Rainbowfish compatibility

[dmaccy]

Hi all

I am looking to stock up my 240l tank and I have seen for sale a rainbowfish called Melantaenia parva. What are peoples experiences with Rainbowfish? Will they be ok to join my tank which currently has:

Black emperor tetra
Flame tetra
X Ray tetra
Black neon tetra
Honey gourami
Albino bronze cory
Smudge spot cory
Dwarf otto

 

[GaryE]

Wow - parva is a nice one that's hard to find where I am.
They're social fish, but a trio (1m, 2f) or a group of 3 or more males would do fine. They'd become your largest fish, but they are harmless. Sometimes just 2 males will battle to see who's boss.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Most rainbowfish are pretty peaceful but they do prefer harder water...

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Here's my parva...

 

[dmaccy]

Stunning fish, what pH and carbonate hardness do you keep your tank at? Mine usually sits at 2dKH and 6.2-6.6 pH, which looks OK for this rainbow fish, albeit not most rainbows.

 

[Essjay]

Hard water is the amount of GH which is more important to fish than KH. What is your GH?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Stunning fish, what pH and carbonate hardness do you keep your tank at? Mine usually sits at 2dKH and 6.2-6.6 pH, which looks OK for this rainbow fish, albeit not most rainbows.

Super hard...liquid granite

 

[dmaccy]

Hard water is the amount of GH which is more important to fish than KH. What is your GH?

6kh or usong the conversion on the box its 106.8 mg/l (CaCO3)

 

[Essjay]

6kh

Do you mean the GH is 6 dH? KH is a different measure from GH.

 

[dmaccy]

Yes, it's degrees of hardness.

 

[GaryE]

I have quite soft water, running at 85-90 tds, and slighty acid. I have no problems keeping and breeding rainbows. Most of mine have been here for at least a few generations.

I haven't measured GH and KH for years.

 

[Essjay]

GH rarely changes unless we deliberately do something to alter it or the water supplier changes the source, so regular testing is not important. But it is useful to know what the hardness is before deciding on which fish to keep.