Mikev, Opinion On Rainbows?

[drobbyb]

Mike,
Do you think the species of rainbow suitable for a 30 gallon long would be compatible with bolivian rams?

 

[mikev]

Sorry, I'm the wrong person to ask: I never kept rams (in fact I never kept any cichlids at all )

Ask --- you know where --- I'm sure someone there tried this or similar combo.

Incidentally, the combinations of bows with other top fish (bows+danios, bows+barbs) that I tried I did not like at all... nothing went wrong, but did not feel natural.

 

[drobbyb]

Well from what I gather, Bolivian rams stick mostly to the mid to bottom areas. If I provide 3 distinct territories with open swimming area in the front and top areas of the tank, I think it might work. The only problem I see is if the rams breed, the rainbows would be attacked every time they swam past. On the rainbows defense, they are very fast and as long as I stay away from threadfins I should be okay.

Sadly, in my area the chains have completely taken over. The only stores left that carry fish are Petsmart, Walmart, and Petco I checked Petsmart and Petco, and Petsmart had some "Australian" rainbows, but that was it. My friend that is a LFS owner closed fish, birds, reptiles and small animals. Now he just sells dog food, cat food and supplies and offers grooming.

This begs the next question though, I don't think I can talk my wife into letting me set up a small hatching operation anytime soon, so are you going to have any juvies for sale this spring?

 

[mikev]

Really no idea about rams... I suspect what you say is correct but this is not from personal knowledge. Most pseudomugils also will be too fragile, I think.

LFS-wise the situation in NY is similar. Our chain is different -- Petland is the dominant brand -- but small lfs' are shutting down. While I do have a lot of juveniles of various kinds I'm not shipping fish (simply don't want to get into this as a matter of principle). If you were around here, I'd have given you, I'd love to get rid of some of the overcrowding.

Talk to Mark. I have a feeling (well, relevant knowledge too) that your problem will be solved, but you need to talk to him fast.

 

[drobbyb]

Ok Mike, thanks for the tip!


Sent him a PM. Hopefully he still has some left.

 

[drobbyb]

Well then... lol I talked to the wife and she said I could raise a mop of eggs! I could actually get this started now, and by the time they are large enough to need a bigger tank it will be cycled. I just have to get the supplies ordered and get a vinegar eel culture going.


What species are you currently collecting eggs from?

 

[mikev]

Sounds good! Of course, a small raising tank should not be a big thing.... Still, talk to Mark, he confirmed that he has some bows to spare, and he ships well.

Of mine, I can fairly easily get eggs from lacustris/affinis/boesemani/parva and probably praecox (few eggs with these...they eat them too quickly). The rest are somewhat less certain. Pygmeae are young, I actually took some eggs today, but don't know if they are fertile yet. Mac's I probably can get eggs but they are difficult to raise without paramecium. Ditto for the threadfins. I did not collect any pseudomugil eggs for a month, so need to check the situation...

 

[drobbyb]

M. Parva sound good to me. I've never kept them before but always liked them, and they don't get too big for my tank Sounds like a good match.

 

[drobbyb]

I was thinking that this time I wanted to try a cleaner method of hatching brine shrimp. What do you think of this product?

Or should I try freeze dried rotifers?

 

[mikev]

Parva is fine for 30g, you should be able to keep at least 20 (they look good in large shoal). I guess we can do this in a couple of weeks when (1) it is a bit warmer, so one can use Priority (2) you set the tank and got some food... but still talk to Mark, he expects you to email him, he may have something more desirable.

Food-wise: I have not tried these... I'm just sticking to what works for me. IMHO, vinegar eels are totally unneeded, the fry will do fine on powder and then artemia, for powder I'd suggest Sera Micron AND/OR APR, with GP's being the 3rd choice. I'm unsure there is a good reason to try this new decap hatchable shrimp.. shells are not a big problem really, and this decapped shrimp probably has lower yield (I'd expect the process to damage some %-age of cysts).

BTW, here is how I deal with artemia: I hatch in conventional 2L soda bottles... but when the shrimp hatched I pour the entire contents into a dish hatchery. Dish hatchery does not work well for hatching per se...the yield is low...but it excels in separation of shrimp from shells and dead shrimp.

--> http/www.brineshrimpdirect.com/equip-shrimp-hatchery-c115.html

 

[drobbyb]

I sent Mark a PM on the other forum. It's Mark N right?

 

[mikev]

I left you a PM on this forum with his email, this will reach him faster.