Rainbowfish Options...?

[Paula2]

Hi all

We're currently stocking our tank, and want to get a small school (5-6) of some of the larger rainbowfish...

We were looking at the Boeseman's Rainbowfish... Melanotaenia Boesemani as we think the colours would look great in the tank.

But have now seen this one... Melanotaenia splendida inornata .. http/members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Inornata.htm

Does anyone have any experience with either? How to choose??

cheers
Paula

 

[Parin]

Hi all

We're currently stocking our tank, and want to get a small school (5-6) of some of the larger rainbowfish...

We were looking at the Boeseman's Rainbowfish... Melanotaenia Boesemani as we think the colours would look great in the tank.

But have now seen this one... Melanotaenia splendida inornata .. http/members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Inornata.htm

Does anyone have any experience with either? How to choose??

cheers
Paula

Okay, so you want larger rainbowfish. There's plenty of those.

M. boesemani is the classic of course. Beautiful colors when bred right, but lots of washed out colors available in regular trade.

The M. sp. inornata is a beautiful fish, but it won't be easy to find I think. They won't color much until they're adult, so not popular enough for stores.

Another option is perhaps M. lacustris? Lots of people adore it as well.

I've kept boesemani in the past. Great fish. But they're pigs.
They'll eat you poor, haha. And they'll keep eating if you feed them. So be sure not to over-feed them. Rainbowfish are supposed to be sleek, not fat.

How to choose? That's up to you. Choose the one that you like best, but make sure it's a fish that's approriate for your tank. 75G is not *that* big and rainbows like lots of room and clean water. So try not too overstock.

 

[Paula2]

Thanks!

The following fish are now for sale locally (privately)...

"Boesemans Rainbow (Melanotaenia boesemani); 3 x pair; The large male is 8 cm, the others about 5.5 cm. Large female is 6.5 cm and others about 5 cm.

Chequered Rainbow (Melanotaenia splendida inornata); 1 x male; Approx 9 cm long. Puts on a great display with the male Boesemani.

Neon Rainbow (Melanotaenia praecox); 2 x pair"


Would 6 Boeseman's be OK? We have a lot of filtration (I think it's a lot - about 6 x the tank volume/hr?) and we do weekly water changes, nitrates are never over 10.

I like these others too, but whether I should get a single male.. also space considerations.. I have seen the inornata at the lfs too.

Would 4 Boeseman's and 4 Neon Rainbows be too many fish/too few of each?

Arghh!!!

 

[Parin]

Thanks!

The following fish are now for sale locally (privately)...

"Boesemans Rainbow (Melanotaenia boesemani); 3 x pair; The large male is 8 cm, the others about 5.5 cm. Large female is 6.5 cm and others about 5 cm.

Chequered Rainbow (Melanotaenia splendida inornata); 1 x male; Approx 9 cm long. Puts on a great display with the male Boesemani.

Neon Rainbow (Melanotaenia praecox); 2 x pair"


Would 6 Boeseman's be OK? We have a lot of filtration (I think it's a lot - about 6 x the tank volume/hr?) and we do weekly water changes, nitrates are never over 10.

I like these others too, but whether I should get a single male.. also space considerations.. I have seen the inornata at the lfs too.

Would 4 Boeseman's and 4 Neon Rainbows be too many fish/too few of each?

Arghh!!!

The bigger the group, the cooler they get.
If you've the room, get at least 6 boesemani's. But remember, adult size is 12 to 14 cm.
4/4 will not be as cool as 8 of one species.

 

[Paula2]

Thanks for your response

OK, we've got a plan!! We've picked up four of the Boeseman's, and will be collecting the other two, plus the four neons on Thursday. We've so far got the bigger pairs of Boeseman's - the larger male has taken over a big clump of java moss and is displaying like crazy.

They will fit - as we've been waiting to get these guys - but we're setting up a second tank at the moment and once it's ready for some fish we'll be moving the neons and a few of the others into that one, and getting another couple of Boeseman's for this tank

 

[Parin]

Thanks for your response

OK, we've got a plan!! We've picked up four of the Boeseman's, and will be collecting the other two, plus the four neons on Thursday. We've so far got the bigger pairs of Boeseman's - the larger male has taken over a big clump of java moss and is displaying like crazy.

They will fit - as we've been waiting to get these guys - but we're setting up a second tank at the moment and once it's ready for some fish we'll be moving the neons and a few of the others into that one, and getting another couple of Boeseman's for this tank

Keep us updated with photos!