Community Rainbow tank (Pseudomugil and Others)

[Eridinus]

Hi guys, has anyone had any experience with having a community tank of mixed rainbow species?

i have a 55 gallon which I want to have the following:

either pseudomugil furcata or Pseudomugil luminatus
irian reds
turqoise rainbows
dwarf neons
Boosemanis
adolfoi cory
bronzs cory
maybe a trio of Siamese algae eaters

does this sound alright?

Could anyone advise on the numbers of each fish I should have? (Corys will be in 6's)

Thanks!


Read more: http://rainbowfish.live/thread/173/community-rainbow-tank-pseudomugil#ixzz5kFAzYnD7

 

[Colin_T]

If you keep rainbowfish community tanks you need to keep species that grow to a similar size, otherwise the big males can bully smaller males. Mixing Pseudomugils with any other Genera (except Iriatherina) is likely to end up causing problems to the Pseudomugils.

Pseudomugils are small fish that general grow to 1-2 inches long and get knocked about by bigger species You could keep Melanotaenia praecox (neon dwarf rainbow) with Pseudomugils but Glossolepis incisus (Irian red rainbow) and Melanotaenia boesemani and M. lacustris (turquoise rainbow) are too big to be kept with them.

All rainbowfish need to be kept in groups of 6 or more. Try to keep even numbers of males (eg: 2, 4, 6) that are the same size. If you have odd numbers or sizes of males, you get 2 bigger ones and they pick on the smaller one. If you have 2 males the same size, they can hold their own against each other and spend all day showing off and neither will get hurt.

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Make sure they have plenty of plant matter in their diet. They will eat algae, small floating plants like Duckweed, and soft leaf plants like Ambulia. This is good for them and you should grow these plants specifically for the fish to eat.

You can also feed them a vege flake/ pellet and it will help reduce the amount of plants they eat.

Do big regular water changes (75% water change each week). Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Rainbowfish are sensitive to chemicals so try to use salt for treating diseases and never overdose with medications or plant fertilisers.

Keep the pH around 7.0 or slightly higher, and the GH above 150ppm.

There's more info on rainbowfish at the following link.
http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Melano.htm

 

[Eridinus]

If you keep rainbowfish community tanks you need to keep species that grow to a similar size, otherwise the big males can bully smaller males. Mixing Pseudomugils with any other Genera (except Iriatherina) is likely to end up causing problems to the Pseudomugils.

Edit: Thanks for all the info, very helpful!
Pseudomugils are small fish that general grow to 1-2 inches long and get knocked about by bigger species You could keep Melanotaenia praecox (neon dwarf rainbow) with Pseudomugils but Glossolepis incisus (Irian red rainbow) and Melanotaenia boesemani and M. lacustris (turquoise rainbow) are too big to be kept with them.

All rainbowfish need to be kept in groups of 6 or more. Try to keep even numbers of males (eg: 2, 4, 6) that are the same size. If you have odd numbers or sizes of males, you get 2 bigger ones and they pick on the smaller one. If you have 2 males the same size, they can hold their own against each other and spend all day showing off and neither will get hurt.

---------------------------
Make sure they have plenty of plant matter in their diet. They will eat algae, small floating plants like Duckweed, and soft leaf plants like Ambulia. This is good for them and you should grow these plants specifically for the fish to eat.

You can also feed them a vege flake/ pellet and it will help reduce the amount of plants they eat.

Do big regular water changes (75% water change each week). Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Rainbowfish are sensitive to chemicals so try to use salt for treating diseases and never overdose with medications or plant fertilisers.

Keep the pH around 7.0 or slightly higher, and the GH above 150ppm.

There's more info on rainbowfish at the following link.
http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Melano.htm

I've witnessed community tanks with pseudomugil furcatus and boosemanis, SAEs, irian reds, and turquoise rainbows and the furcatus seemed to stick to their higher side of the tank. I stood and watched the tank for 20 minutes and didn't witness any aggression or competition, and it actually seemed very peaceful.
Not sure if this is a fluke, but would you say:
"Don't do it, it won't work"
or
"You can try, but don't expect it to work"?

Thanks in advance

 

[Colin_T]

Were the other rainbowfish adults and fully grown?

The most aggressive rainbowfish is Glossolepis incisus (Irian red) and full grown males can bully the hell out of other fish. Most other rainbowfish are fine but big male G. incisus should not be trusted with small males.

If you want to try them, go for it, but it will probably end badly for the Pseudomugils.

 

[Eridinus]

Were the other rainbowfish adults and fully grown?

The most aggressive rainbowfish is Glossolepis incisus (Irian red) and full grown males can bully the hell out of other fish. Most other rainbowfish are fine but big male G. incisus should not be trusted with small males.

If you want to try them, go for it, but it will probably end badly for the Pseudomugils.

I'm gonna upload a video to youtube of the tank I was watching, it does look amazing. I'll send it to you!

 

[Eridinus]

Were the other rainbowfish adults and fully grown?

The most aggressive rainbowfish is Glossolepis incisus (Irian red) and full grown males can bully the hell out of other fish. Most other rainbowfish are fine but big male G. incisus should not be trusted with small males.

If you want to try them, go for it, but it will probably end badly for the Pseudomugils.

 

[Colin_T]

The fish in the video contain adult Pseudomugil furcatus, adult Melanotaenia praecox (neon blue), and juvenile Melanotaenia lacustris (turquoise) and juvenile Glossolepis incisus.

When the G. incisus and M. lacustris are mature, the situation will change. The lacustris aren't a big issue but when the incisus get bigger, there will be problems.

The tank in the video is also too small for all of those fish. It would be fine for just the Pseudomugils or just the M. praecox, and might be big enough for just the lacustris. But it's too small for G. incisus, and keeping all the fish together will cause water quality and territorial problems when the incisus mature.

--------------------------
My tanks were 3ft long x 14 inches wide x 18 inches high and had 10-12 adult rainbowfish that were about 4 inches long.
My other tanks were 4ft long x 14 inches wide x 18 inches high, and held about 20 adult rainbowfish that were about 4 inches long.

These tanks got a 75-80% water change and gravel clean each week. The fish were fed well a couple of times each day.

The tank in the video appears to have over 40 fish and it doesn't look like a big tank. It is overstocked.

 

[Eridinus]

The fish in the video contain adult Pseudomugil furcatus, adult Melanotaenia praecox (neon blue), and juvenile Melanotaenia lacustris (turquoise) and juvenile Glossolepis incisus.

When the G. incisus and M. lacustris are mature, the situation will change. The lacustris aren't a big issue but when the incisus get bigger, there will be problems.

The tank in the video is also too small for all of those fish. It would be fine for just the Pseudomugils or just the M. praecox, and might be big enough for just the lacustris. But it's too small for G. incisus, and keeping all the fish together will cause water quality and territorial problems when the incisus mature.

--------------------------
My tanks were 3ft long x 14 inches wide x 18 inches high and had 10-12 adult rainbowfish that were about 4 inches long.
My other tanks were 4ft long x 14 inches wide x 18 inches high, and held about 20 adult rainbowfish that were about 4 inches long.

These tanks got a 75-80% water change and gravel clean each week. The fish were fed well a couple of times each day.

The tank in the video appears to have over 40 fish and it doesn't look like a big tank. It is overstocked.

Okay thanks.

The tank in the video is 350 litres. Also, would you recommend a trio of True SAEs for a 55 gal?