Rainbows in a 40 ?

Four...is all I'd add. I've seen them 3-5 in depending on length of tank. And from what I've seen in my own tank with rainbows, one male to 3 females adds interest and possible breeding.
 
You've got Australian bows, fishinAZ, they get to 6" :)

40g breeder isn't a bad size, Unca. Nice and deep and fair length. Good choice for a smaller planted tank.

You sure you want to mix them? You can get a bigger school going with just praecox and some Boesemani aren't very nice to smaller bows. Just a thought.

If you are going to mix, you really should do a min of 2 girls to every boy, regardless of specie because they are not going to give a hoot an' hollar who they court. The praecox boys will court the boe girls and the boe boys the praecox girls. They don't care. Randy bunch :)

For a mix, I'd max at 6-7 with the majority being praecox. So, three boes and 4 praecox should work in a 36"x18" tank. The praecox go to about 3", but the Boesemani, Unca, can get to 5". The seven oldest I have were bought back in October -- four months ago -- and are over 3" easy. They were 2" when I brought them home.

Now, if you want a bright RED fish that will max under 3", don't mind a little higher price, and aren't in a huge hurry, then I would look at pseudoincisus, the Millenium rainbowfish. You could get a school of 8-10 at least in that size of a tank. I have 7 babies in my 36g and they are all 1.5" and under. Tons of room still left in the tank. They start to color up at 2 months of age. Mine are just starting to show.

Another one in that range is Melanotaenia parva, the Flame or Lake Kurumoi Rainbowfish. That one also maxes ~3" and very beautiful. That one is more available than the Millenium.

Just some thoughts and options ;)

Lemme know if you are interested in that and I'll shoot you some info.

Roan
 
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Being Cardinal and Angel fans, a bright red fish would be great!
So, if I forgo the boe(for now) could I mix the other three? and how many total?(with clean-up crew).

PS: Would a pictus or such be okay with the rainbows?
 
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Hey Uncabret...before you order...you might check with a couple of central illinois fish stores.
Sailfin in Champaign is great, and Fish Man in Springfield I hear is awesome. They may have some in stock or order for you. Charlies in Pekin is where I got my Bosemanis, and he's had various rainbows before. I need to go look there myself for some. Our fish auction is coming soon, and someone brought a ton of dwarf neon rainbows last time. I got 3 and want more.

Shipping is such a bite out of your pocketbook...I know a roadtrip isn't cheap, but at least you get some entertainment.
 
Sorry, Unca. Been side-tracked last two days with this and that.

Here's an article written by Christophe Mailliet for Fishes of Sahul, the ANGFA periodical. It's in PDF format, complete with awesome color pictures:

Those Little Red Fish: http://members.cox.net/roanart/Tanks/'Those%20little%20red%20fish'.pdf

Guy to contact is Tanner West. He's rarefishatLAX on Aquabid:

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwrainbows

He has parvas -- OH! he has milleniums back in stock again! Excellent, I want MORE!

Anyhow, if you decide to go this route, Tanner's yer man. I highly recommend him and so do many others on the Rainbow Mailing List.

Course, you could road trip as Nursie suggested, too ;)

Roan
 
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