The greatness of Melanotaenia boesemani.

Having them for near three years I've come to the conclusion they are among the very best fish for aquarium life and a long longevity if in the right conditions. I love'em. Colorful,eat anything and have survived the occasional mistake with additives like fertilizers or even Hydrogen Peroxide. The only special care is that they get large. Almost 6" for males and that can be a hefty almost 6". Bulky bodies on males. They also are truly omnivores and will eat certain aquarium plants and why its best to feed them cooked vegetables. Spinach is very good. They will eat corn or cooked zucchini also. You name it as long as it's cooked and soft. That of course in addition to protein foods,shrimp,worms,beefheart etc.
They like the water in the mid 70's or even more. They are fully tropical fish. Despite the endless videos of them in aquariums with almost no or very little current- they like a strong flow. Try the best you can on that.
Are they great plant tank fish? No. They have eaten as many species i've tried as the ones that they left alone. So- plants safe with them and plants you are likely to find for sale are the Cryptocorynes,Bacopa,Java ferns,Anubias. For color Alternanthera they ignore- those red Rotalas? Sorry,they are just food. Vallisneria is fine. Strangely,they will eat Hygrophila Water Wisteria,yet not eat other Hygrophila species. Mine spawn in the aquarium and the other fish eat the eggs. I can't help you on raising thing but should be standard raising of fish fry.
They really,really,are good on surviving keeper mistakes and accidents. I would not mix them with other Rainbow species if you can help it and never keep them as "dither fish" with aggressive fish. Males to each other are all flash and show..they dont fight or bite at each other. I have a half dozen males and and two females..enough for lots of color and calm demeanors.
Again- they get bigger than almost every photo you see on the net. Don't put them in a 30 gallon!..think 100 or more.

All rainbowfish need plant matter in their diet, which is why they eat aquarium plants. In the wild about half the food they eat is plant based and the same should happen in an aquarium. Duckweed is a small floating plant that lots of people hate, but most rainbowfish will eat this stuff day after day and never get sick of it.

Rainbowfish scatter eggs in plants. The eggs have small filaments on them that catch onto the plants and hold them in place. With most species, the eggs take between 4-10 days to develop, depending on species and temperature. The fry start swimming shortly after they hatch and hang out just under the surface. They eat dry powdered fry food for egg layers, infusoria and green water for the first few weeks, then they can eat newly hatched brineshrimp, followed by microworms and vinegar eels.

Whilst most rainbowfish enjoy currents to swim into, they should have calm areas in the tank where they can rest. If you have a power head in the tank, you can put it on a timer so it comes on for an hour, several times a day. The fish will swim into the current when the pump is on and can relax when it's off.

More information on Australian and New Guinea rainbowfishes can be found at the following link.

Also,as they grow and age,they get more rounded bodys. With the color and shape of marine fish such as Tangs. They truly are the 'If I could just keep one Rainbow fish species" and maybe "What are the best aquarium fish of them all?"..you find the half blue and red Bozys for sale and you win.

Any fish that eats all my plants is not the best I mean were would my pleco take a nap if someone ate all their bed ?

That's true. I guess the best overall for ease of care and best looks would be Angelfish. You dont have to keep fish to know people always like Angelfish. Plus- they make almost no dirt. Easy to filter their aquarium.

Stan510 said:

That's true. I guess the best overall for ease of care and best looks would be Angelfish. You dont have to keep fish to know people always like Angelfish. Plus- they make almost no dirt. Easy to filter their aquarium.

Click to expand...

I have to presume you are being sarcastic since angle bickering is a pia. However, i'm sure there is a happy in between fish.

Angels I found are best in mated pairs. Same for Discus. But to have a mated pair of Angels in a large enough aquarium do fine.
Anyways,here's what a Bozey well over 5" and about three years in the making looks like. Like I say,it seems the more yellow,the large the Bozey..the more red Bozeys so far not this large. It could be mine need more time...but half yellow race to the larger size.
I think the flash took some of his blue. In person that blue goes low.

I'm into the fifth generation with one of the deep orange Lake Aytinjo boesemani strains. I still like them as much as the first ones I kept.
I breed them in summer, then every year get the 3 year olds to friends. They are really fun to watch develop.

Beautiful. I have three males bought as generic Bozeys right? No Lakes. But they are orange red in the back half. The front half can be deep blue when they are showing off to the females..usually not any bluer than the half yellow.
I wish instead of 8' x2' I had a 8' diameter or larger aquarium with them. That would be great to sit next to and watch move with plenty of room and with plants. Plus,I remember when I set up a 12' x 3' tall pool for a few years ago in the yard and since it was above ground the view was like by a stream as water in a round pool circulates much faster on less pumping power than the usual shape of homemade liner pools,square.
I don't know why Acrylic costs so much. Its just plastic. You would think a dollar a gallon would get you a huge aquarium that makes them money and your fish much happier. Without a doubt the cost of aquariums limits the potential of the hobby.

Every time somebody starts talking about Rainbowfish the superlatives and accolades flow like cold beer in the summer. I've never had them but I've also never heard so much as one discouraging word about them. Maybe I'll give them a go someday.

What's amazing is that M. boesemani is not only the flashiest of Rainbows,it's also one of the very hardiest and long lived. So- there you are for the money you invested in that big aquarium. A fish you can count on. Also- They and Clown loaches/Boseline Rainbows seem made for each other. Especially if you get the white Roselines with that red slash color. There is a reason so many aquariums on youtube have that threesome. It works!
I just regret I also added non Bozey Rainbows. M.parva is ok..but not as colorful as I thought. Again- Bozeys are hardier than the Red New Guinea or the Blue lacustris in my experience.

Back in the fold said:

Every time somebody starts talking about Rainbowfish the superlatives and accolades flow like cold beer in the summer. I've never had them but I've also never heard so much as one discouraging word about them. Maybe I'll give them a go someday.

Click to expand...

Rainbowfish are prone to Fish Tuberculosis (TB), especially in Australia and the UK. It occurs in the USA too but doesn't seem to be as common.

More rainbowfish can be seen at the following link

I think that fish TB is what got to the other types. One male M. lacustris as it grew? Had a problem with its mouth being open constantly and even had lips that were white. I treat it of course and it got better for months,then went into a tailspin again. The N.G. Rainbows have always been short lived with me. Like Discus they grow well into young adults- and then they stop eating. Four days later or so,they die.
M. boesemani have never had any of those problems. Not one.

If you were to see large males eat chunks of shrimp? You would see why there is no chance nano fish could be in the same aquarium. They would devour fish like Zebra Danios,or younger Rasboras or any small stature as adult fish that you see sold as youngsters. No Neons or Cardinal tetras for Stan.