Rainbow Questions

Ghost_knife

Ghost_knife

AC Members
Nov 17, 2005
2,482
0
0
20
I have several rainbows, I added some nice driftwood and that proply turned the water a cool lookin yellow. I was told this wasnt harmful but I would like to know.
Also I would like to know how to sex my bows, I think a few of them paired off.
I am interested to know. Thanks
 
you need to know what kind of rainbows you have to be sure, but usually the more colorful rainbows are the males. with some species it is hard to tell though. it is possible that you got all males from the pet store, because females dont usually sell as well. to get my school of 8 bosemani males with 6 females i had to go to a special fish breeder/importer guy because stores dont stock the females.

and yeah discoloration of the water is not harmful.
 
the stuff leaching out of the driftwood is called "tannins". it's the same stuff that make acorns poisonous and wine bitter. i think boiling the driftwood will take care of that, and help it sink, too, if you're having that problem. i could be wrong about it, tho.
 
I want to keep the tannin look but I know with the water changes that it will go away, how do i get it to stay?
 
blackwater extract, peat filtration, or boil your driftwood and pour the boiled tannins back into the aquarium. Some rainbows like hard water, though, and I think that all of those methods will soften the water.
 
I would just use blackwater extract ... O.o better off not softening your water... though...
 
Rainbows don't Pair Up.
It's a good idea to have at least 2 females to 1 male.
Mine chase the females each morning, and they don't seem to care about species. Of my 10 rainbows(11 total), just 3 are females, and they get chased each morning.
they do seem to prefer their own kind, but they males WILL persue a female of another Rainbows species.
I've seen the Dwarf Chase the Bosmani and the Turquise chace the Dwarf.
 
That's correct, they don't pair up. They will interbreed if there are not enough of each species to make a school and 2 females for every male.

The only way to sex them is to find out what they are and post pictures -- unless you can figure out which ones have a longer front dorsal fin. Those will be the males. However, with all the hybrids out there you are better off posting pictures.

Roan
 
I cant get decent shots, I will try
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom