Is It Necessary To Change 50% Weekly Water For Rainbows?

[totally tropical]

I have a 300 litre tank and would like to add some rainbows (not threadfin) to compliment my red line torpedos, but when I have looked up info on rainbowfish it suggests weekly water changes of 50%.

Is changing so much volume of water on such a regular basis absolutely necessary as I am led to believe this is a hardy fish? 150 litres every week seems excessive.

Thank you all.

 

[indigoj]

I've had a school of 8 praecox rainbows in my 5ft tank for 18 months and do fortnightly 40% changes on that. I had bosemani rainbows in the same tank - same regime and they died. Guess it depends on the specific rainbow you want.

 

[drobbyb]

It's necessary as rainbows are a sensitive fish and demand high waterquality than most other fish. We aren't talking about nitrates here, more the other hundreds of factors that come into play when we do a waterchange.

Changing less than 50% is asking for problems. Why is it so hard for people to change a little extra water? It takes literally a few more minutes of your time.

I would say if you aren't willing to put in a few extra minutes work, get different fish. It's not fair to the rainbows.

 

[totally tropical]

It's necessary as rainbows are a sensitive fish and demand high waterquality than most other fish. We aren't talking about nitrates here, more the other hundreds of factors that come into play when we do a waterchange.

Changing less than 50% is asking for problems. Why is it so hard for people to change a little extra water? It takes literally a few more minutes of your time.

I would say if you aren't willing to put in a few extra minutes work, get different fish. It's not fair to the rainbows.

Many thanks for your reply - just wanted to be 100% certain that the 50% change this was a must do. Certainly will not put me off keeping these beautiful fish.

By the way, I have my eye on the Boesman's Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia boesemani). What rainbow's would you recommend and what is the generally considered to be the best suited male to female ratio?

Cheers

 

[drobbyb]

M. boesemani are pretty common to keep, but there are so many other species available if you know where to look Personally, I love my M. lacustris (turquoise, Lake Kubutu, or blue rainbow) Those are the fish in my avatar and signature. Fantastic breeding stripe display.

Actually, for some of the best information you can get it direct from here. That site even has pictures and species by species profiles. Also for what is commonly available (at least here in the states) try Aquabid

For your other question, it depends on what you want to do. For 6 of them I would get at least 3 preferably 4 females or get all males.

 

[trojannemo]

it's a touchy subject I think...
before I learned better, I was doing monthly or 3-weekly water changes and my fish were doing "fine"...then I had a columnaris attack and I lost the two rainbows I had along with other fish.
I never was able to narrow down the cause of the columnaris, but a buildup of things with the limited water changes could definitely been the cause...

I now have 3 filters and do 55-70% water changes weekly and my fish haven't been sick in a long time...not the rainbows anyways!

until last week I did it the old school way, carrying buckets back and forth without complaining. now I upgraded to a Python and would recommend it in a heartbeart, especially for doing large water changes!


I also vote for M. lacustris, my adult male is my favorite rainbow hands down. another bonus is that I think female M. lacustris are possibly the best looking female rainbows you can find. boesemanis are beautiful as well, but then again I think 95% of rainbowfish are beautiful!

good luck but I warn you, if you give in to rainbowfish, you might never get out

 

[stryper]

I do 50% every week but slit it into two changes aweek the rainbows love it!! And when you see the colours after you know its worth the effort.

 

[drobbyb]

I changed my water yesterday, and today my tank looks perfect. Fish very colorful and active and breeding.

To be successful at keeping rainbows, you only meed 3 things: Clean water, good food, and clean water!

 

[stryper]

I'd say that goes for all fish Robby mate. But as you say you reap the rewards with rainbows.