# Boesemani Rainbows- plant eaters? Tank mates?



## jjp2 (May 24, 2008)

I have mixed rainbows, bosemani, cohen river, millineum, emerald and some others. The only plant that I've found they eat is downoi. Rainbows will eat shrimp, eggs and fry. Basically anything that fits in their mouths. 

You're planned stocking level seems too much for a 55 (6 4-5 inch rainbows, 2 schools of smaller, and miscellaneous catfish, oto's and bn's.) In a 55, I would suggest going with smaller rainbows, neon's, threadfins, kamaka, etc, a school of oto's, panda cory's, and bushynose pleco's, and a school of other small fish.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I looked at your tank. Nice setup  You are probably right about my stocking level. This is going to be my first "big" tank, so I am likely getting overzealous with my plans. I would still really like to keep Boesemanis though; the Dwarf Neons look nice as well but I really like the dual blue/yellow coloration of the Boesemanis.

I think I might nix the Danios and the Pleco. My wife wanted the Danios, but out of all the fish I am interested in, I think they are probably the least compatible. Plecos are neat, but I was initially planning on keeping one as a "signature fish" in a tank of small tetras and shrimp. If I'm going to have large Rainbows, that need is already fulfulled...and the Otos should be able to keep up on the algae.

How does something like this sound?

6 Boesemani Rainbows
6 Otos
4 Cories
~20 or so Serpae Tetras or other smallish tetra (enough for a good school.)
...X number of Nerites perhaps?


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## jjp2 (May 24, 2008)

That idea sounds better. But I would go with 8 panda cory's as they are very active, interesting and stay smaller (1.5 - 2 inches), up the oto's to 8 - 10 and have 12 - 20 Tetras depending on which ones you decide.


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## EdwardN (Nov 7, 2008)

Rainbows like to nibble on duck weed (Lemna sp.)


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

I would skip the Serpae Tetras, they are just about as bad as Tiger Barbs for nipping and harassing the other fish. If you like that shape and color look into Bleeding Hearts, Phantoms and Rosy Tetras. Some of these may be a little bit nippy, but nowhere near as bad as Serpaes. 

More Cories. A 55 can easily handle a dozen of even the larger ones. 
I have not found most Rainbows to be destructive to plants. They might nip a bit, but not to the point that the plants cannot recover. They are highly active fish, so are great for tanks of 4' long, but not so good in smaller tanks.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

jjp2 said:


> That idea sounds better. But I would go with 8 panda cory's as they are very active, interesting and stay smaller (1.5 - 2 inches), up the oto's to 8 - 10 and have 12 - 20 Tetras depending on which ones you decide.


 
I do like Panda Cories, and one of the LFS near me stocks them. They also had Sterbai Cories the last time I stopped by, which I also really like the appearance of. I wasn't quite sure of how many Otos to keep; 6 was an arbitrary number. More sounds good.




Diana said:


> I would skip the Serpae Tetras, they are just about as bad as Tiger Barbs for nipping and harassing the other fish. If you like that shape and color look into Bleeding Hearts, Phantoms and Rosy Tetras. Some of these may be a little bit nippy, but nowhere near as bad as Serpaes.
> 
> More Cories. A 55 can easily handle a dozen of even the larger ones.
> I have not found most Rainbows to be destructive to plants. They might nip a bit, but not to the point that the plants cannot recover. They are highly active fish, so are great for tanks of 4' long, but not so good in smaller tanks.


 
I didn't know that Serpaes were known for being nippy. Ironically, I was drawn to them because of their similarity in appearance to Tiger Barbs, which I have kept before and really liked. I like Bleeding Hearts too, but if the main fish I'll be keeping in addition to Tetras are large Rainbows and bottom feeders, would nipping really be a problem?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

If you keep at least 8 in the school, you should be OK with Serpaes, Red Phantoms, Tiger Barbs... all of those can be nippy, but not only is this usually not a problem when kept in a larger school, but I don't think you'd have an issue with them and any of the other fish choices you've posted so far.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Thanks, Laura  That was my gut feeling too, I'm just glad to get some confirmation. Heck, maybe I'll just go with a school of Tiger Barbs, since I like them so much.

BTW, your tanks are great...I've taken inspiration from them for my soon-to-be low tech tank :thumbsup:


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Bumping this back up, as I am getting closer to being ready to add fish to my 55g. I no longer have questions about the Rainbows per se, but this became sort of a thread about stocking, so I figured I would continue vs. starting a new one.

First of all, I am still planning on:

6 Boesemani Rainbows
8 Panda Cories (or other small Cory if I can't get Pandas)
10 Otos
10 Zebra Nerites

I have been going back and forth between Serpae Tetras and Tiger Barbs. If I were to get the Tetras, I had already settled on 15 as their school size. However, if I get Barbs (which I am leaning towards,) I am not sure. I was initially thinking of going with 15 of them too, but am not completely sure if this will be too many since they get a little larger than the Tetras. I would like to have a nice big school though.

I have also been kicking around the idea of going with a more peaceful choice for my big school and adding a pair of GBR's down the road when the tank is well established, but at this point will probably not since my water is quite hard and have discovered that it has a high ph out of the tap (I just measured it as 8.4  today, after wanting to compare it to the ~7.8 I was reading in my 55g.)

Suggestions welcome- thank you!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Kribs might be a better choice than Rams given your water parameters, and you wouldn't be sacrificing color or personality. roud:

I think either Serpaes or TBs would be fine, whichever you prefer.

I'd go with more like 5x Zebra nerites than 10x- they get pretty large and I'm not sure that you can support enough algae in a 55gal to support 10x Zebra nerites? You'll also need to be sure to feed fresh veggies with that many Otos. They may also have a rough time with your water that hard... so if you do get them, take your time drip acclimating them.


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Hmm Kribs...didn't even think of those. Thanks for the suggestion, I will have to look into those 

I'm honestly not even sure if I'll put the Nerites in there or not, most likely the Otos will suffice. I'm already getting a population of pond snails as is, so I may end up with a few Assassin Snails instead :hihi: I did keep an Oto (from Petsmart of all places) in my nano using my tap water for about a month until my super aggressive Betta finally did him in, so I know they are not an impossibility...but I will definitely be careful in acclimating them. Fresh veggies will be fed for sure! (I was feeding zucchini to the one before, and plan on getting a veggie clip this time around for easier feeding vs. weighing the veggies to the bottom.)

So, a school of 15 TB's in this tank- a good number with my other planned fish?

Thanks again!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

> 6 Boesemani Rainbows
> 8 Panda Cories (or other small Cory if I can't get Pandas)
> 10 Otos


+15x Tiger Barbs

Sounds like a reasonable bioload to me, as long as you keep up with regular water changes.


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## rasetsu (Oct 11, 2007)

I have 4 boesemanis and 4 turqoise rainbows in my 75. For smaller schooling fish, I have about 15 rummies and 10 harlequinn rasboras. I also have about 12 cardinals but they disappear in the plants so I rarely see them. I also have about 10 panda cories. 

IMO, harlequinn rasboras would be better than tiger barbs. Similar shape and coloration but smaller and completely unaggressive. They're cheaper too.


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