JanS

I managed to land a group of both of these from Aqua Bid today.

I know I've heard some of you talk about them before, so I'm wondering what anyone's experiences with them have been, and if there's anything I should know to make life better for them? I've never owned either one of these fish before, so I like at least have an idea before I get them.

After Q, I plan to put one of the groups in the 30 gallon with the shrimp, and another group in probably a 20 or 29 gallon, both fairly heavily planted.
They won't eat my shrimp, will they?

Thanks!

MatPat

I have a school of 24 or so B. brigittea in a 30g tank and wish I had another 24 for that tank! They are tiny fish and stay mostly in the upper 1/2 of the tank. I would worry more about your shrimp eating the fish than the fish eating the shrimp Most of my Cherry Red Shrimp are bigger than the fish.

As far as conditions for them, a planted tank is excellent. I have some B. macalatus in my low tech 10g and they do fine but are a little timid. The B. brigittae in my high tech 30g are much more active. Not sure if it is the extra length of the tank or the the fish themselves.

I don't have any experience with the B. merah though.

ranmasatome

Agree with Matt.. these fishes are tiny..if you have ghost shrimps i would be careful as you may find some of them dissappear//..hmmm..i wonder why?? but i think cherries and crystal reds are okay...anything along tht size is fine...

Anyway, i have both of these species in my 50gal along with B.urophthalmoides and Boraras sp. "south thailand". They tend to stay near the top of my tank.. also similar behaviour to Matts..90% of the time they are on the top half of the tank. They will school prety well and most times are the first to food at feeding time. All of mine school together regadless of the species. Dont really have anything in particular that you need to take note of besides their size really.. very fun fish to have.. adds that splash of red to my tanks..

JanS

Thanks guys!

Maybe I'll put all 20 of them in the 30 gallon shrimp tank then. They sound like a perfect solution to liven up a shrimp only tank, which is a tad on the boring side right now.
They won't cross breed, will they?

ranmasatome

i doubt they will cross breed.. although when you have a chance to look at Boraras sp. "south thailand"..you would tend to think isn't this a mix of B.maculata and B. urophthalmoides.. but its not..just the colouration would make you think that..