Cross Breeding A Red And A Bosemani Rainbow?

[catfish101]

Hi,
I have a 60 gallon communtity tank with an assortment of loaches, catfish, rainbow fish and an angel fish. To of the rainbow fish are adults( about 4 inches long and a good 3 years old). One of them is a bosemani (male) and the other is a female red rainbow. After water changes I see them spawning but with three pictus cats and a school of clown loaches eggs and fry would not last long . However I have an empty 20 gallon aquarium with a sand substrate and a few plants. also it has been cycled and now is a healthy tank. My questoin is would there be any way to get these rainbows to produce fry in the 20 gallon aquarium? I will post pictures of them later to make sure they are of maturity.

 

[Lateral Line]

Many of the rainbow group will hybridise, indeed, hybridisation is one of the biggest problems facing the rainbow group today. If you wish to pursue your project, I suggest you ask in the Hybrid Forum, who may be more sympathetic.

 

[catfish101]

Many of the rainbow group will hybridise, indeed, hybridisation is one of the biggest problems facing the rainbow group today. If you wish to pursue your project, I suggest you ask in the Hybrid Forum, who may be more sympathetic.

thanks ill try it there

 

[Colin_T]

it's preferable if you don't cross breed different species of rainbows. It ruins the pure blood lines that currently exist and is not good for the species long term survival. Further to that many shops won't buy hybrids and those that do should stop.
I urge you to not cross breed rainbowfish or any other fish for that matter. Leave it to the Asian breeders so they can be blamed for messing up the fish.

 

[catfish101]

it's preferable if you don't cross breed different species of rainbows. It ruins the pure blood lines that currently exist and is not good for the species long term survival. Further to that many shops won't buy hybrids and those that do should stop.
I urge you to not cross breed rainbowfish or any other fish for that matter. Leave it to the Asian breeders so they can be blamed for messing up the fish.

ok thank you for that advice. maybe I will wait until my younger boesemanis ( i have 2 you females and another male) grow up and i will try to get them to breed. 2 young*** females

 

[catfish101]

How would I go about breeding either a pair of boesemanis or reds?

 

[Colin_T]

I usually breed rainbows in a 2ft, 3ft or 30inch long tank. Have some gravel on the bottom, some plants like Java Moss near the bottom and some floating plants or spawning mops near the surface. Put an established sponge filter in the tank and add the fish. If you live in a cool climate then you will need to heat the water.
Put the adult fish in the tank for a week and then remove them. You can breed them in pairs or groups. Groups are better for two reasons.
(1): they give a better genetic mix and you get healthier young.
(2): male rainbows sometimes bully the females and smaller males. By having a few fish in the tank the aggression can be spread out over all individuals.
A lot of people use 1 male and several females. If you have the fish I found the best numbers to breed with were 4 males and 4 females. Pairs will work as well but watch the male isn't causing too many problems to the female. Some fish are fine, others are a ittle more pushy.

Usually within a day or two after the adults have been removed there will be baby fish (fry) swimming aorund the surface. Feed the fry immediately on infusoria, green water or baby fish food from the LFS. After a couple of weeks you can start adding baby brineshrimp and microworms to help them grow faster.

Rainbowfish will breed almost continuously when mature. If you have single species tanks of rainbows you can simply take the plants out of the tank and put them into a spare tank for hatching. Because the eggs are laid each day you get young hatching out each day. The eggs take between 4 and 16 days to hatch depending on species. Fish like Glossolepis incisus (red rainbow) and Melanotaenia boesemani have eggs that take about 6 days to hatch at 25C.

 

[catfish101]

I usually breed rainbows in a 2ft, 3ft or 30inch long tank. Have some gravel on the bottom, some plants like Java Moss near the bottom and some floating plants or spawning mops near the surface. Put an established sponge filter in the tank and add the fish. If you live in a cool climate then you will need to heat the water.
Put the adult fish in the tank for a week and then remove them. You can breed them in pairs or groups. Groups are better for two reasons.
(1): they give a better genetic mix and you get healthier young.
(2): male rainbows sometimes bully the females and smaller males. By having a few fish in the tank the aggression can be spread out over all individuals.
A lot of people use 1 male and several females. If you have the fish I found the best numbers to breed with were 4 males and 4 females. Pairs will work as well but watch the male isn't causing too many problems to the female. Some fish are fine, others are a ittle more pushy.

Usually within a day or two after the adults have been removed there will be baby fish (fry) swimming aorund the surface. Feed the fry immediately on infusoria, green water or baby fish food from the LFS. After a couple of weeks you can start adding baby brineshrimp and microworms to help them grow faster.

Rainbowfish will breed almost continuously when mature. If you have single species tanks of rainbows you can simply take the plants out of the tank and put them into a spare tank for hatching. Because the eggs are laid each day you get young hatching out each day. The eggs take between 4 and 16 days to hatch depending on species. Fish like Glossolepis incisus (red rainbow) and Melanotaenia boesemani have eggs that take about 6 days to hatch at 25C.

is it ok that there is a sandy substrate.?

 

[Colin_T]

it doesn't matter what the substrate is. Sand, gravel, marbles, anything. SOme people just have a huge mat of java moss covering the base.