Help identify this rainbowfish :)

[rebe]

I was chatting with my friend @Flowerfairy13 and we were trying to figure out what species one of her rainbow fish is.
From googling my ideas were:

• Melanotaenia sp. "kali kaibur"
• Melanotaenia ammeri
• Malanotaenia splendida
• Glossolepis incises

Most of my ideas would make this a young fish without it's full colouring.


What do you think it is?

 

[Colin_T]

It's either a young male Glossolepis incisus that is just starting to colour up, or a hybrid. Normally male G. incisus have red fins not orange, which is what makes me think it's a hybrid.

Most of the known rainbowfish can be found at the following link. It's written by Adrian Tappin, one of the more knowledgeable people when it comes to rainbowfish.

Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae

A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea

rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au

 

[Flowerfairy13]

It's either a young male Glossolepis incisus that is just starting to colour up, or a hybrid. Normally male G. incisus have red fins not orange, which is what makes me think it's a hybrid.

Most of the known rainbowfish can be found at the following link. It's written by Adrian Tappin, one of the more knowledgeable people when it comes to rainbowfish.

Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae

A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea

rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au

Thanks Colin!!! It doesn’t look like any rainbow fish that I can find online. I wanted to try and find more because I know rainbows in general do better in schools but I’m not having much luck!

 

[Magnum Man]

having dabbled in a few Rainbows, over the last year or so, unless they are wild caught, or come from a "good breeder", I'd suspect most of what hit pet stores & the like are cross bred of some form... so some may look like their parent fish, or some may look different...

 

[Colin_T]

Thanks Colin!!! It doesn’t look like any rainbow fish that I can find online. I wanted to try and find more because I know rainbows in general do better in schools but I’m not having much luck!

Most rainbowfish will hang out together and even breed together so even if you can't find the exact same species (or hybrid), you can keep other rainbowfish that grow to the same size and they will live together. They do produce fertile hybrids so if you have a community tank or possible hybrids, don't breed them or keep any young from a mixed community tank.

Glossolepis incisus normally grows to 4 inches, and many other rainbowfish grow to the same size. They are pretty easy to find companions.

Make sure they get plenty of plant matter in their diet. At least half the food they eat should be plant based.

Do big regular water changes and gravel clean the substrate to keep the water clean and risk of diseases down.

 

[Flowerfairy13]

Most rainbowfish will hang out together and even breed together so even if you can't find the exact same species (or hybrid), you can keep other rainbowfish that grow to the same size and they will live together. They do produce fertile hybrids so if you have a community tank or possible hybrids, don't breed them or keep any young from a mixed community tank.

Glossolepis incisus normally grows to 4 inches, and many other rainbowfish grow to the same size. They are pretty easy to find companions.

Make sure they get plenty of plant matter in their diet. At least half the food they eat should be plant based.

Do big regular water changes and gravel clean the substrate to keep the water clean and risk of diseases down.

Thank you so much Colin! That is really good to know, especially that they will all hang around happily together! There are other rainbows in the tank with him so good to know he isn't lonely
I didn't realize they had such a big requirement for plant matter in their diet. Do you have any recommendations on what to add to their diet? Do you recommend just blanched veggies or is there something else?
Thank you!!

 

[Colin_T]

I used to grow Duckweed (small floating plant) and Ambulia in my tanks and the fish ate those. You can grow Duckweed outside in plastic containers in the sun and bring some in each week for the fish to eat.

I also used a vege flake and fed goldfish food, which is more plant based. You can try them on things like spinach, pumpkin, zucchini, etc, and some fish will eat them but others won't.

 

[GaryE]

I use a lot of green flake with mine. I hate duckweed, and love what they do to it, but they rarely get it all and tend to go through periods where they seem to lose interest in it. Duckweed then goes crazy in the tank, til the next generation of bows finds it a delicacy.

It looks like a Glossolepis to me, but I agree it could well be a hybrid.