bettaowner
Aquarium Advice Addict
I saw some amazing neon rainbowfish. I was wondering how hard would they be to keep in a 55 gallon aquarium.
Neon rainbow fish
- Thread starter bettaowner
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Assuming you are speaking of Dwarf Neon Rainbows (Praecox Rainbows), they are very easy to keep and a 55 would allow you to have a nice school of them. They school tightly and you should keep at least five in a ratio of one male to three females or the males may "pester" the females to death. Sexing them is easy if they are old enough. Males fins will be all red and females will have orange/yellow in their fins.
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bettaowner
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thank you. These are the dwarf neon rainbows. I am looking for colorful schooling fish for the 55. Would the boesman's rainbow fish work?
calfishguy
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes boesmani rainbows would work as well.
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bettaowner
Aquarium Advice Addict
What do most rainbow fish. I have some plants so I don't want to wake up one morning to find holes in my plants.
Mine have never bothered my plants. They will eat frogbit, and duckweed from the surface however. Rainbows will need a varied diet to show thier best colors. They need some vegetable matter in thier diet. You can feed them green beans(in appropriate sizes pieces), they also like some of the melons Muskmellon. I use spirulina flakes also. They need some protien in the diet also, they relish frozen foods. Just don't overdo the frozen bloodworms. They need pristine water conditions also to avoid illness. They are one of the fish that don't do well in less than excellent water. There are several dwarf bows that would work well in a 55. I know you didn't ask about bows in general, just about them eating plants. But thought I would share a little knowledge so you could avoid problems if you do get bows!!
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bettaowner
Aquarium Advice Addict
Will they eat shrimp? I have some ghost shrimp that I want to keep. Will they get along with gouramis and tetras?
The Praecox(neon rainbows) might not depending on the size of the shrimp. Any of the bigger bows will probably eat them if they can fit them in thier mouth. And bows can open thier mouth pretty wide. Bows get along well with most other non aggressive fish. If anything they can be bullied easily.
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bettaowner
Aquarium Advice Addict
How hard would it be to breed these rainbows?
They are very easy to breed. Give them a tank of thier own,put in a breeding mop, or a good size clump of Java moss, feed them well and nature will take its course. Once the breeding mop, or moss has the amount of eggs you want move the parents out. The fry will need small food to start out. Sera Micron, or APR will suffice. When they get a little larger, live baby brine shrimp is the next food they need. The ratio of M-F should be one male to 3or 4 females.
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bettaowner
Aquarium Advice Addict
Could I use daphnia as a food for the fry? I don't want to worry about a brine shrimp hachery.
You could probably use daphnia, although it won't have the nutritional value that live BB shrimp will. The first stages of life are the critical time for bows. You might also try Frozen BB shrimp. I have never personally used daphnia, or frozen BB shrimp, so I can't speak from experience as to how they would work as first foods.
