Breeding Rainbows

[wombat1100]

Hi guys and gals,
I was wondering if any one has had any luck breeding rainbows before and if they have maybe some tips?
I was at my LFS yesterday and she said to just float some java moss and the Boesmans will breed easily, and other hints? what about other rainbows?
would love to get some fry.
Dazz

[bluemanchew79]

Hey dazz, There is a link (by silkie boy) to a really cool rainbow information page in the "anyone keeping rainbowfish" thread by marc. Its a long read but very helpfull, lots of breeding tips.
luke

[wombat1100]

Thanks Luke , I will check it out
Dazz

I just checked it out! i have already got that link thanks mate, :biggrin:
Does any one have any personal experiences with breeding them??
Dazz

[bettamuse]

In my younger more hobby keeper days I use to show and breed rainbows. Even took out Grand Champion at one show with some Melanotaenia eachamensis.

I've bred many different rainbows as follows.

I kept male and female separate and fed the fish on live foods, e.g. daphnia, black worm, mosquito larvae and good quality commercial flake foods.



I had a couple of 2' x 12" x 12" for larger rainbows of a 9" tank for little guys like threadfins and blue eyes. The tank was set up with plants or floating synthetic mops for spawning on.

The only thing in the tank was the spawning material and a sponge filter filter. The tank was surrounded with black card so the fish wouldn't be distracted by fish in the tanks either side.

The sponge filter was an aged filter from the parent's tank. I always kept an extra sponge filter in the parent tonks running to transfer over to a spawn tank at any time it was needed.



The parents were transferred to the spawn tank and left to do what comes naturally.



After spawning the parents were carefully removed and the water level dropped by half in the spawn tank.

Fry hatched and were fed commercial micro foods ,and newly hatched brine shrimp. Be very careful not to get unhatched brine shrimp eggs or egg shells in with the newly hatched food as these seem to choke the fry if eaten by them.

A week after hatching my water changes were simply putting a centimetre or so of aged water from the parents tank into the fry tank every other day until the fry tank is full. Then water changes as normal.



Each time I entered my rainbows in the shows I had lots of people asking to buy the plants out of the show tanks, due to them being covered in eggs. I actually just gave the plants away at the end of the show to anyone that was there and asked.

Cheers
BM

[GoGuppy]

Hi Bettamuse

That's a great posting, as I was also hoping to learn from any feedback that Dazz might get!! Nothing like hearing it from the pro's (or from the champions for that matter.. :biggrin: .. and Congratulations, albeit belatedly!!).

I'll certainly give raising RB fry a try at some stage, but how long would the fry need to be kept in a separate tank? Could they eventually go back in the main tank, or is that not a good idea?

Cheers

[bettamuse]

Thanks Go-guppy,

The fry can be put with the parent fish as soon as they are big enough to not be eaten. Rainbows naturally live in schools so the more the merrier.


BM

[wombat1100]

Thanks for the reply, very informative, now i will just have to get a couple of small tanks and give it a go!
is it the same for all rainbows?
should they be showing signs of mating?
so many questions!
Dazz

[bettamuse]

As far as I know all the rainbows can be bred like this. Although they may spawn on different areas on the spawning mops.

I’ve also been told that some Blue eye species spawn in the middle of the mop, some like to spawn right up against the float near the surface and other are actually egg scatterers so they don’t use a mop at all. Just get your fish and then look into how they prefer to spawn. As all of them can be bred.

Another thing I was told is to check the temps the fish prefer to be kept in. Just because it comes from the tropics doesn’t automatically mean it likes warm water. Have you ever stepped into a creek flowing from the mountains into the rainforest, it’s a tad chilly compared to standing water in the same area.


<span style="font-family:Arial">Rainbows have a standard dress colour and then they have their special breeding or intimidating dress colour. This can be turned on and off at will. </span>

Healthy rainbows are always up for breeding. You with see the male flare and flash his best colours towards the female, give a little dance and if she is ready to spawn then off they go. If not the male swims off to try his luck with someone else.
BM

[wombat1100]

Thanks again BM, just a question or 2, if i was to put a spawning mop into my rainbow tank and then remove it once there was eggs on it , would that work? I could scoop it out in a container without removing it from the water at all.
i have a hell of a time catching my rainbows in my planted tank is all&#33;&#33;&#33; destroys the tank&#33;
and the other q is where would i source the mops from? I couldn&#39;t find a breeding cave for my bristlenose in Melbourne so I&#39;m assuming i will have the same problem getting the mops.
Dazz

[bettamuse]

Yes, you can take the spawning mop out of the tank and hatch the fish that way. You may find in a planted tank you will not get as many eggs on your mop due to the fish having other plants to spawn on.

You can make the spawning mops by cutting synthetic wool into strands, knot the top and thread it through a piece of foam for a float.

Easy done, just remember to wash the wool before putting it into your tank.
BM

[Aussie]

What type of filtration do they need?? Will they be fine in a tank with abit of a current? or do they need pretty much still??

[bettamuse]

Any filter that will not suck up your fry.

I always used sponge filters. Water movement doesn’t seem to worry them to much, just as long as it isn’t moving around the spawning mops or plants to much.
BM