A few of my Rainbowfish...

[sanj]

I began my Rainbowfish addiction about 7 years ago soon after I bought my first house. I now keep and 'encourage to breed' several species.

I think these fish have been underated for far too long, not least because they are so drab in shops. The fact is Rainbowfish improve in colour with age and that is part of the reason they are not more popular.

The M.Aru II was only introduced into the hobby in 2007.

I am still very amature with photography so the pics arent all that great but give an idea of what the fish look like. With the exception of the rubrostriata and M.lacustris all the others are young fish less than a year old and not showing full colour or body development. Not the best photos but these are a few of the species i keep.

Melanotaenia splendida rubrostriata

Melanotaenia lacustris

Melanotaenia Aru II

Melanotaenia Aru II with flash

Chilatherina bleheri

 

[Pixels]

Thanks for sharing the pics.

The idea of adding some rainbows to my 180 litre is really growing on me. They do however appear get quite large!

Currently contemplating Melanotaenia praecox, but any alternative suggestions would much appreciated.

Cheers
Paul

 

[Gill]

Lovely shots of some very underated fish. For My I Love the Smaller Rainbows Like threadfins, celebes and gertrudes.
I must admit i am not a great fan of the larger rainbows, but these are peaking my interest Melanotaenia splendida rubrostriata

 

[sanj]

Thanks for sharing the pics.

The idea of adding some rainbows to my 180 litre is really growing on me. They do however appear get quite large!

Currently contemplating Melanotaenia praecox, but any alternative suggestions would much appreciated.

Cheers
Paul

Hi Paul,

Praecox is 'the classic' smaller Melanotaenia rainbow today, although M. Muccullochi and M. pygmae grow to about 2-2.5". In the wild they can get a little larger. m.parva is also 3" max.

The is a bit of an issue with mass bred praecox, they have weakened considerably in the trade and often succumb to mycobacteria based infections like waisting and sores. They often do not live long. I have the Pagai strain which is a fairly recent edition to the gene pool and so hopefully will be hardier.

The pseudomugils stay even smaller 1-1.5" I keep the P.gertrudae Aru II form which is lovely, slightly on the larger end of the Pseudomugil size range.

Gill,

thanks for the comments. The larger bows certainly do need larger aquariums ~250 litres 4ft long min really, but yes i think both the larger and smaller guys have thier attractions.


Ill keep adding photos as the fish grow and develop.

 

[sanj]

I managed to get a better shot of the dominant Aru male. The blues,mauves and violets will intensify as he gets older.
He was a real bugger to get a shot off too busy tarting around with the young Aru females. There are about 30 in total, young adults and fry. It would be great to get a pic of him displaying.

Other inhabitants:

This is one of 8 Puntius denisoni, i lost my largest one a few months ago s/he was over 6"! This one is unusual in that it sports a yellow tail spot on its ventral fin, none of the others have it.

Oh and here is a shot of some of the Munky's there are 12 in total, these guys like most loaches need to be in groups the larger the better and not less than 5.

 

[Myrtle]

I adore Rainbows! I was originally hoping to get some of the threadfins or gertrudes but with an adult angel in the tank I had to adjust my ideas. I went for the 'classic', as you say, M praecox and after only 3 weeks in the tank their colours have doubled in intensity. Hopefully they won't be short lived! They've really brought my remaining 4 red eyed tetra out of themselves, they stay together all the time at the moment!

 

[Pixels]

Thanks for the info. I think I will be keeping my eye for some M. praecox now!

Cheers
Paul

 

[sanj]

Some pics and a video of some of my Arus and others.

The Arus are now 14months old, but they still will take more time to develop their full colours.

A dominant male on its own

Maybe the video gives abetter idea of how the colours are developing. Compare this to how rainbows look in shop tanks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMvJ_ZXZ7-0

Hope you like.

 

[Gill]

Gets Better everytime, what camera you using

 

[Garuf]

Holy lord, I wish I had your tank/collection. They're breathtaking.

 

[sanj]

Does the music work when you watch the vid. It only seemed to for me when i switched settings to higher than 360p?

 

[Garuf]

I turn the sound off, the music is never to my taste. Seems to be working fine to me though.

 

[sanj]

Rainbowfish typically grow slowly....quite frustrating sometimes.

A few more pic updates, most are still jeuveniles or young adults:

Melanotaenia affinis "Pagwi" - two yound males around 2.5", they will mature at 4-5" eventually and colours will get better.

Glossolepis dorityi "Lake Jaigum" - this is also known as the Zig Zag rainbowfish. Those zig zag stripes sometimes look as though they are coming out from the fish, a bit like looking at them through 3-d glasses.

Glossolepis pseudoincisus "Lake Ifanten"- this is not the salmon red rainbow which is common in shops.

Melanotaenia boesemani "Lake Aitinjo" this strain is more orange and smaller than the larger Ayamaru variety. This fella is only 1.5" and illustrates that males in this species do have colour when small. Beware of LFS that claim drab fish with no yellow/orange will colour up... they are probably females.

Melanotaenia trifasciata "Habgood River" - these are taking forever to grow and are only 2" now the adult colouration on these are blues on the body and red fins. Trifasciatas are some of the largest rainbows growing up to 5-6", but this form stays a little smaller. Im not really doing it justice taking photos of it this small.

Melanotaenia inornata "Salt Creek" - only a 1" er. Inornata's have amazingly patterned fins...again this one needs to grow up before he can show them off properley.

Melanotaenia inornata "Flat Rock Creek"

Melanotaenia Maccullochi "Eubenangee Swamp" - this species stays around 2"

Melanotaenia sp."Aru II" - these are one of the few species I keep that have reached more or less adult size.

Chilatherina bleheri - a young male, mature fish show more red and golden yellow.

 

[Greenview]

Glad to see you have added to this thread. The fish are looking great.

 

[Gill]

Absolutley Stunning Sanj, Well Worth the trip to europe

 

[Mark Webb]

These are stunning sanj. Are Glossolepis pseudoincisus "Lake Ifanten" easy to source? I will be looking for some nice Rainbows in the next couple of weeks for my tank.

 

[Gary Nelson]

Stunning fish, I had rainbows in my last set up - they are by far the best fish I've had and look great in a large group.

 

[sanj]

Thanks for the comments guys, no doubt they are my favourite fish, but not always the best compliment to a planted tank.

Mark, the G.psuedoincisus is not common in UK shops, I have spotted them once though. The much more common G.incisus is similar, but it grows larger and is a more salmon red colour often with large patches of silver. I am raising some G.psuedoincisus fry, but they do take a long time to grow.

Still more and more species are becoming available from the more dedicated shops.

 

[Mark Webb]

thanks sanj. Do you know of any stores who specialise in Rainbows?

 

[OllieNZ]

Looking good Sanj
Do you have any female Bosemanis? Would you mind posting a pic if you do?