Rainbowfish stocking help!

[ngpro111]

Hi everybody!

I just bought 6 Western Rainbowfish but unfortunately one died in shipping So I am only left with 5. Now I know that ideally, most rainbows should be kept in shoals of 6. I have always wanted to stock Praecox rainbows/ dwarf neon rainbow fish so my question is, would it be suitable to have 5 western rainbows with 5 praecox rainbows? So collectively there are 10 rainbows.
I know that people have success in mixing schools of rainbows together and these rainbows have the same genus (melanotaenia). I'm afraid that getting 6 and 6 could push it overstocking wise because I do plan to have other fish. Could having 6 and 5 make all the rainbows happy?
I've heard of people like MASS Aquariums keeping 1-3 praecox rainbows in a tank but there are many many other rainbows like bosemani in that tank too. And DWSDARIUS Fish tanks keeps 1 western rainbowfish with a group of 14 other different types of rainbows.
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I have a 55 gallon with:
4 peppered cory cats (I plan to make that 6)
1 guppy
1 swordtail

Plant wise:
tiger lotus
val
java fern
water sprite

filtration wise I have a topfin silent stream 75 HOB that I've optimized by loading it with sponge filters and a pre-filter. I also run a marineland penguin 100 and a 10 gal spongefilter. The Marineland filter is also optimized with sponges and a prefilter. So in total, it's roughly 360 gallons per hour. But I plan on replacing the Penguin 100 with something better.

Thank you, guys!

 

[tabendall]

I've mixed bosemani, yellow and turquoise in a 90 gallon. They all schooled together. I lost 2 of my bosemani and only had 4. They did fine.

 

[fishorama]

I think your guppy may have trouble competing with rainbows. Maybe up the corys to 8-10 & add another same sex swordtail or 2 unless you want to deal with fry being eaten (not all bad, lol). If that doesn't bother you, maybe a couple more swordtails rather than praecox...what sex do you have now?

I've had "bad luck" with praecox rainbows, & will never get them again. Rainbows often are "prone" to some diseases, the scariest being mycobacteriosis (been there!). If you've had the western for a while & are happy with them, I vote skip the praecox, just my opinion/experience.

Your filtration & plants seem good! We'd love pics if you can!

 

[ngpro111]

I think your guppy may have trouble competing with rainbows. Maybe up the corys to 8-10 & add another same sex swordtail or 2 unless you want to deal with fry being eaten (not all bad, lol). If that doesn't bother you, maybe a couple more swordtails rather than praecox...what sex do you have now?

I've had "bad luck" with praecox rainbows, & will never get them again. Rainbows often are "prone" to some diseases, the scariest being mycobacteriosis (been there!). If you've had the western for a while & are happy with them, I vote skip the praecox, just my opinion/experience.

Your filtration & plants seem good! We'd love pics if you can!

My guppy seems to be okay. He likes to school with them sometimes haha. But the rainbows are small. I've had the guppy for 2 years and he was in my 10 gallon so he moved up to my 55. I just set up the 55 gallon about 4 weeks ago and because I used my filter from my 10 gallon I was able to cycle the tank super quickly. Because the tank is so new the plants are not grown in as much as I'd like them but when they get there, expect pictures! I have a male sword tail. Is mycobacteriosis contagious? And how do rainbow's develop it?

 

[fishorama]

Myco is very contagious & untreatable, always lethal, if not fast killing, & hard to sterilize a tank afterward. I also had (different fish) chronic columnaris in praecox. Often a slow killer, but not something I want to deal with again, ever! There's 2 forms; slow, whitish & chronic; & red sores that kill & spread very, very fast.

Your plants might like some fertilizer either root tabs or in the water column (dry or liquid).

Maybe you could add a couple, 2 or 4 female swordtails & call it good (of course after adding a few more corys too). If you "want to" you can add the same strain of swordtails... or if fry survive, maybe some "mutts".

Do you still have the 10g? That might make a very good quarantine tank...always a great idea for new fish!!!

Yes, we will need pics! They don't have to be optimum, have you seen my few pics? I set the low bar, lol.

 

[ngpro111]

Myco is very contagious & untreatable, always lethal, if not fast killing, & hard to sterilize a tank afterward. I also had (different fish) chronic columnaris in praecox. Often a slow killer, but not something I want to deal with again, ever! There's 2 forms; slow, whitish & chronic; & red sores that kill & spread very, very fast.

Your plants might like some fertilizer either root tabs or in the water column (dry or liquid).

Maybe you could add a couple, 2 or 4 female swordtails & call it good (of course after adding a few more corys too). If you "want to" you can add the same strain of swordtails... or if fry survive, maybe some "mutts".

Do you still have the 10g? That might make a very good quarantine tank...always a great idea for new fish!!!

Yes, we will need pics! They don't have to be optimum, have you seen my few pics? I set the low bar, lol.

Thank you for the advice on rainbows! I'm now thinking a couple more western rainbows so that they have a sufficient school but I am backing away from the Praecox rainbows. And I would, of course, add a few more cories! But I am trying to get a diverse array of colors and I was thinking maybe 8 cherry barbs to get some beautiful red and a gourami to get some blue. I think that would be the end of my stocking plans.
I do have the 10 gallon but I don't have space to set it up However, I've noticed that some of my western rainbows are chasing each other. Would obtaining more solve this problem by distributing the aggression? Or is it just play?
I do have root tab ferts and liquid ferts.

 

[fishorama]

Rainbows, in my limited experience, are a little bit rowdy, mostly with each other. No harm usually done unless it's with smaller fish (guppy? Still worried a little).

I like your plan of a couple more rainbows & more cories (go with 8 total!)...but maybe another 2 or 3 swordtails instead of 'bows, they are social. Up to you & your vision for the tank.