Bosemani Rainbows

[markandhisfish]

i have 6 bosemani rainbows in my tank . i know that the fish sold in lfs are young and so have not got their striking adult colours . i have had mine for about 6 weeks now and they just dont seem to be colouring up much. they are 2 to 2.5" in size a couple of them which id say are certainly males are starting to show some colour 1 more so. but they all still seem just to be so drab and nothing like i was hoping for. am i just expecting them to show their adult colours too quickly ( are they still juvies) could i have poor quality specimins ( highly unlikely with my lfs) do i need to change their diet i feed tetracolour pro flakes frozen bloodworm and lvefood like daphnia . i do weekly water change of around 40% tank is 100g planted at each end with mangrove roots in the centre plenty of hiding spots and lots of swimming space ammomnia and nitrites are both constantly 0 have to be honest i dont test for nitrates ( slap wrist!) . any ideas / advice gratefuly received thanks

 

[trojannemo]

hi, some pictures would be great. there are different ways to tell the females from the males, and perhaps there we can establish why some lack color. i only have two M. boesemani, one i've had for 4 months and one for 3, and they're both very colorful, though my dominant male is strikingly more colorful and perhaps that can be an issue in your tank as well.

based on your description your tank sounds like something at least my rainbows would enjoy, as they're happy in my crappy (by comparison) lightly planted 33G tank


pics of the tank and of the fish!

 

[Colin_T]

all the bigger species of rainbowfish take at least 6 months before they colour up. In fact most males don't show full colour until they are over a year old.
Male boesemani will show some blue/purple on the head when about 6 months. Female boesemani stay primarily silver (with a few flecks of green and black) all their life. Give them time to grow.
Rainbows need vegetable matter in their diet each day. You can use a vege flake or fresh/ frozen (but defrosted) fruits and veges.

 

[markandhisfish]

hmm picss lol been tryin for ages sods wont keep still long enough! im certain i have at least 2 males 3 females and 1 could be either. 3 i think are female are as you say silvery / green tinge and the males are starting to slowly show the blue/yellow colours they all seem healthy enough and water stats are good so i guess they just need more time.

 

[drobbyb]

hmm picss lol been tryin for ages sods wont keep still long enough! im certain i have at least 2 males 3 females and 1 could be either. 3 i think are female are as you say silvery / green tinge and the males are starting to slowly show the blue/yellow colours they all seem healthy enough and water stats are good so i guess they just need more time.

The more orange the better. As Colin said, it can take up to a full year to show thgeir true colors. As far as ID male and female here are pics:

Female

Male

Nicely colored adults

 

[markandhisfish]

deffo from comparing with those pics got a mix of males and females with 1 of the males showing more than the others i will add some veg to their diet as well and hopefuly in time they will come good

 

[joshjames]

i am thinking of getting some aswell so just a quick question
in a shoal of 6 how many should be male and how many should be female

 

[Colin_T]

Get 3prs Joshjames. That way the dominant male will have a couple of males to push around. If you only get 2 males then one will dominate the other.

 

[joshjames]

so how do you no they are a pair or do i just get 3 of each

 

[Colin_T]

just get 3 males and 3 females. Rainbowfish don't pr up for life or anything like that. They just breed with whoever is around at the time. Try to get them all the same size if possible.

 

[joshjames]

and will a bosemani breed with a different type of rainbow or all 6 the same

 

[Colin_T]

all rainbowfish will cross breed with other types of rainbow. If you want them for display purposes only, then you can mix different types of rainbows in the same tank. However, if you want to breed them, only keep once species per tank.

 

[reportingsjr]

Actually, I would avoid getting bosemanis not because they are hard to take care of or anything, but they are an endangered species.

If you do, then try to breed them and sell a couple, that way they don't have to be harvested from the only three lakes they live in! (yep, only live in three lakes in the whole world. All on the island Java, I believe)

Sounds like you do have a fish that has yet to fully mature.

Good luck!

 

[Colin_T]

M. boesemani come from the north western end of New Guinea (Irian Jaya) and although they are endangered in the wild (so are most fish) there are plenty in captivity and most are captive bred these days. They are easy to breed and will often reproduce in a tank without any help from the hobbyist. They scatter eggs each day for a period of months. Spawning often occurs after a water change or just when the fish feel in the mood. If you have some fine leaf plants (Java Moss) in the tank, you can remove that to a hatching tank every few days and get fry from that. The baby rainbows can be reared up on fine powdered baby fish food, green water, and infusoria. After a week on that they are big enough to eat newly hatched brineshrimp.
All rainbowfish breed the same way and should be bred if you have the opportunity to rear up the young. You can even make some money from them, not huge amounts but enough to cover the costs of fish keeping.

 

[drobbyb]

Colin is right. Pretty much all the rainbows in captivity are tank or pond bred, not wild specimens. Not all rainbows will interbreed however. I. Werneri will not crossbreed with any other species.