Rio 180: Suitable For Boesemani?

[Christoff]

Hi eveyone, some advice for a newbie if you could please!

I'm coming towards the end of my cabinet build and am shortly going to get a Juwel Rio 180 with an external. For those not aware the tank is 101 x 41 x 50 cm and holds 180 litres or 40 gallons. I want to go for a low tech planted tank and I'm looking at stocking options and wonder if anyone's got any advice on whether I could keep 5 Boesemani Rainbows (2m 3f) in a tank this size? I've read conflicting opinions.

I'm based in Oxfordshire, UK and my water is pH 7.7 and is hard if this makes any difference.

Also grateful for any other stocking suggestions, I like the look of Rainbows and have also looked at Praecox but wonder if they're not as impressive as the Boesemanis?

Many thanks in advance.

Chris

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I personally would not feel a 180 litre tank is fair on these medium-sized, active swimmers. I originally wanted a group for my Rio 240, which is the recommended minimum size, but I decided against the idea, because I feel all the bigger Rainbows need a nice big setup (in the region of 300+ litres with strong water current).

You could do the same as me and plan to get 6+ groups of the smaller Rainbows (Threadfin; Forktail Blue Eye; Neon Dwarf; Celebes), depending of course on what other species you have in mind.

 

[Christoff]

I personally would not feel a 180 litre tank is fair on these medium-sized, active swimmers. I originally wanted a group for my Rio 240, which is the recommended minimum size, but I decided against the idea, because I feel all the bigger Rainbows need a nice big setup (in the region of 300+ litres with strong water current).

You could do the same as me and plan to get 6+ groups of the smaller Rainbows (Threadfin; Forktail Blue Eye; Neon Dwarf; Celebes), depending of course on what other species you have in mind.

Thanks for the input. I'll look at getting some smaller rainbows. Will the hard water be a problem for them do you think?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I would not bet my life on it, but I believe most if not all Rainbows love hard water.

 

[drobbyb]

Actually, they are found in both hard and soft water. They are usually tolerant of hard or soft water. There's more to keeping rainbows than regular tropical fish though. Make sure you do your research. A good place to start is here.

 

[Christoff]

Actually, they are found in both hard and soft water. They are usually tolerant of hard or soft water. There's more to keeping rainbows than regular tropical fish though. Make sure you do your research. A good place to start is here.

Cheers Drobby, I've already got it bookmarked from one of your previous posts I think. Really useful site.