I have 9. Originally you suggested having at least 4 of any species of Rainbow, and you suggested 12 total. So I'm imagining more than 12 might overstock me, so I'm trying to decide if overstocking or having less than 4 of the Ornate is the lesser of two evils.

 

Yes, I suggested 12 total, which would mean no ornates. And the fact that you have the Congos already, and want to stay understocked, means that I still recommend this. It's your choice, but you're very afraid of overstocking, so why not go on the safer side?

 

Oh, I agree. I definitely don't want to overstock. I never would've considered Ornates had I not ended up with one by accident. But, out of my previous group of Rainbows, he's by far my favorite. At this point, I need to either put him with the old group in their new home, or keep him. Either way, he'll be in a school of Rainbows, but not of his exact species.

 

Why not remove one of the other species then, and get more ornates if they're your favorite?

 

No, no. They're not my favorite overall. The Ornate is my favorite in my first group of Rainbows, when I had the Easterns. I still like my three new species better.

 

Then I would just stock the three species and return the ornate when you return the easterns. Maybe he'll be able to go to a home with other ornates.

 

I'm not returning the Easterns. I'm donating them to a classroom. Although I can give the Ornate to the same classroom, I'm not sure it'd be any better off there than in my tank, even though he was fine in that group for approximately a year in my tank.

I doubt my LFS would take one Petsmart fish in, although I could try.

 

The fact that he's an ornate rainbow may change their minds, and there's no need to tell them that he's from Petsmart.

If your LFS doesn't get Ornates in, and there's no one in your area that keeps them, might as well leave him in your tank then. At least he's with other rainbows!

 

Gotcha, ok. Again, he was sold as an Australian Rainbow. I can't be certain he's Ornate, but he doesn't look like the rest. Plus, Petsmart listed them as Australian, but listed a scientific name that comes back on an internet search as Eastern. So, obviously Petsmart doesn't know what's what.

 

Right, you've explained that. I'm saying that is a less common species for Petsmart to sell (never heard of them selling that one actually), and if it's less common in general, your LFS may be very happy to take it.

 

I know I'm not supposed to find humor in my fish fighting, but I can't help but get a kick out of my three cichlids playing referee to two of my Rainbows who are continually getting into it tonight!

 

Don't care for common names, but that isn't an ornate rainbowfish. Looks a bit like M.splendida "Coomalie Crater" (first pic) . An "ornate" rainbow is a Rhadinocentrus ornatus which looks much different and are very rarely sold in stores (second 2 pics)

 

Yes, what I have is the first picture you posted. I bought it as M. splendida from Petsmart, although their common name was Australian Rainbow, and when I Googled it, I got Eastern Rainbow, so that's what I've been calling it up until recently. This one looks very different (more intense color and pattern on tail) than any other fish I had in the school of 7.

 

Does anyone know approximately how long it takes for Rainbowfish to color up? I know there are several factors, and there's probably no hard and fast time frame, but any thoughts on the topic would be appreciated.

 

Does anyone know approximately how long it takes for Rainbowfish to color up? I know there are several factors, and there's probably no hard and fast time frame, but any thoughts on the topic would be appreciated.

Could be as long as 3 months, depending on there age. That's why they don't sell very well at the LFS. They look too boring when there young.

 

Ok, thanks! I guess I won't worry about mine that I've had for 3-4 weeks, then. I was just taken by surprise when they actually lost color when I brought them home as compared to how they looked in the shop.

 

Ok, thanks! I guess I won't worry about mine that I've had for 3-4 weeks, then. I was just taken by surprise when they actually lost color when I brought them home as compared to how they looked in the shop.

There probably just getting used to there new tank.

 

Yes, I'm sure. As long as this doesn't seem weird, I guess I'll try to be patient and not worry. Just wanted to ask the question

 

I had a BosemanI rainbow who tried to school with Buenos Aires Tetras.

 

Good to know!
I'm less worried about the schooling after some research. Now it's on to the color issue, which sounds like will just improve over time.

 

Although this question is a bit different than the original intent of this thread, it is about my Rainbowfish, and I figured I'd ask here rather than creating a new thread.

I've been missing one for awhile now. It's definitely not in the tank. It was a juvenile yellow/Lake Terbera Rainbowfish. I've heard Rainbowfish can be jumpers, and I do hear splashes in the water from time to time. I have glass tops that don't quite cover the entire tank. There's probably an inch width wise that's exposed. I'm sure everyone is familiar with these. Is it most likely the fish died and was either eaten or sucked up in my canister filter, or that it jumped out? I can't get behind the tank to check for a body, but there hasn't been any odor. Just wanted to get some opinions as I don't want to get anymore until I get a canopy if they could jump out.

 

I've had a few fish jump out behind the tank before. I never noticed an odor. It wasn't until I made a concerted effort to climb behind the tank and look that I found them.

 

Thanks, tyguy7760. This is in the 100 gallon, that's almost completely against the wall. So moving it or getting behind it isn't going to be possible. I've tried looking with a flashlight, but I'm sure that's really not going to work well.

 

When I was keeping rainbows,which wasn't long I couldn't get healthy stock, but the sick ones would hide so well when they were near death. 1 managed to jam itself under a large piece of slate that was laying flat on the substrate. Another jumped out of the back of the tank. The only reason I found out was because I found the cat back there eating it.

 

Oh wow, ok. I do have large pieces of driftwood, so that's a possibility. But, I haven't seen it in a couple of weeks, at least, and haven't had any ammonia issues. What do you guys think? Safe to get more, or wait until after I get a canopy?

 

If its open top right now I'd wait. Rainbows are notorious jumpers.

 

It's not all open. Just about an inch wide for about half the length of the tank. But, yeah, I guess it's probably not worth risking.

 

Just shine a flashlight behind the tank and check. I have a dead fish back there right now too. It's too far for me to reach it, and it doesn't smell and it isn't rotting, so I just left it. I'll get it whenever I move and have to move the tanks, next year.

 

Thanks! I'll keep searching.

 

Hey again, all. Just wondering if anyone knows whether some Rainbows are more hardy than others, or if they're relatively the same. I ask because I've now lost two Yellow/Lake Terbera Rainbows, but haven't lost any others at all. Before replacing any, I'm trying to decide if these might be less hardy, or if it's just a random thing that this happened.

 

jdhef

 

When I had my Yellow Rainbows, they did not appear less hardy than the others, so I would assume it was just random.

 

Thanks! I know that's a weird question, but at the price of Rainbows, definitely something I wanted to look into before making any decisions.

 

They can be quite expensive!