Rainbow fish and stocking

[Jason7894561230]

Hey all,
Just had a few questions.

1) Saw some dwarf neon rainbows, fell in love, they get to around 6 cm and was wondering how many could fit into a 140 litre tank?
2) What else would go nicely with he rainbows?
3) If those fish are a no no then are there any other rainbows that will go well in this tank?

Thanks so much

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Hey all,
Just had a few questions.

1) Saw some dwarf neon rainbows, fell in love, they get to around 6 cm and was wondering how many could fit into a 140 litre tank?
2) What else would go nicely with he rainbows?
3) If those fish are a no no then are there any other rainbows that will go well in this tank?

Thanks so much

36gal
Might be a bit small for them. They need a lot of swimming space. They are very active swimmers. Have you considered blue eyes?

 

[toddnbecka]

I had a group of them in a 55 (220 liter) tank and they still beat the snot out of each other. The praecox males are very conspecific-aggressive, no problem for other species though. You might have better luck with just a few females.

 

[foster53]

You would be ok with around 6-8 Praecox in the tank,IF you keep up on the water changes, and filter the tank heavily. They do best in a heavily planted tank, with some floating plants. Rainbows require pristine water conditions, a 50-75% WC per week will keep them healthy and active. They need a lot of vegetable matter in their diet, also need a certain amount of protein, Frozen, foods will suffice for this. They appreciate some live foods also, Brine shrimp, earthworms cut to appropriate size is a great food, also red worms and black worms. Be careful on the amount of Bloodworms they are fed, and try to use the smaller BW's. A varied diet , clean water, and lots of plants, are the key to success with bows.

 

[foster53]

I had a group of them in a 55 (220 liter) tank and they still beat the snot out of each other. The praecox males are very conspecific-aggressive, no problem for other species though. You might have better luck with just a few females.

I find that very interesting, I have never seen true aggression in Praecox before, other than the usual sparring, and displaying to each other. Have kept and bred them numerous times, guess one never knows how certain groups of fish are going to act. Thats part of the learning curve I think.

 

[toddnbecka]

I had 3m/2f, the recommended stocking ratio, and the males were pretty rough on each other. Split fins and a few missing scales rough, not just flaring fins and displaying. Tank wasn't planted, other fish were African cichids and Synodontis catfish. They may have acted differently with loads of plants, but they did actually kill each other off over a couple months after they matured.

 

[Jason7894561230]

Thanks for the feed back and I am going to do some research on the blue eyes thanks for that suggestion

 

[foster53]

I had 3m/2f, the recommended stocking ratio, and the males were pretty rough on each other. Split fins and a few missing scales rough, not just flaring fins and displaying. Tank wasn't planted, other fish were African cichids and Synodontis catfish. They may have acted differently with loads of plants, but they did actually kill each other off over a couple months after they matured.

WOW!!, never observed that behavior with them. Mine were always kept in a species (breeding) tank planted with Java moss, 2 males and 6 females. Guess you learn something new every day.

 

[rreekers]

WOW!!, never observed that behavior with them. Mine were always kept in a species (breeding) tank planted with Java moss, 2 males and 6 females. Guess you learn something new every day.

I feel like you don't experience that behavior because in my opinion you have the correct ratio of m/f

 

[rreekers]

I had 3m/2f, the recommended stocking ratio, and the males were pretty rough on each other. Split fins and a few missing scales rough, not just flaring fins and displaying. Tank wasn't planted, other fish were African cichids and Synodontis catfish. They may have acted differently with loads of plants, but they did actually kill each other off over a couple months after they matured.

WOW!!, never observed that behavior with them. Mine were always kept in a species (breeding) tank planted with Java moss, 2 males and 6 females. Guess you learn something new every day.

I feel like you don't experience that behavior because in my opinion you have the correct ratio of m/f. I have never heard of having a larger number of males... red flag... reason why you have aggression, when you see split fins and missing scales you should realize there are to many male.. they are fighting... also that is ALOT of stress on those females!
- this is all just my opinion. based on experience with many types of freshwater fish, but never the one under discussion