Pseudomugil gertrudae (Gertrude's Rainbowfish)

[azmodan]

Just picked up 7 of these for my planted 10 gallon. Anyone here have these? I'm wondering if there are any specific tips or experiences worth sharing! I purchased 2 males and 5 females as I understand the males will get sometimes get quite aggressive. One concern that I have is that I do not have a lid on my tank but I'm hoping the combination of floating plants and the fact that it will be a species-only tank will prevent any suicidal jumpers. Feel free to chime in on these beautiful fish!

(not my photo -- Pseudomugil gertrudae)

 

[TXaggie]

These were some of the very first fish I purchased because I loved them so much! Unfortunately I lost them all to some type of disease two months later (I believe it was introduced by some other tankmates that I bought from a LFS that I won't be going back to). However, while I had them they were some amazing fish! The male's fin flare display was super fun to watch. I had a school of 7; 3 males and 4 females and didn't have trouble with aggression. They were very active and within a week of purchase they turned from their dull fish store coloring to almost a lemon yellow on part of their bodies.

I would absolutely get more of them someday; I am just trying to get more experienced with some less expensive fish first!

If you do want to add another species to your tank I've heard that Threadfin Rainbows make good tankmates; similar in size to the Gertrude's.

Edit: Just saw that you have a 10 gallon tank - I wouldn't add another rainbow school to that. I had mine in a 29g community.

 

[Tony Gill]

Great little fish. I have kept them a number of times ... even had them briefly (for the summer) in a pond when I lived in Arizona. Like many of the blue-eyes, it is best to try to breed this species when they are relatively small, as larger individuals are often not reproductive. If you keep the tank heavily planted and feed newly hatched brine shrimp, you should be able to establish a colony, with some fry appearing on a regular basis. The fry grow rapidly and are able to breed after just a couple of months. The other thing to be aware of is that they prefer temps to be a little on the low side. I found they did best when kept at around the 22oC mark, and stopped breeding when the temp got above 25oC.

Tony

 

[azmodan]

Thanks for the info! It does certainly sound like these are pretty easy fish to breed and I look forward to potentially becoming successful at that. I must say their eyes truly are stunning. Under certain angles and light they really do glow very brightly!