Minimum number of dwarf neon rainbowfish?

[JohnPaul]

Went to an aquarium shop today "just to look" (lol) and for the first time laid eyes on dwarf neon rainbowfish. Wow! So despite knowing I really shouldn't be buying any more fish at the moment, I picked up two.

I have a 29 [acronym:47e32c8b10="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:47e32c8b10] tank with 7 zebra danios and 3 cory cats. Still working on getting it fully cycled (Bio-Spira).

Now that I am home and researching rainbows online, it seems everywhere says you really need to keep them in school/shoal of 5+. But as far as I remember, the [acronym:47e32c8b10="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:47e32c8b10] only had males, not females.

SO...do I
1. go buy 3-4 more males?
2. check other stores and try to get 4 or so females?
3. wait and see if the 2 of them I have now adjust well and seem happy?

Opinions are welcome; anyone who has kept these fish and can speak from experience, that would be even better.

[JohnPaul]

P.S. -- I am not really interested in breeding them. I love them for the colors, and females are supposedly much less colorful than the males, which makes me lean towards just getting more males. However, I am wondering if the full coloration of the males will only come out in response to females being in the tank?

I also read a thread where someone who had these said his males basically picked a corner and sat there all day, while his females swam around the whole aquarium. Almost like the females were dominant and chased away the males from the central part of the aquarium. That sounds odd to me but...who knows?

[TankGirl]

Usually with these fish you would want to keep a ratio of one male to three females, and I do think their behavior will be more natural in the presence of females. I'd try to pick up 4-5 females.

Also, if you are not fully cycled then it is a good idea to hold off on buying more fish until the cycle is complete - the added bioload is going to stall things for a bit and set you back.

What is your experience with the Bio-Spira? Please see this thread and comment there, if you don't mind. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewto...=317846#317846

[TankGirl]

P.S. - The females are not exactly drab, as you can see in this picture, with the male in the foreground with the redder fins. (I borrowed this pic from Thetropicaltank.co.uk)

[WhiteCloud]

Thanks for posting the male/female difference! I did not know that it was the female with less color. I bought a Shoal of 6, but one has been in the hospital tank since I got her in October...see link why:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewto...933&highlight=

Also..to update the story above...the bottom 1/3 of the tail has grown back so far. I have not seen much change in the last month or so...I still am hoping it will grow back for a full recovery. This Rainbow seems a bit more spastic and skiddish than the other 5...perhaps it is because she is alone. Does anyone think I should put her back into the big 90 gallon yet with 1/3 of a tail?

[acronym:af49417328="Wild Caught"]WC[/acronym:af49417328]

[JohnPaul]

Thanks for the pics of the females; they certainly look almost as nice as the males. When the tank is ready for more fish, I will look into getting some females to add to the males.

As for my experiences with Bio-Spira, I just posted a little bit in a different thread last night (http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewto...099&highlight=). Since it has only been about 4 days, I don't feel I can really say much yet. But once I feel I have some "results" (positive or negative) I will post.

[JohnPaul]

Also, an update. At first when I put the two rainbows in there, each went to a separate back corner (seemed spooked, not too surprising). Been a few hours now and both have more or less come out of hiding; about 3/4 of the time they spend right next to each other, so they seem to like each other. hehe. They don't really swim around much; it seems they like to more or less stay stationary for long periods at a time. (Normal?) Anyway, they are beautiful fish, and even though the colors seemed to wash out a big when I first put them in, already the colors are coming back.

[TankGirl]

Give them some time to adjust, even as much as a week, and I'll bet they'll be all over the tank.

I have not read the thread, but if you did not have an overnight cycle with Bio-Spira then I consider that a failure. I'll check out the link you provided.

[JohnPaul]

Thanks TankGirl, if you look at my "data" and have any comments, please share them. I figure *something* must be working--10 fish and zero ammmonia/nitrite after 5 days--but until I start seeing nitrate build up I won't be confident everything is good.

[TankGirl]

Something, IS working, JohnPaul - I'd say you'll be seeing nitrate very soon.