Family: Melanotaeniidae
Distribution: The Misool Rainbowfish is currently only known from the clear, moderately fast-flowing jungle streams on Misool Island, west of the Vogelkop Peninsula in Indonesia. They were introduced to the aquarium hobby in 2001.
PH: 6.0 – 8.5
Temperature: 22°C – 28°C (72 – 82F)
Hardness: 9 – 16dH
Description: At a maximum of 6cm in the hobby, and 8cm (3 inches) in the wild, the Misool Rainbowfish is one of the smaller Rainbowfish. It has a white belly, a yellow body and a thick blue-black mid-lateral stripe.
Diet: A nutritious varied omnivorous diet will keep your Misool Rainbowfish in top form. Feed regular portions of live food, including insect larvae, worms and shrimps.
Breeding: Get your breeding pairs into condition by feeding them larger quantities of live food. Set up a separate breeding tank with lots of fine leaved plants, like java moss, or spawning mops. Raise the temperature to mimic the bountiful wet season and spawning should occur. The eggs will hatch within ten days and should be removed to a separate tank to avoid predation. Feed on baby brine shrimp or similar.
Comments: While Misool Rainbowfish are relatively uncommon in the aquarium hobby, they are easy to keep. Suitable and highly adaptable, they make exuberant, zippy little additions to both the species and community aquarium. They are adapt well to different water chemistry although will not cope well with rapid changes in pH, so it is best to keep it steady. As with other rainbows, house in a tank rich in floating vegetation, hiding places created by driftwood, provide open swimming areas and change the water regularly to keep the water clear and clean.
Article/Books:
Recommended Compatible Species:
Rainbowfish are a great community species in terms of their temperament and apart from other Rainbowfish species they also live happily with most Tetra species (particularly the Neon Tetra and Black Tetra). They are also great tank mates with Discus, CorydorasCatfish (particularly Corydoras Sterbaiand Corydoras aeneus) Angelfish, Clown loach, the common Guppyand Platy and most Gourami(such as the Blue Gourami and Dwarf Gourami like the Honey Gourami) Also can live happily with most Danio(particularly the Zebra Danioand Pearl Danio) and also many Killifish make great tank mates. One thing you should take into consideration when housing rainbows with these recommended species is the water quality. Temperature and Hardness are similar but P.H. can be quite different, although it is not ideal, if you keep your water at a P.H. of 7 this should keep your community happy.
Rainbowfish are schooling fish and should be kept in groups consisting of at least six individuals, preferably no less than 10-15. Mix it up with enough females to give them a rest when the males are on the chase, but provide enough males to bring out their vibrant colours when they are in competition for female attention. Whilst this is beneficial to the health and wellbeing of the fish, a large school is rewarding for the aquarist because a school of iridescent Rainbowfish is more dramatic to the eye than a few shy fish peeking out from behind dense vegetation.
Originally posted 2009-11-22 12:07:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Comments on this entry are closed.