strange boseman rainbow death....any ideas

[Roan Art]

Roan I did a little research myself. I went to the pet store where I bought them from. Actually it isnt a pet store it is more like a fish hatchery. They breed there own goyder river rainbows. I don't have bosemans but I always call my goyder river bows that, oops! Anyways they have been breeding them for years and they keep their tanks at 78-79. They do water changes like maniacs though. For about the last month I have been doing 50% WC's every week so this is good. They also feed them like crazy. Go to wetthumbaquatics.com and check them out. Best pet store ever.

I went and took a look, very nice.

. . .Thanks for all the help I appreciated it.

Not a problem, however the advice I gave was for Melanotaenia Boesemani rainbows and not Melanotaenia trifasciata , which is what you have. The Australian rainbows are a more hardy group that can tolerate more temperature ranges and aren't quite as picky about how fresh their water is.

I am getting addicted to rainbows (austrailian types) and want some bosemans.

Er, Melanotaenia Boesemani are not Australian. Those are from Papua New Guinea. Irian Jaya, to be specific, and mostly found in Lake Ajamaru.

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

I cant remeber were i read this but i seem to rember something about possibly TB or internal tumors can cause the fishes body to curve as the mass enlarges. If you lose him you may want to take him back to your breader guys and see if they would do an autopsy. Good luck hope he survives.

You are correct and many rainbows do carry TB. It usually shows up when the water is less than ideal and the fish becomes stressed.

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

I kept the same 6 Boesman rainbows for more than 8 years with the temperature set at 82F with no problems. They loved it. Besides, they're really tough. They moved house cross-country a few times, got down to 55F when an ice storm knocked out power for 3 days, and got up to 90F in summer with no A/c. I had similar symptoms to your situation on one occasion, when doing a water change. It turned out that the rural water supply was treated with bleach, and they had just switched tanks so I got a rush of hyper-bleached water.

ROFL! Considering were you are located, chances are that yours were bred and kept outside in Australia for a few generations and have possibly gotten used to those types of extremes, no? I've read that most of the Aussie breeders keep and breed their bows outside in HUGE ponds. Must be nice

The Boesemans that normally show up here in the local pet shops are the Asian strain. The color is washed out (more yellow than orange-red) and they aren't near as hardy. The breeder boes are great, however, and decended from the first ones brought back by Heiko Bleher. I wouldn't buy anything else but Bleher Boes

Roan

 

[reziztor]

My Boesemani seem to be more colorful at 80+

I take everything I read on the internet with a grain of salt. Its 88% regurgitated crap. Experience is the best teacher.

 

[Roan Art]

My Boesemani seem to be more colorful at 80+

I take everything I read on the internet with a grain of salt. Its 88% regurgitated crap. Experience is the best teacher.

I would agree if I wasn't getting the information from the people who have been keeping and breeding rainbows for 10+ years.

Roan

 

[Kilat]

Actually, this was when I lived in the States, and they started out as your standard tiny silver runts from Petsmart. Everyone thought I was crazy to buy such ugly minnows! As for the secret to longevity/hardiness, what can I say? It's all about the love.....

But now in Australia can you believe that I haven't seen a single Boesmani in LFSs? Other rainbows though, so maybe it's an import restriction.