# Angels and Rainbowfish



## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Aussies are great fish. They get largish for a schooler; 4-5 inches is common. I'd get 6-8 or even 10. I'd also up the zebra danios' numbers to 15-20. They're so fun to watch in those numbers. Angels, yeah, they're great until they breed and unleash hell on everyone else. The fish you've chosen are great ones for angels as they are fast enough to avoid them. For algae eaters, rubberlip plecos are much better than BNs. Less poop, same algae eating skills.


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## BigCountry (Oct 8, 2009)

LB79 said:


> For algae eaters, rubberlip plecos are much better than BNs. Less poop, same algae eating skills.


Those won't destroy my plants when they get bigger? Do they eat the Hair Algae and other types the BNs are supposed to? I would assume 1 would suffice if they get over 7" long?


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Rubberlips, at least the one I had for 3 years and the 4 my friend has, get 3+ inches only. They are territorial, but only toward each other, so 1 will suffice. They eat diatoms, green spot, green slime, basically anything that shows up but hair algae (they eat it so aggressively they need algae wafers to supplement their diet). For hair algae, SAE's work, and I usually have 3-5 in my tanks. They look cool, they school, and in that number, there's no hair algae.


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## BigCountry (Oct 8, 2009)

Thanks


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Ya.


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## BigCountry (Oct 8, 2009)

Well I picked up 6 Australian rainbows tonight, and 2 other types I can't remember the name. Didn't get any angelfish at PetSmart because they looked grim.

I guess I'm going to go over to the nearest LFS and pick up a pair of their angels. They sell them for $10 and claim to get them from a local breeder. They are about twice the size of the ones at petsmart and look much better.


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

I'd get four angels and let them choose their own mates as it is extremely hard to sex them and if a male and female are simply plopped into a tank, they won't necessarily pair up.


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## BigCountry (Oct 8, 2009)

The other 2 rainbows I picked up were Madagascar Rainbows. I hope they do ok together.


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Yeah, they'll be fine together. You might just get 3-4 more Madagascars. What a sight that tank would be!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

ohh boy... your wondering into the world of Rainbows. It is a hard world to leave lol. I have been bitten by the bug as well. What great fish they are, and now diverse the coloring can be. Most of the species of rainbows you find in fish stores, and especially big box pet stores are going to be a hybrid of some sort, the Australian are notorious for this. (not that its a bad thing, some can be very beautiful) once you start seeing some of the pure genetic line rainbows your in it for the long haul lol, there is nothing more beautiful than a very good genetic line of Bosmani, or Herbertaxelroid! 

Most species of rainbows are good together, I would steer clear of doing a mix of say your Madagascar's and threadfins as the threadfins are very delicate fish. but any mix of the Melanotaenia species of rainbows will be fine together. They can cross breed, so if you manage to get some fry to hatch, make sure you let any potential takers know that they are mixed blood.

Post pictures once they really start to color up!!


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## BigCountry (Oct 8, 2009)

Noahma said:


> Post pictures once they really start to color up!!


I will. I noticed this morning that I could see faint designs showing up in them already. I'm fighting a hair algae battle right now so the water isn't perfectly clear for pics, but at least the parameters are still good.


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Get those foxes in! Make sure, though, that they are the real, true Crossocheilus siamensis. The telltale sign is the black stripe running from very tip of the nose to al the way through the tail. False foxes can be aggressive, can get huge, or won't eat algae.

I noticed that my hair algae stopped with a fox, a few amano shrimp (not safe with angels), and the addition of CO2. I guess the CO2 speeds up the plants' metabolisms to the extent they draw all the nutrients form the water, leaving none for the poor algae, who die.


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## BigCountry (Oct 8, 2009)

Picked up 3 Angelfish tonight, along with 10 Harlequins. One of the Angelfish is already munching on the hair algae.


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

You'll soon want 50 of those harlequins. They're too cool. The angels and rainbows may get big enough to munch on them, but if they're growing up alongside the smaller fish, that will reduce the chance of turning tankmates into food.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BigCountry said:


> I will. I noticed this morning that I could see faint designs showing up in them already. I'm fighting a hair algae battle right now so the water isn't perfectly clear for pics, but at least the parameters are still good.


rainbows take quite a while to color up, patience is key with them. But when they do.... wow! 

you will find them most colorful about 15-20 min. after lights turn on when they are chasing lady rainbow tail. If you are able to land a couple females (if you don't have any yet) you will get much better coloring out of them plus some very amusing mating displays lol. 

Here are a couple of my rainbows. These are M. Herbertaxelrodi (aka Lake Tebera or Yellow Rainbows) They get very colorful just before feeding time, which these pics were taken. A little less colorful though. 

My dominant male is the most colorful, and he usually gets his way with everything in the tank lol. He took his crown from my M. Praecox (dwarf neon) when I first introduced them into the tank. I have a male M.Kamaka that keeps a constant battle going between the herbert, and the neon, with the neons worst injury being a scuffed up eye, and shredded fins. the herbert has only lost a few scales.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

nice rainbows Noahma 
as far as angels and rainbows go I'd say its a solid mix, but I'd warn you that angels can be incredibly nasty fish when they want to be. Back when I had 3, the sub dominant male took the eye out of the dominant male and left it dangling there, killing the poor guy
then, for the next 3 years or so, the killer angel made himself boss of the tank over my blood parrot, ebjd, and other various fish that supposedly don't play nice
my angel doesn't have his mate anymore but he still is doing well with the same blood parrot and a geophagus brasilinis along with 3 rather rowdy little rainbow cichlids
I'd defiantly get a large group of angels, then just keep the ones that get along together or have formed a single pair as they grow older
my only concern would be that aren't zebra danios kinda small?


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

They _are_ small (the danios), but they're not slow and witless like, say, neons, and they're more aware of their larger tankmates. Angels do get big, though. Thanks for pointing that out. I missed it completely.


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## BigCountry (Oct 8, 2009)

I may end up putting the zebras in another tank, if I can catch them without destroying my plants. I picked up some Harlequin Rasboras because I read in other posts that due to their size and body shape, the angels would not eat them. So most likely, it will be Angels, Rainbows, and Harlequins. I only have 10 harlequins, but I am thinking "must get more, must get more"


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

honestly, you probably should get more lol
you have the space anyways

I'd even add a nice big group of cories or two or three smaller shoals (like 6 each) of different cory species


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