New Tank Questions

[Captain Hook]

Hey guys I have a couple questions relating to a new tank I am planning on setting up (35 gallon).

1. I saw some beautiful fish at the store today, they were called Dwarf Rainbowfish and were all blue with a red stripe along the top of their body. Could you guys give me some more info on them, like how big, good community fish, things like that.

2. I have some dirty silk plants that I was thinking of using, is it ok to boil them in water to sterilize? Is there something else I should do instead?

3. Really unrelated to the other two, but do all snails lay eggs to reproduce? I have a couple now and was wondering if they will multiply.

[PumaWard]

I don't know about your second two questions, but is this the fish you saw?
http://fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/profile.asp?id=Melanotaenia+maccullochi

[Captain Hook]

Hmm, the fish I saw were called dwarf rainbowfish as well but didn't look like that. Their bodies were a very nice bright blue with one fairly thin stripe along the top. A very nice fish and kinda pricy too.

Edit: It might have been called a dwarf neon rainbow I can't remember.

[MrGoodbytes]

Is this the one?
http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/praecox_NA.jpg
Melanotaenia pracox

These guys are really nice fish, but around here they are a little expensive. They don't grow too quickly and shouldn't get much bigger than 5 or 6cm (mine are about 4cm).
They don't seem very picky about water chemisty, as long as the water is clean and they aren't subjected to any sudden changes they should be fine.
Mine really like to move in and out of my plants, or hide in them if they are feeling reclusive.
They like to be in small groups; around five is a good number. Males become more intensely coloured than females and when they are displaying they get a kind of light-blue-brown band along their snout almost up to their first dorsal fin. Males also have strinking red fins while females usually have a more orange colour to them.
I haven't bred any yet, but since they are rainbowfish, I assume they are mop-spawners.

Boiling the plants should be fine. What kind of dirt is on them?

I'm not up on my snails, but I have read about one that is a live-bearer. Glad I have loaches :p.

HTH, if I have left anything out let me know,
Graeme

[Captain Hook]

Graeme thanks for the info. The fish I saw looked pretty much the same as those, except the body wasn't all blue with red fins. It had a thin red stripe along the top of it and I can't remember if the fins had any colour at all. Anyways, I'm guessing it's a very similar fish so your info was very helpful.

As for the plants I scrubbed a couple with a toothbrush, that seemed to clean em up enough. As for the snails they are sitting in a jar but don't really seem to increasing numbers.

[OrionGirl]

There are a variety of snails that are common in aquariums. Some do lay eggs--the common pond snail, with a round shell, light to dark brown is one. Eggs will be sttached to a smooth surface, and look like a cluster of jelly-filled bags. As they near hatching, you will see small dots in the middle of each egg.

There is one other facter to consider--gender. For some snails, a mate is not needed, while for some, they need another snail, but are hermaphrodites. Some snails will be fertilized a single time and be able to have multiple clutches.

For more on snails, and some help in id'ing your's, this is a good resource: http://faq.thekrib.com/snails.html