# Rainbow fish



## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

I recently gave up my angelfish and the man at big als said rainbow fish could replace my angels which were my show pieces before. The angels had to go because they were eating my neon tetras. Will rainbow fish not eat my neon's? Is this 100% guaranteed? If so, any suggestions for what kinds of rainbows would look good in my tank? (i got t5 lighting)


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

It's 99% guaranteed. I'd go with a gourami species though myself. Pearl gourami
(trichogaster leeri) is a beautiful fish and a pair will readily spawn given calm water and some floating plants in a corner. They won't eat your neons. They have tiny mouths.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Depending on the size of your tank you can get different kinds.

Here is a good link scroll down to the bottom and there are links to all the different kinds of rainbows.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/rainbowfish/


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Great link.
My personal favourite rainbow is the boesmani









Menagerie usually has a pretty good rainbow selection.

The only thing I would say is that in my opinion, though gorgeous and interesting, rainbows are not centerpiece fish because of their behaviour. It's not like a pair of angels or gouramis that will take up a territory and be highly responsive to you. They're more a grouping fish that is less responsive and will behave more like your neons than your angels, whereas the gouramis would behave more like the angels.

Either way, your neons won't be eaten.


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## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

im then considering pearl gouramis, but does anyone know of any other responsive yet peaceful fish?


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Paradise fish which are basically another kind of gourami can be very responsive and are easier to care for than pearl gouramis. Realistically though, cichlids are always your best bet for a fish with personality. Im trying to think of a dwarf cichlid that would make a good replacement for an angelfish but right now nothing is coming to mind. A lot of the dwarves kind of hang out near the bottom and are cave dwelling.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

kribensis 









Electric Blue Ram









Apisto


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Cory said:


> Paradise fish which are basically another kind of gourami can be very responsive and are easier to care for than pearl gouramis. Realistically though, cichlids are always your best bet for a fish with personality. Im trying to think of a dwarf cichlid that would make a good replacement for an angelfish but right now nothing is coming to mind. A lot of the dwarves kind of hang out near the bottom and are cave dwelling.


I'd say anybody who can keep neons healthy, given that they're somewhat fragile, will be fine with any gourami except chocolates.


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## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

I have decided to get those great pearl gouramis. Should i get a certain ratio of males to females? Is there a store that has good quality pearls?, because i was thinking of going to BA's.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Never seen better pearls than Wong's. Don't get your gouramis from BA's. They're pond grown and I don't like how they turn out. Get them from Wong (Broadview/Gerrard) or Menagerie.

They can be sexed at 1.5"









small female









small male

female has short dorsal fin and rounded anal fin. male has long dorsal fin long anal fin. As they mature males get orange stomach and stringy extentions on anal fin then dorsal fin.

I like keeping them in pairs personally.

If you have an insanely huge tank you can just get a big group.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

Pearl gouramis are beautiful and very peaceful for anabantoids, but unless you have a large tank, don't get more than one male. I kept a trio in a 30 gallon for many years, and every summer when the temps got hot they bred over and over again. Some floating plants are good to have for them. I had floating watersprite and it provided some cover for the females when the male was tending eggs, and support for his bubblenests.


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## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

I have a 50g tank, how many should i get? What is a reasonable price?


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

duckyser said:


> I have a 50g tank, how many should i get? What is a reasonable price?


A trio, I think (1 male and two females). One advantage of a trio is to spread the mild hassle the male gives the females when he's ready to breed and they aren't. They can get up to 5-6" long, although they're very flat from side to side, so visually they take up more space than they do bioload.

I don't know what they go for these days, but they shouldn't be very expensive. Maybe $5-6 for young ones?

I second the recommendation to get healthy fish from a good source.

Btw, one cool thing about gouramis is they have chemical sensors ('taste buds') in their ventral fins, and they use them to feel around for food in an interesting way. But fin-nippers can make their lives miserable. If nothing in your tank bothered the angels' fins, the gouramis should be fine.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

bae said:


> A trio, I think (1 male and two females). One advantage of a trio is to spread the mild hassle the male gives the females when he's ready to breed and they aren't. They can get up to 5-6" long, although they're very flat from side to side, so visually they take up more space than they do bioload.
> 
> I don't know what they go for these days, but they shouldn't be very expensive. Maybe $5-6 for young ones?
> 
> ...


I second a trio for a 50.



do make sure to have floating plants in the corners, ideally in more than one place so if, say, one pair is breeding and the other female is chased she can be happy somewhere.






Spawning ^

The spawning behaviour is fun to watch. The male makes a bubble nest (foam with saliva) in a corner, usually in some floating plants. The female allows the male to wrap around her and rock back and forth. This stimulates the female to drop her eggs, which the male picks up and fertilizes then puts in the bubbles to keep them safe.

In this case, the female did not release, which makes the male angry. He then chases her away. Gouramis have very fickle relationships.

By the way-- you know with a larger tank like you have, assuming it isn't already heavily stocked, there's no reason for this to be an 'either/or'
You could easily add a small group of rainbowfish _and_ a trio of pearl gouramis. Rainbow fish are not particularly annoying to other fish. They are not aggressive or mean, don't eat a huge amount of food for their size, and are a nifty colorful fish that'll swim around in a group to compliment your neons in the middle area of the tank while the gouramis will mostly use the top.

There are many rainbows to choose from, like this attractive dwarf species







. The behaviour is sort of similar to a giant, overly energetic neon. I also think the blue and red in a different arrangement would compliment neons nicely.


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## okoolo (Nov 1, 2009)

sorry to hijack the thread but a quick question:

would julii cories be safe if I added couple kribs ( 55g, heavily planted)?


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

okoolo said:


> sorry to hijack the thread but a quick question:
> 
> would julii cories be safe if I added couple kribs ( 55g, heavily planted)?


Yep.
kribensis/cories won't really notice eachother much unless the corys go in the kribs cave. They learn fast not to.


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## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

Interesting thing about the antennas my red honey gouramis antennas have turned white and thin but heir bodies look fine is this normal?


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## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

what???!!! my honey gouramis cant live with the pearls?????


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

duckyser said:


> what???!!! my honey gouramis cant live with the pearls?????


it's unwise to mix gourami species. A male pearl would eventually decide to chase away the dwarfs and being unable to would eventually kill them.

I must have missed that or something.. Sorry


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## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

darn, i love my gouramis and cant bear to part with them. Guess im stuck with the rainbows or apistos


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Not really. Rainbows, another tetra, barbs, both kinds of ram, numerous apistos, laetacara species, keyhole cichlids, killis


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

If you do want to consider moving your honeys to a ten gallon or something, BA's scar has an _excellent_ shipment of very young pearls.


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