Popondetta-Blue Eye...ever see or hear of them ? Fantastic fish..take a look !

[Roan Art]

this is VERY possible....my book is probably ten years old! i haven't had a need for any further research so i haven't kept up. i DO still hve the interest in these, however. so, i am glad you brought up this possibility. i tend to assume everyone who has written a book knows more than i do....and they still do. BUT, as you said, it doesn't mean it is the most correct OR RECENT information. it is still an informative book and i will retain it while supplementing it with current information.

Nod, I've found that in this hobby everything changes so quickly! We're reading a lot of books on reef keeping that are only a couple of years old and will need to take that knowledge and confirm it with any new stuff we find.

on another note, i find the dwarf neon rainbows (for the lack of brain function regarding the scientic name) one of the easiest rainbows to keep. then again, ihave only had the threadfins, dn, and a similar blue eye to what is mentioned at the beginning of this thread.

Melanotaenia praecox I've only had the Boesemani thus far, so you've had more than me

ihave always heard that bosemanni's get to 6 inches, but i keep seeing profiles for 3". i am glad this was mentioned here!

With all the research I've been doing and with everything seeming to support the 5-6" Boesemani, I think I'm going to start pushing that. Too many people can get themselves stuck with a schooling fish that actually grows to twice the quoted size.

what type of sustrates has anyone found that bring out the rainbows colors the best? i had a black substrate that didn't seem to make a difference. should i be thinking more along the lines of a background?

I'm using brown Flourite, myself, and most people say that a black background brings out the nicest colors. I've got one of those plastic rock ones

Not sure what I'll do in the new tanks. Haven't thought about it. I'm still working on my plant list and design.

Roan

 

[reziztor]

I keep Threadfins, Boesemani, Red Irians, Signifer, Furcata, Neons, Australians and what I think are a few Madagascar Rainbows... They are all bred here locally in Korea and nobody knows their correct names. For instance, I was hoaxed into buying little "New Guinea Rainbows" but went home and found out they where just normal Signifer.

By the way, my Signifer are very docile. A school of 7 now lives in a 30 gallon with my male betta.

My Asian-bred Boesemani are all peaceful, except for the dominant male. I think all asian-bred fish are more docile... Its been true for my tiger barbs also. I guessed its because they breed them in cramped, tiny tanks under harsher conditions... I'm not sure.

 

[Roan Art]

Wow. Looks like I found a site that actually has decent information on rainbow aquaria:

http://www.petresources.net/fish/rainbowf/mel_boe.html

They do have the Celebese Rainbow as Telmatherina ladigesi. That fish was reclassified as Marosatherina ladigesi and it is not brackish. I've emailed them.
References, the Rainbow Mailing list and:
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=6300
http://www.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/getname.asp?rank=species&id=52615


Roan

 

[gabrielandco.]

I'

m using brown Flourite, myself, and most people say that a black background brings out the nicest colors. I've got one of those plastic rock ones

i think the black substrate might have brought the colors out more if it wasn't a high tank, 25H to be exact. also, it had/has a mirror back. not a tank you would want a betta in! i think i would prefer the brown flourite- more natural looking then black, unless it is a sand and black mix like costa ricas beaches (volcanic i was told is why black was mixed in there).

They do have the Celebese Rainbow as Telmatherina ladigesi. That fish was reclassified as Marosatherina ladigesi and it is not brackish. I've emailed them.

celebes sounds very familiar. that may be the one i thought i had. the yellow ones all look alike to me! maybe i didn't even have a blue eye. it would help if the computer and my books were under the same roof!

 

[Roan Art]

My Asian-bred Boesemani are all peaceful, except for the dominant male. I think all asian-bred fish are more docile... Its been true for my tiger barbs also. I guessed its because they breed them in cramped, tiny tanks under harsher conditions... I'm not sure.

I think it's just a genetic thing and the Asian market lucked out. For instance, the rough and smooth coated collie breed in the USA can all trace their genealogy back to 1 stud dog brought over from the UK. That dog had what we now know as "Collie Eye" and it's a common genetic defect in our dogs over here. It's not found very often in the UK, because the strain isn't as true. I'm saying it that way because if I don't someone is going to say "over bred" and there is no such thing as "over bred". Inbred, yes, line bred, yes, over bred, NO.

Sorry, one of my pet peeves.

Anyhow -- the rainbows, because only a few specimens were brought back and were bred in captivity, it's most likely that they can all trace their lineage back to 1-5 (dunno how many were brought back, just making an example) individuals. The ones that had a more dominate "docile" gene ended up on the Asian market.

I bet it's pretty much the same way for Tiger Barbs over there.

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

i think the black substrate might have brought the colors out more if it wasn't a high tank, 25H to be exact.

I agree. The substrate can only bring out so much color depending on where the fish is swimming. If the tank is heavily planted, then the substrate isn't going to do a heck of a lot, colorwise, either. I think that to utilize substrate color, you really have to match it to a background as well. If you have a brown (sepia, Van Dyke, yellow-brown colored) substrate and green background, then everything will look greenish-brown. Depends on the color of the fish, too.

also, it had/has a mirror back. not a tank you would want a betta in! i think i would prefer the brown flourite- more natural looking then black, unless it is a sand and black mix like costa ricas beaches (volcanic i was told is why black was mixed in there).

ROFL! No, a betta would probably stress himself to death in that tank

I like the brown flourite because if you thrown in some small river pebbles, it looks rather natural and "river" looking.

celebes sounds very familiar. that may be the one i thought i had. the yellow ones all look alike to me! maybe i didn't even have a blue eye. it would help if the computer and my books were under the same roof!

Heh. Yah, it would

Roan

 

[trafty7]

would they (p. gertrudea) be ok to keep with guppys, gouramis, and german blue rams??

 

[Roan Art]

would they (p. gertrudea) be ok to keep with guppys, gouramis, and german blue rams??

IMO, I would not keep them with any of those fish. Gouramis and rams can be very territorial. Gertrudae are VERY small, half the size of a full grown neon tetra, and could probably fit in a gourami/ram's mouth very easily. Guppies can get nippy and would shred their fins or just outright kill them.

They're not a cheap fish, either, so that would be an expensive experiment should you choose to try it

Roan

 

[reziztor]

I second that. PLEASE people... Keep them in species only or with other small Rainbows. I had success with small Lampeyes. Wouldnt chance ANYTHING else.

 

[Nacho and Taco]

Rezistor has the coolest fish for his avatar and Roan Art was kind enough to provide a link to a site with some info on these beauties...wanted to share and ask around if anyone else has them or has ever seen them...or knows where someone can GET some !!

Take a look at these beauts !



These pics I got from the following link...just to give those folks credit for these beautiful pictures ! Hope they don't mind me borrowing them....do go check the site out ! These are just 3 of many very well done pics of some very nice fish ! (figure since I borrowed thier pics, I at least ought to plug thier site !!)

And here's the link that RoanArt shared with a bit of info on the fish..... http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/21803/20040913/members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Pseudomugil.htm

What incredibly gorgeous fish !! :dance:

Those are some sweet lookin fish, eh?