rainbows'

[Peartree]

Hey there i have just bred some boesemans and i have had a really good experience bringing them up through the first few weeks as they are so very tiny you can hardly see them when they hatch and making sure they eat is a job and a half, they are about 6 weeks old now and doing fine if fact my second batch have just started to hatch so here we go again i hope to have more this time so will soon have some available if anyone is interested and i would love to hear from any members who are into their rainbows as i want to breed other variety's so if anyone out has any parkinsonis or red salmon rainbows to swap or sell please let me know
Happy tanks to all Peartree

 

[Colin_T]

Well done on breeding and rearing them through the first few weeks of life. Most don't make it through that stage so you have done well.

The following link might interest you and is written by one of the leading rainbowfish experts (Adrian Tappin). He also did a rainbowfish e-book but it's too big to post on here. You might be able to find it online but most of the links I found were no longer valid

Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae

A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea

rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Any chance of some photos of the fry/young fish? Congrats on your success!

I'm really getting into wanting to keep and breed the 'dwarf' rainbows, the psuedomugli (I probably spelled that wrong, I always have to look up the spelling!) since I like to have medium sized tanks but with nano fish. I got a trio of red neon psuedos (they were given to me as a trade for some live plants, he'd done well in breeding them himself) but haven't had any luck (or seriously tried) breeding them yet, think they need a different set up for the fry to survive, and a larger group. I do want to try getting 6-8 of one of the pseudo species, might try the red neons again, or maybe some celebes, ideally, both species in the same tank! Saw some in a store that were under a good light in a heavily planted tank, and they were stunning!

 

[GaryE]

Red neons are probably luminatus. Celebes are larger and need saltier, harder water.

Go for the Pseudomugil. I caught fish tb from celebes, and have never forgiven them.

 

[Peartree]

Any chance of some photos of the fry/young fish? Congrats on your success!

I'm really getting into wanting to keep and breed the 'dwarf' rainbows, the psuedomugli (I probably spelled that wrong, I always have to look up the spelling!) since I like to have medium sized tanks but with nano fish. I got a trio of red neon psuedos (they were given to me as a trade for some live plants, he'd done well in breeding them himself) but haven't had any luck (or seriously tried) breeding them yet, think they need a different set up for the fry to survive, and a larger group. I do want to try getting 6-8 of one of the pseudo species, might try the red neons again, or maybe some celebes, ideally, both species in the same tank! Saw some in a store that were under a good light in a heavily planted tank, and they were stunning!

I started with 2 males and 3 females in a 50litre long with just a sponge filter and a floating mop i fed the live food and took the mop out and replaced it with another every 2 days until i had 4 mops in a 25litre then just left them checking every day untill they started hatching so far i it is day 3 since the 1st hatch and i have about 15-20 so am expecting quiet a few more,,one thing to remember they take a long time to grow out it will be about 6 months before they are big enough to send to anyone but when they are i shall let you all know with pictures lol

 

[Colin_T]

If your rainbowfish are taking 6 months to reach a saleable size, they are growing slowly. Most Melanotaenia species should reach 2 inches in 3 months.

My fry were grown up in 2 foot tanks.
The water temperature was 28C.
The room light was on 16 hours a day.
There was a thin layer of gravel on the bottom.

The tank contained an air operated sponge filter that bubbled slowly while the fry were in the plankton stage (clear and hang out under the surface), and I increased the aeration (bubbles) when they became silversides and moved down into the main water column.

The tanks had coverglass to stop evaporation, reduce heat loss, and stop fish jumping out.

FEEDING
The fish were fed 3-5 times a day using a variety of foods. They got infusoria and powdered fry food for egg layers during the first few weeks. Newly hatched brineshrimp were added at the end of week one. When all the fry were eating the brineshrimp I stopped adding infusoria. The fry then got powdered fry food, microworms, and newly hatched brineshrimp were added last. I added enough brineshrimp so there was plenty floating around the water and the fish would eat them over the next few hours.

When the fry were silversides, they still got fed 3-5 times a day and got dry food first, followed by finely cut up marine mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up). Then frozen brineshrimp, bloodworms or daphnia. Then microworms or grindal worms (depending on the size of the fry). After they had eaten that, I added a heap of newly hatched brineshrimp so they could eat them over the next few hours.

The fry should be fed as much as they can eat and look like pregnant guppies at all times.

WATER CHANGES
The tanks didn't get any water changes during the first week. After that they got a 10-20% water change using water from the parent's tank. When the fry were all eating newly hatched brineshrimp, I started doing bigger water changes using aged dechlorinated water that had the same chemistry (pH, GH & KH) and temperature as the rearing tanks. When the fry were around 3-4 weeks old, they got a 75-80% water change and gravel clean every day.

SUMMING UP

• Keep the water warm (28C is the best temperature for rearing tropical fish fry).
• Feed them until they are full and add some live newly hatched brineshrimp after that so they can keep feeding for a few more hours.
• Do lots of big water changes to keep the tank clean and dilute any growth slowing hormones released by the fry.

 

[Peartree]

If your rainbowfish are taking 6 months to reach a saleable size, they are growing slowly. Most Melanotaenia species should reach 2 inches in 3 months.

My fry were grown up in 2 foot tanks.
The water temperature was 28C.
The room light was on 16 hours a day.
There was a thin layer of gravel on the bottom.

The tank contained an air operated sponge filter that bubbled slowly while the fry were in the plankton stage (clear and hang out under the surface), and I increased the aeration (bubbles) when they became silversides and moved down into the main water column.

The tanks had coverglass to stop evaporation, reduce heat loss, and stop fish jumping out.

FEEDING
The fish were fed 3-5 times a day using a variety of foods. They got infusoria and powdered fry food for egg layers during the first few weeks. Newly hatched brineshrimp were added at the end of week one. When all the fry were eating the brineshrimp I stopped adding infusoria. The fry then got powdered fry food, microworms, and newly hatched brineshrimp were added last. I added enough brineshrimp so there was plenty floating around the water and the fish would eat them over the next few hours.

When the fry were silversides, they still got fed 3-5 times a day and got dry food first, followed by finely cut up marine mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up). Then frozen brineshrimp, bloodworms or daphnia. Then microworms or grindal worms (depending on the size of the fry). After they had eaten that, I added a heap of newly hatched brineshrimp so they could eat them over the next few hours.

The fry should be fed as much as they can eat and look like pregnant guppies at all times.

WATER CHANGES
The tanks didn't get any water changes during the first week. After that they got a 10-20% water change using water from the parent's tank. When the fry were all eating newly hatched brineshrimp, I started doing bigger water changes using aged dechlorinated water that had the same chemistry (pH, GH & KH) and temperature as the rearing tanks. When the fry were around 3-4 weeks old, they got a 75-80% water change and gravel clean every day.

SUMMING UP

• Keep the water warm (28C is the best temperature for rearing tropical fish fry).
• Feed them until they are full and add some live newly hatched brineshrimp after that so they can keep feeding for a few more hours.
• Do lots of big water changes to keep the tank clean and dilute any growth slowing hormones released by the fry.

Hi Colin thanks for the advice mate this is the 1sr time i have managed to breed rainbow and the guy i got the original fish from told me it would take that long to grow them out the ones that i hatched on sept 9th onwards are doing really well and i have been doing much of what you told me and are growing out in a 2 foot tank but i have just got a larger 125 ltr as they grow in number and size i think i will need the extra space one good thing is i now have a set up for brine shrimp daphnia micro worm and vinegar eels so it cost very little to feed them please feel free to keep the advice coming as i am new to breeding egg scatterers just live bearers up till now cheers and thanks Paul

 

[Beastije]

I'm really getting into wanting to keep and breed the 'dwarf' rainbows, the psuedomugli

Omg so do that, they are awesome and I am lately recommending them left and right
I bought 10 pseudomugil luminatus, aka the neon blue eye, I think the "red" variant and they are awesome, interesting, colorful and breed on their own. Can you spot the fry? I know it is not very good image, they move a lot and there is a glare. But I have had the fish (bought them colored, so adult) since July and I have at least 6 fry of various sizes that developed in the tank on their own. All I do is feed

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Omg so do that, they are awesome and I am lately recommending them left and right
I bought 10 pseudomugil luminatus, aka the neon blue eye, I think the "red" variant and they are awesome, interesting, colorful and breed on their own. Can you spot the fry? I know it is not very good image, they move a lot and there is a glare. But I have had the fish (bought them colored, so adult) since July and I have at least 6 fry of various sizes that developed in the tank on their own. All I do is feed

Yes! That's the exact same species I have!! I love them so much! I just need to try again in a species only tank. Mine are currently with pygmy cories, otos and now some guppies, so eggs just don't stand a chance. I do have the tanks and spawning mops to attempt to breed (would buy a few more to have a group) it's just with hard life stuff going on, it hasn't been the time to try a breeding project. But I definitely want to! Both the pseudos and since breeding pygmy cories went so well for me, I'd like to try habrosus too!

 

[Peartree]

Wow they are lovely pics i cant get them as good as that on my phone im guessing they are about 3 weeks and i love those big blue eyes and its great that they were born natural in the tank is shows what the benefits of a planted tank are well done you i bet your very happy with that cheers Paul

 

[Peartree]

Wow they are lovely pics i cant get them as good as that on my phone im guessing they are about 3 weeks and i love those big blue eyes and its great that they were born natural in the tank is shows what the benefits of a planted tank are well done you i bet your very happy with that cheers Paul

 

[Beastije]

Wow they are lovely pics i cant get them as good as that on my phone im guessing they are about 3 weeks and i love those big blue eyes and its great that they were born natural in the tank is shows what the benefits of a planted tank are well done you i bet your very happy with that cheers Paul

I also have bunch of rabbit snails in this tank that breed as well, I assume their poop is full of infusoria as well for the babies. But I do feed heavily to avoid adult predation too

 

[Colin_T]

The snails will eat the rainbowfish eggs. You need to remove snails, shrimp and anything else from the breeding tank, except the breeding fish.

 

[Beastije]

The snails will eat the rainbowfish eggs. You need to remove snails, shrimp and anything else from the breeding tank, except the breeding fish.

You say this every time, but you are not correct. You should say they *may* eat *most* of the eggs. For example luminatus breed inside the moss that I have floating in the tank and a 5cm large rabbit snail cannot float in the mid air to eat it from the moss, they are simply too heavy. Also, I have several generation of fry in the tank, about 6, with fish that are known to eat the eggs and fry. So no, the snails do not mean all the eggs will be eaten and none of them will hatch. I also feed the snail.

 

[Colin_T]

Pseudomugils don't normally eat their eggs or young unless hungry. Snails will eat any eggs they find.

Most female Pseudomugils produce 2-10 eggs per day. If you only have 6 young after a couple of weeks, you aren't getting as many as you could.