Lake Kutubu Rainbow Fish

[drobbyb]

With rainbows, you need to have more females than males, regardless of what they tell you at the LFS. They are in the business of selling fish, not properly caring for them or offering expert advice. What can happen with more males than females is the males can quite literally stress the females to death. Males are pretty aggressive when they are in breeding mode.

 

[Mogs26]

With rainbows, you need to have more females than males, regardless of what they tell you at the LFS. They are in the business of selling fish, not properly caring for them or offering expert advice. What can happen with more males than females is the males can quite literally stress the females to death. Males are pretty aggressive when they are in breeding mode.

oh poooooooh! I was so careful to read up on it too-I saw the fact about larger male to female ratio on this site too http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/mel-pcox.htm, I will have to have a think-and that makes my brain hurt
......
(a little later!)
I think I have a solution, but will wait for Robby to let me know what you think If I buy 3 more dwarf neons (female!) and reduce the numbers of xray tetra I am going to add to 6 and golden barbs to 10, Aq advisor still reckons I will only be 95% stocked when I add my bn. Does this sound ok, or do I need a larger ratio of females
........a little later again!
or 4 more rainbows and leave the barbs at 6, gives me 90% - which is a healthier safety net?
Also, having just put 8 rainbows in, I was going to leave it a while before adding anything else, but do you think I should at least even the numbers up, by adding another 2 rainbows, or is this going to be too much (I added the last 8 on Tuesday)
..and any suggestions for floaty plants which are indestructible, and ok with a trickle filter and no fancy equipment, or shall I only put one light on, which looks fine?

 

[myrtle]

The more females you can add the better. If you have 5 males then in a perfect world you'd have 10 females. I only have 5 at the moment, was 8, but I have 2 males and 3 females. In January when I up the numbers I'll be getting another 2 males and 5 females. At the moment they shoal with my red eyes as they are of a similar size and shape.

 

[Mogs26]

The more females you can add the better. If you have 5 males then in a perfect world you'd have 10 females. I only have 5 at the moment, was 8, but I have 2 males and 3 females. In January when I up the numbers I'll be getting another 2 males and 5 females. At the moment they shoal with my red eyes as they are of a similar size and shape.

That's not going to be possible, unless I go to 99% stock, which I think is dangerous! I suppose if I didn't have the bn, I could manage, and that would be 92% stocked. The only other possibility is not to replace the harlequin rasboro. The elderly one I have is the sole surviver, and I was going to get him some friends, but he seems happy enough-he's been on his own for a while, and if I get him friends they will only be tiddly ones, who might annoy him anyway. Oh dear oh dear, what to do what to do (sorry I am beginning to sound like Winnie the Pooh!)

 

[KittyKat]

The more females you can add the better. If you have 5 males then in a perfect world you'd have 10 females. I only have 5 at the moment, was 8, but I have 2 males and 3 females. In January when I up the numbers I'll be getting another 2 males and 5 females. At the moment they shoal with my red eyes as they are of a similar size and shape.

That's not going to be possible, unless I go to 99% stock, which I think is dangerous!

You could have only rainbows as your schooling fish and have a gourami or two for the top?

 

[Mogs26]

You could have only rainbows as your schooling fish and have a gourami or two for the top?
[/quote]
I can't do that as the barbs, tetras and the harlequin moved from my old tank-so they are fixed,although I do need to increase the tetra and harlequin numbers to be fair to them! I think the best solution is to abandon my bn idea and go with the 15 rainbows - they are beautiful! I wonder if someone more knowledgeable than me could get the above article on the site changed so that others don't make the same mistake though?!

 

[Mogs26]

I have just reset my tank dimensions in Aq Advisor and it says that with 15 rainbows, 6 harlequins, 6 x rays and 6 golden barbs (and a bn,later) I will be at 92%, so maybe there was something strange in the sizing before. (I set the tank dimensions, by tank size, not actual size with the hood, of course, and I set it to read 205l, and the tank is supposed to hold 215l, hoping to give me some lee-way!) Now for another question-I know I know! Should I even up the numbers today by adding another 2 females, or will that be too much on top if the 8 I added on Tuesday? I am willing to do daily water changes if necessary, although the water test today was fine-I am testing daily, as that was a lot of fish to add at once!)

 

[KittyKat]

I always assume it is 200 litres, after just some basic decor.. mine probably has closer to 170-180 litres even.

If you do not increase feeding right away, you should not have a problem adding more fish. I personally would go for the next two females now quite happily. You should not trust only the Aq Advisor.. learn to judge for yourself how the tank feels with the new fish. You might find that after 12 rainbows, it might looks like they are starting to get too crowded, for example, or that there is too much going on with that many species, or that certail areas of the tank are bare. Also the actual number of happy fish will depend on how your tank is set up and filtered.

 

[Mogs26]

I always assume it is 200 litres, after just some basic decor.. mine probably has closer to 170-180 litres even.

If you do not increase feeding right away, you should not have a problem adding more fish. I personally would go for the next two females now quite happily. You should not trust only the Aq Advisor.. learn to judge for yourself how the tank feels with the new fish. You might find that after 12 rainbows, it might looks like they are starting to get too crowded, for example, or that there is too much going on with that many species, or that certail areas of the tank are bare. Also the actual number of happy fish will depend on how your tank is set up and filtered.

Thanks. I was using Aq Advisor as a starting point, as it points out potential problems with stocking levels. I was going for 15 rainbows eventually, as I have 5 males, and to get the ratio 2:1 I would need 10 males. I will even up the numbers today then, and see how I go.I must say though, since getting the rainbows, I would like more-they are beautiful! Thanks everyone who is helping me on this one-I really appreciate your advice

 

[Mogs26]

Do you think it would be better to add 3 today? That would tip the balance in favour of the ladies, or is it too much?

 

[KittyKat]

Do you think it would be better to add 3 today? That would tip the balance in favour of the ladies, or is it too much?

I wouldn't have a problem doing that myself, but again, I take a couple of weeks to increase feeding after adding new fish. You need to feel confident that you are happy to do that: you shouldn't do it if it's just because I said I would.

 

[Mogs26]

thanks-I think I can cope, especially as I don't go back to work for another week or more, so I have plenty of spare time!

 

[Mogs26]

Ok. So here's where I am at now! I now have 11 beautiful rainbows-6 girls and 5 boys (3 still floating and acclimatising). To be fair, I went to our local MA and the same guy who served me at Moeden was there, and he apologised that he had given me wrong info, and said it was what he had read. At least he will know now too! He did offer to swap a few males for females, but I couldn't send the boys back to those horrible bare tanks, when they look so happy here, so I will continue to build the numbers, paying attention to the water quality, and how happy they look, up to a max of 15. Wow! How things change-last week I was thinking about having 5 Lake Kutubus and now I might end up with 15 Dwarf neons! My DH is pleased I am spending my Christmas money on them though

 

[drobbyb]

I wouldn't worry too much about hitting 100% on aqua advisor, after all each tank is different and their estimates are based on ideal conditions. In my opinion, it's better to understock than to overstock, especially with rainbows (dwarf neons can be particularly sensitive).

The ideal ratio is 2 females to 1 male, but as long as you have more females than males, you will probably be ok.

 

[Mogs26]

Thanks! I never wanted to go up to 100%, as I feel it's good to have a saftey net, but I will let you know how I get on. 2:1 would be 10:5 females to males, and I would still be fairly well under the 1" per US gallon even with my original stock list (well the one where I decided to keep to 6 of everything else and not have the bn!)This is obviously not what I had originally planned, but I will see how we go, and not be in too much of a rush. At least I have now redressed the male-female balance, as I don't think MA sells rainbow chastity belts I would envisage adding a couple more females at least making it 8:5 to try and keep them peaceful