Going bigger

[FishBubs]

I did notice my x2 biggest rainbow fish males swiping and picking at each other and a few open sores and white small lumps. Currently treating with Esha 2000 and hopefully it'll clear things up.

Watch this space for the video.

Hi @Si4geckos
I have also noticed two of my rainbows moving on from just posturing which was nothing more than a nose to nose vibrating push about. But now these two have started to go at it, spinning round and what looks like nipping the undersides. One rainbow has gone full black colour in the head area whilst this is going on but change straight back to blue when they have a time out. The have not done any visible physical harm to eachother but should they be separated? Or will they sort it out themselves (i dont want this to result in one dying though) .

[Si4geckos]

I did notice my x2 biggest rainbow fish males swiping and picking at each other and a few open sores and white small lumps. Currently treating with Esha 2000 and hopefully it'll clear things up.

Watch this space for the video.

Hi @Si4geckos
I have also noticed two of my rainbows moving on from just posturing which was nothing more than a nose to nose vibrating push about. But now these two have started to go at it, spinning round and what looks like nipping the undersides. One rainbow has gone full black colour in the head area whilst this is going on but change straight back to blue when they have a time out. The have not done any visible physical harm to eachother but should they be separated? Or will they sort it out themselves (i dont want this to result in one dying though) .

They go darker / more intense colours when in breeding mode and they want to show off. The females also seem to change colours and get dark stripes when they're in the mood. Mine do get a bit aggressive with each other and I am treating the tank for white lumps on their side, which may or may not have been caused by them having digs at each other. I can't really say if it's infections, but white lumps on side where they 'bite' and white lumps on mouths would suggest minor injuries getting infected perhaps?

I think the rules is to have twice as many females as males dispel aggression and lots of sight breaks and hiding places. Mine do get very aggressive/ excitable with lots of chasing at breeding time, but they also have nearly 7ft to get away from each other if they want. The smaller fish also join in the chase, hoping for a free eggy breakfast.

Remind me what types of rainbows you have, genders, tank sizes, etc.

[FishBubs]

Eggy breakfast

I have 5 make bosemani rainbows which i have had since they were about 4-5 cm. They are now almost fully grown. I have a seabray 4 ft and plenty hidey spaces. But i do have what i think is a lake kutubu rainbow. I picked it up from fish shop as it was all on its own. I dont know what sex it is though. But other rainbows dont pay much attention to it. Its only about 4 cm itself.

[Si4geckos]

Eggy breakfast

I have 5 make bosemani rainbows which i have had since they were about 4-5 cm. They are now almost fully grown. I have a seabray 4 ft and plenty hidey spaces. But i do have what i think is a lake kutubu rainbow. I picked it up from fish shop as it was all on its own. I dont know what sex it is though. But other rainbows dont pay much attention to it. Its only about 4 cm itself.

How big is 'full grown?' I think males will always spare for dominance are they are quite big for the space. I'd just keep a close eye on things and check for any damage, scale loss or damage to mouths and see how things go. Maybe get them 10 females and give them something else to concentrate on? If you have the space...

[Si4geckos]

Came home after 24hrs on the road and checked my 'hospital tank' I'm currently treating x5 rainbow fish for some white lumps and bumps.

Bit of ammonia in the tank as they don't seem to be eating the flake food I left so it'd gone a bit moldy and fuzzy. I took the sponges off the filter to give a light cleaning and found some weird round lumps like grains of sand.

Turns out to be about 100 eggs so they must've been breeding. I did an 80% water change as there was ammonia before realising there were eggs so may have flushed a load of babies. Most eggs were white and fungussed due to the extra food and poor water quality. I did take a few that looked clear out and even rescued 1 wiggler.

I've added the eggs and wiggler to the hang on breeder box with shrimp and zebra pleco fry. I removed the x5 larger rainbow fish fry as they're about 2cm and released them into the big tank. They're a little small still, but the largest rainbows are in the hospital tank for now so they've time to find hiding spaces, etc before the parents come back on the scene.

Stebai have been breeding and chasing each other around again tonight, but I'm not getting any eggs out. I did rescue x3 eggs off the glass last week and threw them in the breeder box, but I'm assuming they may have been eaten.

I've just set up the fluval medium breeder box to hopefully spawn cardinal tetras. I do think the tank might be too small so might have to waiting til the hospital tank is empty and use that to spawn cardinals.

Think that's everything for this week. Lots going on.

[Si4geckos]

Brochis have now reached an inch. Not sure if there's still 2 or just the one. Hard having over 30 sterbai zipping around and trying to identify the cory with the slightly different colour and taller fin. Lovely colours and the body does a green shimmer when catching the light now. Hard to photo though as they never stay still!

[Si4geckos]

Here's something you don't see every day. My biggest L397 male backed out his cave tonight with full spikey breeding dress on! Looks like an armoured dinosaur. Took me by surprise, but thought I'd share. Won't be trying to pick him up any time soon.

[Staffylover]

That is some impressive equipment I must say!

[fr499y]

Go on… give him a prod

[Martinspuddle]

He'd make a good brush to clean filter pipes.