Help With Rainbowfish And Tank Stocking?

damanax

Fish Crazy
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Hey everyone!
 
I currently have a 55gal sitting at home, that I was planning on stocking with Tiger Barbs. Recently though, I've thought about doing a Rainbowfish tank. Now, Threadfins are a given, I've always wanted them. I was wondering though, does anyone have any experience with Desert Rainbowfish? Melanontaenia splendida tatei is the scientific name for them. The reason I ask is because the LFS where I live always has them in and I find them to be quite pretty. 
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All the information I can find on them say they're highly adaptable (which they should be since they live around here and it isn't exactly the wettest place) and peaceful community fish. They get to around 10cm in length. I can't find any info on what kind of numbers they should be in 
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I was wondering if I'd be able to stock both species in the 55gal, in adequate numbers? What would those numbers be? The tank dimensions are (in cms) 122*38*45 and I have hard water, though unsure of the PH. It is also decently planted and has a few bits of driftwood.
 
I'm aware that it is a rather uncommon aquarium fish, even in Australia, and getting reliable information might take some time.
 
If I can't find more info, I'd be open to other stocking suggestions, Australian natives are what I find most interesting at the moment 
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Thanks 
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Yeah, I've taken a look at both of those sites. Apparently the minimum tank size is also 20gal which is a bit surprising since they're fairly chunky fish.
 
I may have to just buy a few, since they're pretty cheap, and see how they fare. 
 
Thanks :)
 
Rainbowfish are awesome! Definitely some of the prettiest fish around IMO.

Have a look around the web for Adrian Tappin's free ebook on rainbowfish. It'll tell you everything you need to know about both desert and threadfin rainbows (and also every other rainbowfish in the hobby).

Alternatives could include M. trifasciata (banded rainbowfish). These guys are incredibly pretty and really easy to care for. There are a number of different varieties - each with their own colour pattern (I think the Goyder River variety's most common though). You could also try herberaxelrodi (Lake Tebera). Although not Australian, they're stunning looking fish!

I've found that most rainbowfish do fine in hard water, so I don't think you need to worry too much about that for splendida tatei. My tap water is very hard I've kept several rainbow species without any issues. In fact I'm actually planning on getting splendida in the summer (probably splendida inorta or splendida rubrostriata).

You may get problems if you want to keep threadfins in hard water though. I've heard they'll only spawn in slightly acidic water, and don't flourish in hard, alkaline water. Haven't kept them myself though, so can't say for certain. I'd be reluctant to mix threadfins with any larger rainbowfish as their fins look very delicate. All the rainbows I've kept are very vigorous swimmers so I think you'd risk the threadfins being injured.
 
Yes they are! I'm quite lucky to live somewhere where they are easy to find 
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I've been looking for the ebook but all the links I find are dead. 
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Yeah I got to thinking that I'd want a decent sized group in the tank and there probably wouldn't be enough space for both anyway. So I'm leaning towards the Deserts. Would you have any idea how many I'd be able to have in this tank with only the Deserts? 
 
Yeah that link works. It's just taking forever to load haha. Thanks for the help 
 

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