Boeseman's Rainbowfish

[dizzydandelion]

I have a tank that is 55 litres (sorry can't do gallons) and I've kept 3 Bosemani's for the past year fine. I originally bought 4 but one died in the first week they were very small and grey but they seem to have been doing fine and are now really beautiful.

I don't have any other fish in the tank and you have to have a bit of algae as that is what they mainly eat in the wild. I also feed them mosquito larvae. At the moment they are about an inch long. I would say that if you really like the Bosemani's go for them because they don't seem to be growing that fast and they must be fairly happy as they are breeding (although they do eat their eggs).

At the end of the day if the fish do start to get too large you can always buy a bigger tank.

Good luck they are are really beautiful fish to keep.
Lynzy

have you actually seen an adult bosemani or red iranian rainbow? They can hit 5 inches easily

yea, your problem is..?

just stunt um if you cant get them to get to adult size.. stunting wont effect the fish if its not tradgic, like stunting an oscar dow to 2inch, then that would be bad, but taking an inch off it, if that then i think it will be fine

good luck

Wow..... just..... wow.

OP, we have hybrid rainbows. No idea what they're mixed with lol, but they are some VERY active fish and ours have gotten pretty large in a short amount of time. So in a 30gal, I would not recommend the bosemani that can get to 5.
There are a ton of other gorgeous fish to pick from though

 

[Nick16]

minx is totally right here, is not just about stunting the fish by an inch or whatever, its the fact that the internal organs keep growing and will eventually kill the fish. imagine you having a heart the size of your head, Thats what it would be like.

30G is too small for boesemani's, i am currently setting up a 4x2x2 (about 100 US gallons) and this is what they really need, just becuase the fish isnt very active doesnt mean its ok in that tank, it just means they have no room to swim.

as others have said, stick to praecox, and get say 3M 6F.

 

[AdAndrews]

, is not just about stunting the fish by an inch or whatever, its the fact that the internal organs keep growing and will eventually kill the fish. imagine you having a heart the size of your head,

have you first hand evidence of this then nick, to back up your claims? I think you will find that the organs dont keep on growing, and will not eventually kill the fish, what will kill the fish however is disease, caused by stress, stress from getting too big for the tank- which was the case for my rainbow(no rehomed) my rainbow was 3" and didnt enjoy his life during the last month before i rehomed him, he could only swim about 5 times his lenght in the tank and thats the kind of things that bring on infections, thus killing the fish.

 

[Nick16]

stress alone will not cause infections, there must be aweakness in the fish, a wound or similar. Or bad water will cause a disease.
yes stress will cause a fish to be more suseptable to these problems but it does not mean it will get these.

as i have said to you before, fair play to you for rehoming the fish, you have done the correct thing.

considerable evidence indicates that stunted fish are consistently deficient
in both endocrine glandular tissues (pituitary, thyroid,
interrenal, pancreas, corpuscles of Stannius, and the caudal
neurosecretory system) and in some target tissues (kidney
and liver, low GH and thyroid hormone receptors)

- Duan et al, Endorchrinology, 1995

It is impossible to answer this question without opening up a huge can of worms or Pandora's Box if you will. Probably the reason why many members don't like discussing it.
BUT

Does it matter? I don't think it does. Simply because those that care will always provide enough tank size and those who don't, will not....regardless of what the proof is.

there's plenty of conflicting material oout there, and im not saying one side has a stronger case but tbh its all down to biochemisty, and that is a whole new topic!

i hope this gives you all something to ponder

 

[ny2oz]

I know this is an older post, but my local store said they only got to 4", and I got a new 36 gallon tank (136 liters)...and bought 3 of em. They are active and ok, but if they can get 5 inches that wont be good. My tank is 30 inches long (76 cm).....will they be ok? if not..what can I do?!

 

[jennybugs]

I have seen some beautiful mature boesis that were much bigger than 4 inches long in a gorgeous 5 foot long tank. I wouldn't keep them in much smaller than that tbh as regardless of their adult size these guys really like to swim alot.

I had some in a tank that was too small not long after I started up fishkeeping, believing what the LFS told me. I rehomed them and learnt a valuable lesson about researching my fish fully before buying them

 

[ny2oz]

I have seen some beautiful mature boesis that were much bigger than 4 inches long in a gorgeous 5 foot long tank. I wouldn't keep them in much smaller than that tbh as regardless of their adult size these guys really like to swim alot.

I had some in a tank that was too small not long after I started up fishkeeping, believing what the LFS told me. I rehomed them and learnt a valuable lesson about researching my fish fully before buying them

Yeah...too bad one has to make multiple trips to the fish store.I started to write down their names, then go home, research it, and go back. I'm not sure what I can do to "rehome" them. They are small now though, enough for the tank for the time being.