# lots of rainbowfish questions!



## Greenclaws (May 19, 2009)

(questions are in bold if you want to skip all the details)

I just set up my 70 gallon tall tank three days ago and plan on making it a community tank with as many different species and varieties of fish as possible. However, the larger fish will mostly be rainbows (atleast 70% of the fish.) I also wanted gouramis so I decided to get gouramis to start cycling my tank, but after getting the gouramis from my LFS, I stopped by Petco for crickets and saw this HUGE rainbow. It had no pricetag so I asked about it and they said it was a female and she was up for adoption for $5. Needless to say, I snagged her. 

Here is a video of her and her tankmates: (she comes in at 0:42)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bisKUo5QGqQ&hd=1

*So, is she really a "she"?* and why is she so bloated in the front? Could she be full of eggs? She has a healthy appetite and poops normal brown poop so im pretty sure she's not full of parasites. *Also, was I correct on the Boesemani ID?*

I've read that rainbows should be kept in groups of 2f:1m, but have also read you can keep groups of ALL males. *Will a group of all males flashing at eachother have the same color intensity as a mixed group?* My tank is a 70 gallon with a 15 gallon sump, so I can't keep too many large rainbows. I want to try having only one or two males of each larger species and no females. *Will males still exhibit any flashing behavior if all other males are different species (of similar size)? *I plan on having a school of about 6 praecox rainbows (the answers to these questions will determine if its all males or mixed sex), but having multiple pairs of the larger rainbows seems cramped.

Please don't be quick to judge if these ideas are big no-no's. I just want to avoid overstocking my tank and can't find any information this specific to how to stock rainbow tanks. However, I have read that rainbows of different species but similar size and shape will hang out together (not technically school), so it got me thinking :icon_idea!! I will take all opinions into consideration before I do anything too crazy. :icon_lol:

Thanks everyone


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

1. yep Bosmani, looks to be a male, I have not kept Bosmani (yet) but it does look like a he, based on the color and pattern. See http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Melanotaenia&species=boesemani&id=811

The females seem to be yellow along the top, instead of along the back. 

2. I keep 1m:1f with no problems, I see them flare much more this way. I do have thread fins that are all male, and they rarely flare at eachother. 

The rainbow species I currently keep are the Praecox, and Threadfin. Near future adding Frucata to the mix. I have a smaller tank then you, so the larger rainbows are out of the question for right now lol. 

Bosmani are going to be larger than the Praecox, 3.2" usually smaller for males. Females are smaller. The females have a much more silvery color to them, but are still beautiful in their own right. 

Bosmani 4.4" for males and 3.2" for Females

www.seriouslyfish.com


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## Greenclaws (May 19, 2009)

I had a feeling it was a male. Do you think he'll color up after settling into my tank? He looked so drab in the Petco tank, but it could have been too cold for him or a variety of other factors. In their tank, i couldn't see any of the gradation from blue to gold, but his colors seemed to have gotten brighter over the past two days. I know they color up as they age but i havent read anything about adults loosing color then regaining it.

Any suggestion as to why he's so er.. robust looking? especially in his belly region? was he just overfed at his previous home?

Thanks for the info. I'll probably go to 1m:1f if it means more displaying.


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## Wilder (Jan 21, 2006)

Older rainbowfish -- at least the males, from my experience -- will develop the deeply rounded look and the more "beakish" face. If that is indeed the case with him, while he might colour up a bit he won't have the bright intensity of a younger fish. And of course, Bosemani have been terribly overbred for the pet store trade and this has caused the typical variety found at Petco or such to be very washed out from their more carefully bred or wild counterparts.

Nice tank, by the way!


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## monty67 (Sep 22, 2010)

In my expereince with rainbows the males always seem to be able to tell another male regardless of the species. And they will flash at each other whenever they feel agressive. When i notice the most fighting and flashing is right before a front moves in and the barometer changes. Serious, like clockwork.

They obviously will be less aggressive with a larger tank and more fish. I believe i was told at one point to keep agression down you really needed a small school of them of more females to males. Course, everyone seems to have a different opinion. The majority of the time mine just hang out together with little bickering but it wasn't that way before i got my tank fully planted. lots of fighting and lost a few very pretty fish to constant quarels and stress. neat fish though, good luck.


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## rasetsu (Oct 11, 2007)

That's a male and a very nice looking one. I have a female of almost the same size and would have loved to have found a male for $5 of that size. I've never seen "adoptable" fish at my Petsmart. Normal retail on bosmanis at Petsmart is $15.


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## Greenclaws (May 19, 2009)

Thanks for the info. I got two juvenile turquoise rainbows yesterday and read that the male's first dorsal fin will overlap the second one while a females will barely touch. Well, I thought I got a male and female pair but the one that looked like a female started flashing at the other one today (it's amazing how their foreheads pulse like that!) anyways, I guess I ended up with two males. I'll keep what you said in mind about them dying from stress and will remove any fish that's bullying the other ones too much. Thanks



monty67 said:


> In my expereince with rainbows the males always seem to be able to tell another male regardless of the species. And they will flash at each other whenever they feel agressive. When i notice the most fighting and flashing is right before a front moves in and the barometer changes. Serious, like clockwork.
> 
> They obviously will be less aggressive with a larger tank and more fish. I believe i was told at one point to keep agression down you really needed a small school of them of more females to males. Course, everyone seems to have a different opinion. The majority of the time mine just hang out together with little bickering but it wasn't that way before i got my tank fully planted. lots of fighting and lost a few very pretty fish to constant quarels and stress. neat fish though, good luck.


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## plaakapong (Feb 28, 2008)

What about the cycle?


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## Greenclaws (May 19, 2009)

plaakapong said:


> What about the cycle?


The top layer of substrate is from my 30 gallon planted that had been running for over a year and is full of MTS. It's also full of plants and has 15 gallons of water from my old tank and there's a 15 gallon sump filled to the brim with bioballs. The guy at my LFS said with all of that, my tank should have been pretty cycled at the get go so I just need to add fish slowly. Ive read on a lot of websites that using old substrate will cycle a tank very quickly too. I may have added my fish a little too soon but I'm doing 20% water changes every other day to keep nitrates down.


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