Breeding Rainbows- Advice

[mikka23]

I have a male and female Melanotaenia Glossolepis (red rainbowfish) in a community 200l tank (only got 6 penguin tetras with them so far). Just wondering whats the easiest way to breed the rainbows I have? I read they eat their eggs so was wondering the easiest way to separate them. Also how to tell when they are ready to breed?

Im thinking if you can tell when they are going to breed I can move them into a small breeding tank until they spawn then move the parents back to community tank

or would they spawn in the community tank, then I could just remove eggs and place in a small floated container within the community tank to hatch?

Just looking for some tips because im interested in breeding some fish and I love the look of rainbows.

 

[trojannemo]

Melanotaenia and Glossolepis are two of the three major families of rainbowfish. the fish you have are most likely Glossolepis incisus.

rainbowfish are egg scatterers. given enough time those two will breed, but usually you should have 2-3 females per male. you need a spawning site, such as a clump of java moss, or if you're planning on moving the eggs, spawning mops work really well. just drop a spawning mop in the tank and eventually you'll have eggs. the problem is, unless you remove the mop immediately after they spawn the other fish will eat the eggs.

my rainbows breed when they want, i dont do anything special. keep their temperatures at about 78F, super clean water (i do 50%+ water changes every sunday), and give them good food. the spawning will almost always take place in the morning when the tank starts to get some sunlight or room light.

there is a lot of very good information out there. i will recommend Adrian Tappin's website. it's a compendium of almost every bit of knowledge on rainbowfish..and now he has a ~500 page color book available for download for FREE:
http/members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Contents.htm

good luck and enjoy your rainbows

 

[mikka23]

Thanks for the info. Couple questions.

1. What do you feed your rainbows?
2. Where do you move the mop to, how to care for the eggs?
3. If I was to get female rainbows of another variety would they breed with the red rainbow I have? Or if I just got a set of other rainbows would they fight?

 

[drobbyb]

Thanks for the info. Couple questions.

1. What do you feed your rainbows?
2. Where do you move the mop to, how to care for the eggs?
3. If I was to get female rainbows of another variety would they breed with the red rainbow I have? Or if I just got a set of other rainbows would they fight?

1. Feed a high quality flake food along with blanched shelled peas and the occasional bit of bloodworms. Live food like daphnia and glassworms will help your rainbows get into breeding condition.
2. Generally, you would move the mop into a smaller tank, say 5 or 10 gallons, with the water temperature at 82F with a small cycled sponge filter set to run about a bubble a second. Keep the tank lit for 24 hours during the first month (this helps the fry find food 24 hours a day.)
3. Mixing the species is frowned apon. Hybrids, while the may be pretty, just aren't accepted. You should keep the bloodlines pure.

 

[Mikaila31]

I normally leave the mop in for a few days, it is best to take it out as soon as you find eggs. Especially since mine are in a planted tank, the micro organisms will make the eggs fungus over if left in the water too long. I also have a lot of nitrates about 20ppm out of tap. I just hatched some boesemani eggs using a method of mixing fresh dechlor tap water with a little RO water. Given my limited resources I have no fry tank ATM. I cut the strands that have eggs on them off the mop. They sit in a cut up milk jug that floats in one of my tanks. Change some of the water every 2 days at least, using fresh water, not tank water. I didn't pay attention to how many eggs I started with, but I currently have about a dozen 2 day old fry. Once you get to this point you have to start feeding them. I use vinegar eels, and micro worms to start with. I will be keeping my fry in their milk jug for a while. Just make sure you maintain the water quality. Fry are very tiny.

 

[drobbyb]

3. If I was to get female rainbows of another variety would they breed with the red rainbow I have? Or if I just got a set of other rainbows would they fight?

After reading the post again, I wanted to revise my statement. Keeping different species in a tank is fine, but you only want to breed with males and females of the same species. If they are in a community tank, don't pull any eggs from that tank. In this case, you would move the parents into a tank for breeding. After they breed and you think you have enough eggs, you can move the adults and use the breeding tank to raise the fry.