mats808

Gene,
There's almost never any wild caught rainbows available. For one it is illegal to export fish from PNG and Australia except under very special circumstances. The few who have 'taken' wild animals out surely wouldn't just sell them on aquabid. Wild fish would probably be too valuable for them to sell. I think the best chance is getting F1 fish. Either from someone who collected wild fish themselves or from breeders in Australia willing to mail F1 eggs. I would be very cautious if anyone claims that they have wild rainbows available.
aaron

gheitman

That's good to know about the availability of wild-caught rainbows. Nevertheless AquaBid.com could be a good alternative source for rainbows if you don't mind paying the shipping charges.

shadow

Colouring up of rainbows seems to be never ending debate. I found this forum years ago while looking to get my rainbows at the time looking better. From my observations/experiences having a colony seems to work better with a 2m/3f or better seems to get the males going and the females get a bit of a rest. A dark substrate always helps them, a heavily planted tank is always beneficial, algae seems to make up a fair part of the diet and makes them more comfortable. However the best thing i ever did was feed live foods brine shrimp,daphina and mosquito larvae work exceptionally well and surprisingly small ants. Another theory that some of the veteran rainbow breeders use if the addition of salt, i've never used this as i've got plants in the tank.

totally_vacant

Thanks for all the great information on the rainbows.

A further question--are they likely to disturb shrimp? If a rainbow encounters a young cherry shrimp, for example, is it likely to become lunch?

shadow

Short answer is yes, rainbows will eat shrimp. Threadins and blue eyes are petty good but large rainbows will eat shrimp no worries.

mats808

about adding salt:

There are all kinds of rainbows from all kinds of habitats. Some prefer harder alkaline waters and some are from softer acidic waters. Even within a single species there are different localities which require different types of water. M. trifasciata for example has several different color forms all coming from different rivers, streams, ponds, lagoons, etc.

For the harder water species it can be beneficial to add salt to the water. What I've found to be the best is a combinations of "instant ocean" and epsom salt. A typical 'generic' dose for me was 1talbespoon instant ocean and 2 tablespoons epsom salt per 10 gallons of water. For certain species such as P. cyanodorsalis and P. signifer 'ross river' more salt can be added.

These are things that I believe may help rainbows to 'color up'. Salt, if applicable. Some direct morning sunlight. Good quality food. Of course females in the tank will also help.

Having said all of this, the most important thing when it comes to rainbows is aquiring good stock to begin with. I once had a lone male praecox rainbow. I got him when praecox was first released into the hobby. My memory is a little foggy but i think it was somewhere between the early to mid 90s. At that time it seemed like only males were released. About 5 years later he was the lone survivor of 5. He got fed maybe once a day (only flakes), he was all by himself in a 75 gallon tank, and I almost never changed the water but he was the most gorgeous praecox I've seen....even in pictures. His body was still laterally compressed, he was tall, super bright but dark blue, and blood red fins. I believe this is because he was probably an F1 fish. I ended up giving him to a friend who had a small breeding group of nice high quality praecox and he was put to good use.

I was also lucky enough to have aquired several F1 rainbows from friends throughout the years and am now 'jaded' in a sense. My advice is be very picky when purchasing rainbows. Even more than color, body shape can change significantly as quality diminishes. One of the common changes is the fish become 'husky'. Many rainbowfish should be very much laterally compressed. In other words although they may appear tall they should be very narrow if viewed from above. This quality is lost in many rainbows. It is common to see fish that have lost their height but have gained width.

Sorry for such a long message, i got a little side-tracked. My original point was that some rainbows like salt and some don't it's not a general rule for all of them.

aaron

mats808

Here's a link that shows video of just about the nicest M. boesemani that I've seen since the mid 80's. They used to be this blue. I've seen animals that have really bright orange, sometimes almost red but in most cases most of the blue has been lost.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0j4b...eature=related

Cohazard

wow thanks for all the info!!

Cohazard

thanks for the info!

rich_one

I have bought boesemanis both online and in fish stores, and they all have colored up very nicely either way. just my experience. if you put them in a good environment, they'll be fine, for the most part. as with any fish you buy from about any pet store, you always run the risk of getting poor quality specimens. however, do not let the poor coloring discourage you, as even good specimens will likely have poor coloring in a pet store.