[huckleberry77]

The 45 g. tall is no more. My denison barbs are zooming happily around in their new 75 gallon:-D and I added 2 more so they have a school of 6.

The best part is that I now have room for more fish. I think we are going to add more rainbowfish and a BN over time.

 

[tankman12]

Large rainbows get to large for a 75. I would say get some dwarf types. Also bn seem to do better in groups, IME.

Anyways congrats on the 75.
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[Mikaila31]

Most all rainbowfish are fine in a 75g. I would say its too big for some of the dwarfs unless you have a lot of floating plant cover. And don't like to see your fish that often.
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[tankman12]

Dwarfs in large school, you will see them all the time... IMO it is to small for 6 boesemani, turquoise, or red irian. They get quite large. Just my opinion.
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[huckleberry77]

Most all rainbowfish are fine in a 75g. I would say its too big for some of the dwarfs unless you have a lot of floating plant cover. And don't like to see your fish that often.
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Thanks, yes that is my understanding as well. Looking mostly at Melanotaenias and Glossolepis. :-D

 

[Mikaila31]

Not sure which dawrfs you mean but I have some P. gertrudae in a 40B and I couldn't tell you how many there are as I rarely see them. Thats the same with all the other species of blue-eyed rainbows I have had over the years. Most the smaller rainbows are top swimmer and will not swim in the lower half of the tank unless it is short. They also do not naturally school so they need considerable plant cover to feel secure. So most dwarfs would be better setup in a smaller shorter tank then a 75g.

I keep a breeding group of 4-5 adult boesemani in my 55 gallon and have had them in the same setup for about 5 years now along with a few moving events. They are perfectly fine but I would say 55g is the minimum tank size I would house adults in. They are a great species if you like community tanks but also like to breed as they mop spawn easily. I have an excess of boesemanis close to 20 from 1" to over 2" not counting my adults scattered around my tanks. In total my 55 has over a dozen boesemani in it but any that are not my adults are their offspring growing out. Those will all be leaving in October then the smaller boesemani will get moved into the 55 with their parents and slowly repeated over and over again. I also have a breeding group of 6 madagascar rainbows in my 55 gallon amongst other fish. There are some large rainbows out there that I would not put in a 55 or 75 like the goyder river rainbow and similarly sizes species that get 5" or more. Only issue I have with mixing rainbows is do not breed them unless you have species from different genus that you know can not crossbreed. Hybrid rainbows are very frowned on

 

[huckleberry77]

Wow Mikaila! You have quite the rainbow collection! Where are you located? Do you breed other rainbows as well?

Any tips on the prettiest medium sized rainbows that like 77 degree water? We are wondering what to add to the boesemanis.

 

[Mikaila31]

I'm outside St. Paul Minnesota. I mostly breed the boesemani as they are are my favorite Melanotaenia species and have always done well for me. They are always breeding but I only raise fry occasionally mostly in fall and winter when my tanks get more of my attention and time. I rarely mix rainbows and if I do it is always a species from a different genus. So with boesemani you could do madagascar or threadfin rainbows off the top of my head. I personally would stick with a proper 1-2male and 4+ female group of boesemani then mix them with other non rainbows. Pretty is relative to the individual. I like emperor tetras and also rummy nosed tetras( H. bleheri) go along very well with boesemani and are both very pretty fish.