Just wondering if anyone has managed to breed rainbowfish ? I saw a variety that were two toned - blue and red i think, separated vertically - they were particularly nice. But would like to hear about any. Cheers

If you are talking about dwarf neon rainbow fish ,although your discription doesnt sound like it, then yes. Tons of them. Cant stop them actually.

The last lot were accidently syphoned out into a bucket while doing a water change and I didnt know there were there till I almost emptied it out on the lawn. I got about 40 from that lot without really trying

They are all great fish. Active and colourful and easy to breed. Just put a group of adults into a tank with lots of moss and remove them a few days later.

No it wasnt dwarf ones i was talking about though they are lovely too - what size do they grow to ? Lots of people seem to like rainbow fish as dither fish in a cichlid aquarium. Im hoping to set up a cichlid tank with fish that stay to 5" or less and wonder then if the dwarf neon rainbows would be big enough not to get eaten?

I suspect they might mean Boesemani?

Hi Caryl, yeh thats the ones - just been looking at a specific rainbowfish forum. Man there are some awesoe looking fish and tanks there too

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

No one else keeping or breeding Rainbowfish ?

Speaking from experiesnce, definitely don't put dwarf neons in with cichlids - they do get eaten and in a most undignified manner with their rear ends hanging out of the cichlids mouth for quite some time while all the other cichlids take a chunk out of it!

I was told they would be fine because they are fast swimmers but I lost 2 out of 3 dwarf neons within a week of introducing them to the aquarium so they obviously weren't fast enough! I managed to find the last one a new home quick!

I still keep reds, goldens, boesmans and soon splendids as well - these are all a much better size for a cichlid tank. Also make sure you have at least 6 of them preferably more as they like to hang out together...

I know lots of people who like rainbowfish but I think sometimes the price puts people off. At anywhere between $12 for a single fish and $37 for a pair, they are not exactly cheap if you want to buy a few of them for your tank... :roll:

$12 each...That is cheap. They're not schooling are they? So you don't generally have to buy half a dozen like tetras. $6 each is about average for tetras. So call it $30 for a school, that's double the average price of a single cichlid.

I have dwarf neon rainbows and love them. Have 2 pairs at $23 a pair but have not thought about breeding them. They are in a community tank with blue rams, corys and danios - no issues so far

Thanks for the answers so far. Seems maybe they are not a widely kept fish in NZ then huh ?