More Fish

Can someone tell me if I can get some more fish - I dont want to overload my tank. I dont know whether to get just some more of the same fish I have or add something new - any ideas??

I dont see an issue with getting a few more fish...

What sort you thinking?

Dont know really - I was hoping for a few suggestions :lol:

Some nice Harlequin Rasboras would look great elj. They are a peaceful, but active fish and need to be kept on a shoal of about 6 minimum.

Firework/Galaxy Rasboras - shame they aint common atm

You really like those Galaxy's dont you GD? They are a lovely little fish thats for sure and it would be great to see a nice sized group. You'll have to set up a breeding tank for them :lol:

Diana wrote:

You really like those Galaxy's dont you GD? They are a lovely little fish thats for sure and it would be great to see a nice sized group. You'll have to set up a breeding tank for them :lol:

I aint even got a fish yet so breeding is a bit too soon lol! but yes i really do like the look of them! However I refuse to pay the price

http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/detail51_95657.php

I may spash out if i get a little tank up and running also with just these little fellows in it

That's a good deal by the look of it GD.

trouble is i really dislike getting them posted :s

Could you not collect GD?

quite a distance - could do with one closer

Do you have to have specific conditions for these fish to breed? Would it be hard to get fry or are they easy like guppies etc?

from what I have read they seem fairly easy to breed! just the numbers are dwindling

Found this on Fishkeeper.com

"Common name: Galaxy rasbora, Fireworks rasbora, Rasbora toei,Celestial Pearl Danio

Scientific name: Microrasbora sp. "Galaxy" Celestichthys margaritatus

Origin: Myanmar.

Diet: Early reports suggested that the fish might only consume tiny live foods, so most people have been feeding theirs with live Daphnia, brineshrimp or microworms. However, most have reported that these will also accept small dried foods such including Tetra Mini Granules and crumbled flakes, as well as live Tubifex.

Size: A miniature species that is believed to be fully grown at around 1.5cm in length. However, there are some reports of the fish reaching up to 3cm.
Water: Precise details are not known, but neutral or slightly acidic conditions are probably preferable. One importer is claiming that the fish are found in areas with a pH of 6.0, GH 9 and a salinity of 0.2. The presence of salt seems extremely unlikely in my opinion, which might mean that the other figures are also inaccurate. Whatever their true requirements, they seem very adaptable. Some of the Singapore fishkeepers who were first to obtain the species reported success in keeping them in small blackwater tanks with a pH ranging from 4.5-5.7. In the UK, they've happily acclimatised to our harder, more alkaline water without problems.

Living conditions: Due to its tiny size, this beautiful little cyprinid would be best in a small aquarium, away from larger fish that might look upon it as a tasty snack. You could keep an impressive little shoal of these in a tiny desktop aquarium such as the AquaCube we gave away with last month's Practical Fishkeeping subscription. No details on the habitat are available, however, aquarium observations seem to suggest that the fish likes well-aerated or flowing water. Most fishkeepers are keeping theirs in small planted aquariums, in which the species is the only inhabitant.
Notes: New fish don't come much newer than this: the species was only discovered a few months ago (August 2006) and was first introduced by Kamphol Udomritthiruj of Thailand-based exporter AquariCORP. The first specimens arrived in the UK during September. Practical Fishkeeping was the world's first magazine to break news of the species.

Identification: Undoubtedly a new species but only tentatively considered a Microrasbora due to its resemblance with Microrasbora erythromicron. Unlikely to be confused with anything else, given its striking appearance.

Sexing: Quite simple to sex when the fish are in good condition. Males are brighter coloured and have bright red fins with squiggles of blue-black in the dorsal and anal, and the upper lobes of the caudal fin. The chests of males are also more orangey and they tend to be slimmer. Females are slightly less colourful, with less red and fewer dark squiggles and uncoloured pelvic fins. They have rounder bodies and a slightly paler overall colour. Both sexes have the same chunky appearance seen in Danio choprai and the hump-backed of Microrasbora erythromicron.

Breeding: Pete Liptrot and Paul Dixon of the Bolton Museum Aquarium were the world's first fishkeepers to spawn this species, and they managed to do just a couple of weeks after the fish first became available in the UK. Very little is known about reproduction. Paul says that he observed a brightly-coloured male attempting to drive females into a spawning mop and Pete found seven small eggs in a clump of Java moss a week later and spotted some fry which had already hatched. Said Pete: "The eggs have been laid over Java Moss and appear to be only very slightly adhesive, they drop out of the moss very easily. We've removed the moss to another aquarium to see what else hatches. As we were moving the moss one of the smaller males was very busy hunting around for eggs or fry."
Behaviour: Males can be rather quarrelsome with each other and often flare, spar and fight resulting in minor splits to the fins. Most people keeping these in groups of six plus have observed shoaling in their fish, and several have reported minor territoriality in males.


Other recorded succesfull breedings include: Condition the Galaxy rasbora with the best food possible (white worms, or tubifex ) for a week or so. Then you will need a separate tank, Preferably 5-10 gallons. The tank should have gravel or marbles on the bottom and the water level kept low or the fish will eat the eggs as soon as they are laid. Put several conditioned Galaxy rasbora in the tank to make sure you have both male and female. Watch for the spawning activity. Once the eggs are laid they fall in between the marbles and the parents cannot eat them. Once a few hours have passed remove the fish. The eggs should hatch in a day or so and if after a couple of days you see no fry you may try again after the fish are rested and reconditioned. Raising the fry can be difficult. Once they are free swimming you should feed them with finely ground flakes, paramecium, inforusia or commercial liqui-fry.


Conditioning

Your first responsibility, should you dare chose to try,, only a few rasbora will spawn without conditioning on live foods. While I offer flakes, most feedings are based on daily squirts of baby brine shrimp and an occasional feeding of white worms. The larger the fish, the more I rely on white worms.

The conditioning tank should be conducive to good health and the development of viral eggs. Yet, because I want to trigger a spawn, the conditioning tank must somehow inhibit the fish from spawning. I want the pair to find the spawning tank conducive to spawning. I can hold the pair back one of three ways. I can separate the pair. I keep the fish in a community tank which is too distracting to the fish. I can keep the conditioning tank?s water outside of the ideal parameters (temperature, pH, hardness). I prefer the first two.



Pick A Pair

You only need two, but you better get the right two. Yeah. Picking a pair is not always easy with these fish. Sometimes they look so similar. But there are some tricks. As in many other fish groups
in this case its the vivid colours.

The best all round technique for determining a female is the bulge in her belly when fed well. This technique applies to almost all tetras, barbs, and Rasbora. If you aren't sure, capture some fish in a net or a bag and look straight down. Often you can see a bulge distinguishing the females which are ready to spawn.

Spawning set up

Here is where the fun begins ...

The aquarist tries to accomplish three things in the spawning tank:

[1] induce the pair to spawn,
[2] keep the spawners away from the eggs, and
[3] keep the eggs from fungusing.
[Spawning Tank Set-up]

1. Inducing a Spawn

Of the three goals just listed, inducing a spawn is usually the most challenging. In the previous ten weeks, I have set up thirty-some spawning tanks and obtained eggs in eight of these attempts. Realize that many of the species with which I?m working are challenging to breed, such as the Rasboras. But the point I want to make is that despite doing everything right, many attempts will fail to produce eggs.

Water Parameters

The most important thing to raise the chance of a spawn is the water quality and its parameters. Aquarists before us put much importance behind pH and hardness. In general, the groups of fish I?m talking about require soft and acid water. Rasbora species are supposed to be a difficult fish to breed. Not until recently have I observed my first Rasbora spawn. My Galaxy Rasboras first showed an interest in spawning after I changed their tank to nearly all r/o water and once the pH had drifted down to 5.0! I transferred them to a spawning tank with water of the same parameters and had success. I proceeded my attempts with three other Rasbora species and obtained eggs from two of the three. In each case I used 100% r/o and the pH was in the 4?s. I kept Rasbora maculata in the spawning tank for over a week, and they spawned once the pH fell to 4.4!

this is pretty much all the information i can find on these so far including the write up of the fact sheet i was given from LFS when i bought some... maybe its because they are still quite a new thing but hope it helps !!!!! (ouch mine poor fingers)"

One thing this article doesnt say is that when spawning has taken place the water level should be dropped to about 6".

It's a shame that these lovely little fish have been decimated in the wild - maddens me really.