Rainbowfish Id Needed.

[TimNorwich]

I just recently picked up four rainbowfish by the name of inscizors, however I soon realised that they aren't so.

I wen't into my LFS today and saw what looked to be fully coloured ones.

I tried to take a picture but they are quick little things!


I also tried my luck on google images, and the closes match I could find was: Melanotaenia trisfasciata, with a link to a similar looking one found here: http/www.goliadfarms.com/images/products/fish/rainbows/melanotaenia/trifasciata_goyderriver_male.jpg

Many thanks for your time,

Tim.


UPDATE: Turned the lights off for a little while, went back and saw that the unidentified Rainbowfish had strong blue lines from the head to the tail. I turned the lights on and they went back to the colour as pictured above.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Perhaps the Splendid Rainbowfish?
http/images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http/members.optusnet.com.au/rainbowfishes/splendida_DaviesCk.jpg&imgrefurl=http/members.optusnet.com.au/rainbowfishes/splendida.htm&usg=__GlF72ndzJ6XFlgWMXrT7HFsYK5I=&h=441&w=600&sz=39&hl=en&start=3&itbs=1&tbnid=P3X7Jx6wzg8V7M:&tbnh=99&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMelanotaenia%2Bsplendida%2Bsplendida%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26tbs%3Disch:1

 

[drobbyb]

Certainly not M. trifasciata. It is totally missing the horizontal banding. The fin coloration is wrong for a M. sp. splendida. It's really hard to tell from the pictures, hard enough for me not to take a guess and tell you wrong. It is a nice looking fish though!

Judging by the shape of the fins, it's a female. Female M. sp. splendida are quite drab. Check the top and bottom picture found here.

 

[TimNorwich]

Thankyou, I hope they colour up a bit more. When the light comes on in my tank all their colouration vanishes.

Could my tank lights be too bright?

Would the Rainbows benefit from some floating plants perhaps?

Regards,

Tim.

 

[drobbyb]

Rainbow's coloration benefits greatly from having a dark substrate. I kept mine over black gravel.

 

[TimNorwich]

Is this as you can appreciate their colour better? I have some black shingle I could put over the sand. I'm worried it may not look great though.

 

[TimNorwich]

The fish behind the Parkinsoni looks exactly like mine does when the lights are off/just turned on.

 

[TimNorwich]

I think it is a M. Trifas, I found a link here: http/goliadfarms.com/pages/products/fish/rainbows/melanotaenia/trifasciata/giddyriver.htm

The first picture on the page looks just like the picture I posted.

 

[drobbyb]

I can see the similarity between yours and the one from Goliad Farms. So, I suppose it's possible assuming that Goliad Farms has a pure strain.

 

[drobbyb]

Let's find out for sure! I forgot about another forum that has many experts that regularly ID rainbows. www.rainbowfish.info Try there

 

[stiddy]

It looks like a male Neon Rainbow, Melanotaenia praecox.
The males have a red tip to their fins and the females are lighter in colour with a yellow-orange fins.
I have a school of 5 of them, it was 6 but one died, no ideas on how or why!
Im also looking into having black sand to help bring out their colours as suggested before.

 

[TimNorwich]

It isn't a Melanotaenia Praecox, I have some M. Praecox and they are nothing alike, the fish I'm looking for an ID on are twice the size also.

 

[stiddy]

Yeah I had meant to ask what size they are. Did look much larger than mine. They could well be a cross breed. Its not uncommon for rainbow fish to cross breed in captivity.