Boesemans Rainbowfish Hierarchy

[508]

So I have 5 of these awesome little guys. 4 of them are over 1 year old but still not adult size. I recently purchased a pretty young male (they are all males) who is a juvenile and probably 1/3 of their size. He also happens to have the nicest colours at the moment, but here's where I'm confused. I believe he's the leader of their group, he's pecking at the others all the time, has the brighest colours and is quite active compared to the others. How does this happen, if he is so small compared to the other fish? 

 

[clivealive]

sure someone will come up with a better answer but ive had this with my fish a few times.      he doesnt know hes small if he's got balls he takes the lead seems to happen a lot.
plus hes new and had to show he can hold his own. 
i have  Boesemans Rainbowfish too and had 3 small ones in a 120L tank and 2 big ones in a 220L  tank, one of the bigger ones died so i moved the big one to the 120L tank with the smaller ones.
The 3 small ones rule the bigger one and are much more lively than him.  
time might well change the pecking order but does happen

mine are colouring up nicely now they have settled a bit ,so lovely

 

[delkimgreen1]

Hi, i've had 6 Boesemans Rainbowfish since late November, very small to start off and mostly silver with very little (some had none)colour. Now they have doubled and even trebled in size and all have the characteristic orange rear end but two questions
1. how long before they are full grown ? and 2. when will the blues start coming out ?

 

[malfunction]

So I have 5 of these awesome little guys. 4 of them are over 1 year old but still not adult size. I recently purchased a pretty young male (they are all males) who is a juvenile and probably 1/3 of their size. He also happens to have the nicest colours at the moment, but here's where I'm confused. I believe he's the leader of their group, he's pecking at the others all the time, has the brighest colours and is quite active compared to the others. How does this happen, if he is so small compared to the other fish?

That's odd, I normally experience the exact opposite when I add new rainbows. I'd guess he's just trying to establish his place in their hierarchy. IME the biggest rainbowfish isn't always the most dominant. Maybe the little guy is just naturally more assertive than the others.