[Lord Nibbler]

Somehow 4 of my five fry that are something like 3 months old made it too - I have no idea how.

I've been making a concerted effort to breed the bosemon's but just when I get a few hatchlings, I get called away on business or something and most don't make it. These few that made the trip from Ohio must be tough

 

[Six]

I have my G. multisquamata breeding now as well as Betotia sp. "Ankavia River" and M. duboulayi.... just not enough yet to sell mops. Still young adults being that I bought them last summer at 1". Not a bad start though.

I agree, there are very few rainbow breeders out there. All r'bow forums are non-US based. Very annoying.

What species are you looking for, out of curiousity?

 

[pepperonihead]

Maybe the reason why there is not that many breeders

Is because these guys are extremely sensitive. They do not ship well. You really should have a quarantine tank to put them into for about two full weeks and medicate them for that period. After shipping if there is any Ick or anything else in your water if you just put them in your tank with no Quarantine they will most likely contract what ever you have in your tank. They are very sensitive to Osmotic changes, stress, changes in KH, GH, temperature, and other stuff. What usually happens is the person purchasing them tends to not follow the instructions of the breeders, does not medicate them for a while in a quarantine tank and then does not acclimate them properly. When the fish get sick and die they blame the breeders. Therefore breeders are sick and tired of breeding them and selling them and it is a big loss!

 

[jdigiorgio]

Re: Maybe the reason why there is not that many breeders

SIX, Really looking for C. Bherli and Trifasciata any kind but Wonga and Running creek in particular, but more so just the Bhelri

 

[Six]

Those are usually easy to find, comparatively. Have you asked your LFS to order you some? That may be a tall order since they'd need to buy 25-50 and be able to sell the ones you wouldn't want for a fairly high price. At least around here those species would run $12-20 each. GL!

Also, I agree with the sentiment about breeders and issues with shipping and acclimation. I've shipped a few sets of fish and there's usually some issue with acclimation or the stress involved with shipping.

 

[Six]

EDIT- nevermind about the lfs suggestion. I realized you want location information with the fish- you definitely need some luck!

 

[jdigiorgio]

Anyone else know of a good source for rainbows?

 

[Lord Nibbler]

I've seen most types imaginable at Super Petz, although some are a bit expensive.

 

[taoyeah]

come to this forum
http://rainbow-fish.org/
The mod is a nice person.Lori.i got some mops from her.nice rainbows.

 

[ltucker0]

Hey Guys! Just wanted to say that there are many private breeders selling and trading bows and mops all the time(me included). Many of whom are on the new rainbowfish forum, rainbow-fish.org.(I hope its ok to post that here??) We are a North American(US) based rainbowfish forum.

All the breeders/hobbyists I have dealt with over the past couple years have had very good rainbows, and are very conscientious about the care and breeding of their fish. Its like a well hidden underground network of pure strain rainbow breeders. lol. We are not all in hiding or anything, its just such a big world, its hard to find everyone with similar interests. We are always looking for ways to get in touch with other rainbowfish enthusiasts.

Anyone interested in rainbows and other Australia/New Guinea native fish are welcome to come and network over there, who knows, you just might find the fish you are looking for?! We are also working on a shipment of bows straight from Australia scheduled for May! Very exciting for us rainbow people!! PM me or go take a look over there if you are interested.

Take care
~Lori

 

[Lord Nibbler]

Good to hear tucker!

I used to raise a lot of splendidas. They seem to spawn constantly for me. The bosemoni's not so much. With my work schedule and a couple of moves it got difficult so instead of making a huge effort to save all the eggs I keep what ones I find on the bits of java moss the fish rip up trying to get to them. It usually keeps me occupied with a few fry of various ages to raise.

 

[ltucker0]

For me, m.bosemani have been very easy to get eggs from! What is your male/female ratio?? What are your water parameters?? pH, dKH and dGH?? Bosemani might appreciate water on the harder side, and fairly high pH(even as high as for rift lake cichlids). This might help to get more fertile eggs--harden the water a bit with baking soda or aragonite. Just make sure to raise any params slowly and make sure they stay stable.

What temp are you keeping them at?? I have my adult bosemani breeders at about 76 degrees. Also, what else is in the tank with them?? Do you have any fish or inverts who could be eating the eggs?? I've also found a bare tank with only a sponge and spawning mop(heater if needed) gets the highest number of eggs in one area(on the mop rather than spread out around other plants, etc in the tank....they might spawn on the sponge filter too! lol) if you have a power filter on the tank, its possible it is sucking up eggs and lowering your overall egg count. Then you can remove the adults from the breeding tank, to make sure you get all the eggs in one place(they might also get some eggs in the substrate, stuck to algae on the glass, etc. Or, you can just move the mop to a hatching container/tank. Just make sure you have the temp high(82d f) and you can add java moss to the hatching container to help boost the number of insuforia for the fry. But, a mop left in a tank for a week or 2 will usually be teaming with critters just like java moss. A couple other things are to make the mops really thick(like 100 wraps around a book) this makes it harder for the adults to eat the eggs......and you can always collect eggs daily(make smaller mops that you swap out in the AM after they have spawned on them, but hopefully before they eat too many eggs. lol)

Another thought, how big are your bosemani?? Especially the females?? The larger the females, the more eggs they will produce. So, the more mature your females(so long as they are not elderly) the more eggs you should get from each female. The size of the males are not as important so long as they are sexually mature(1.75-2inches or larger).

Lastly, where did you get your bose from?? If they are well bred, healthy stock, you should be able to get more eggs from them. If they are LFS purchases(most likely farmed fish) then you might continue to have trouble collecting eggs from them.....

Sorry if some of this is obvious, I just dont know anything about your set up, so tried to throw everything I could think of at you.

HTH
~Lori

 

[Lord Nibbler]

Actually I'm not trying to breed them, I don't really have the room to raise many! Its a pretty heavily planted tank, pH near 7.5, temp around 78. I had two males and two females but the one female died about a month ago. Unfortunately she gashed her side on something and I couldn't get the infection under control

They're all probably pushing 4 years old. Strangely enough, the female I have is a bit odd looking and I think she's a mutt or mutant, in any case she never breeds.

I do have 5 that I raised from this summer, but they all ended up males (they're in a second tank). I have 3 more that are from the fall that haven't colored out yet but I'm guessing they're female (finger crossed).

Like I said, the splendida are easy to get eggs from all the time even when I don't try. Given infinite aquarium space I'd probably raise some herbies and lacustris, but I don't have room at the moment.

 

[Michin]

jUST RE DID my 150 and I am looking for a source for rainbows. Aquarium Center / Depot is not what it used to be and the only other place with decent fish in the area is House of Tropicals. I remember that there used to be a BIG breeder in MD but can not remember his name. Does ANYONE have a good source either in DC< MD<VA OR mail order? Any help would be appreciated!!!!!!!!!!

This may be a little late, but there's a great place up in Gaithersburg, Tropical Fish World, right on 355. You might want to check there. If you talk to the owner of the place, who's a really nice guy and is usually around - at least from my experience - he can find pretty order anything for you.

There's also Congressional in Rockville, right off of 355 as well, but I'd say check with the shop up in Gaithersburg first.

 

[Six]

thanks lori- just signed up for the 'bow forum.