Iriatherina werneri

[marchmaxima]

Whose a happy mummy!

I now have 9 new threadfin rainbows (Iriatherina werneri) despite the fact I only ordered 6 (thank you Aquagreen!). They all survived the trip down from Darwin, I drip acclimated them tonight and they are now in the tank and appear to be well. They have headed straight for the current and were there swimming against it for a good hour. They are now exploring their new digs.

The rasboras were curious, but are not hassling them. Where on earth are my ottos?? Oh that's right.... My new plants (also from Aquagreen) are hiding them all!

I'm probably slghtly overstocked but I'm over filtered too, so should be okay.

Can't wait till they grow a bit and display their fins and colour. I can't tell male from female at the moment.

Sorry... will stop rambling now.

Not my pic: http://www.icoloridelblu.it/Iriatherina Werneri 8.jpg

 

[An t-iasg]

Congratulations! I researched a few rainbow species a while ago. A lot of them that I read up on are native to Australia so you can get them easily. I'm jealous! I can't wait to see pics of the fish and plants!

 

[Tony Gill]

Congratulations on the Iriatherina. They are cool little fish. I have a pair at the moment. The females can be a little tricky to get hold of in the US.

There are a lot of rainbowfish keepers in the US An t-iasg. I have several tanks, including one with Melanotaenia duboulayi, a species I used to collect back when I lived in Australia. (I'm a displaced Aussie.) These and a couple of other species I obtained through egg exchanges from other rainbowfish hobbyists. If you're interested in doing the same, check out: Rainbow-Fish Forum Site.

Tony

 

[marchmaxima]

All 9 survived the first 24 hours. I have to confess, I was a little cautious with acclimating them because a pH/KH test told me the difference in params from where they came from and my tank were pretty signficant. So I acclimated them slowly over three hours. Good to see that it seemed to work.

They haven't taken any foods yet I don't think. Last night I crushed some flakes to a pulp (their throats are really tiny) and it was recommended to me to give them baby brine shrimp. All I could get was frozen brine shrimp and they didn't take to that either. In fact, none of the fish did, the fussy little buggers! Will go get some Cyclop-eeze or Hikari micro pellets tomorrow.

Here is a front tank shot.

New plants include:

Eriocaulon Setaceum (the green bushy ones)
Echinodorus Tenellus (pigmy chain sword)
Myriophyllum diccodum (the bushy red one at the back)
Hydrocotyte tripartite (the three leaf clover stuff at the front)

I only really ordered the first two. I'm really looking forward to the pigmy swords filling out.

If you look towards the top you can see the threadfins. I couldn't get a decent shot of them.

Those that know the massive java fern I have there may wonder where it went. As punishment for taking over my tank, and ruining any chance I had at a scape, it has been seconded to a friend's pond until such time as my 4x2x2 is ready.

 

[An t-iasg]

The Eriocaulon are beautiful! That's a very nice tank you put together! My bettas, when new, didn't eat for a few days or even up to a week. Your fish may need time to get settled. Keep introducing the food you want them to eat and they should accept it. It's good that you're planning to introduce a variety of foods.

Tony, thanks for that link! I didn't come across that forum when I was learning about rainbows. I think the Pseudomugil gertrudae are my favorite. I did see some once, but didn't buy them.

 

[Tony Gill]

You should also check out this site: Home of the Rainbowfish

My threadfins seem to do pretty well on decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, Hikari First Bites (the larger micro pellets don't seem to interest them as much), microworms and any other small live foods I can get for them. (I often collect mosquito egg rafts, and float them in the tank so the fish can eat the newly hatched wrigglers.) I also give them a little Spirulina powder on a regular basis.

Hope this helps.

Tony