Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish

Well they're fast little beggars but I managed to grab a few shots anyway of the six Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia praecox). There are two males (red fins) and four females (yellow fins) as yet unnamed; I'll wait and see if they survive the month in quarantine.

They loom good Mary. Just a question - how do you clean your q tank after it has been used? Do you have to make sure that your plants/log are clean in case they have had some bug or other?

I see you dont use gravel in there either, dont you find all the poop a problem without it?

If the fish go through the month of quarantine without any sign of illness, once they're transferred to the relevant tank, I just add the next set of fish to be quarantined.

However, if any signs of disease manifest in the Q tank or if a fish dies in there, I drain the tank, clean all the decor with boiling water and also sterilize the filter sponges in boiling water. I keep a spare sponge in the two foot tank filter so that can be swapped over as necessary.

Any rainbows are great. I had these for a while. Very assertive when it comes to feeding time. little piggies

Nice pics!

Thanks GD. They certainly are a bit lunatic at feeding time alright!!

how do you manage to get such good shots? and the fish seem to stay still for you.

It's maddening isn't it GD?? I have NEVER been able to take a photo of a fish that doesn't just look like a blurry blob no matter how hard i try.

Time for some lessons from the masters I think!

Well those photos were the best of about twenty or so shots and some of them are still blurry!

Do you reckon they are really just little paper pictures stuck onto the glass GD??

Be honest mary.....YOU cut em out of the PFK mag!!!

lmao, i bet she only has 1 & she photoshopped the rest in.

Very nice shots & (one) fish Mary

Well I've had mixed luck with this shoal of Rainbowfish. After a month in quarantine, one of the males developed a lump on his head so I decided to move him to a different quarantine tank to treat him while leaving the other five in the original Q tank. After two courses of meds, there was a definite improvement and then after a second month, I was getting ready to move the other five into the three foot tank when one of the females died suddenly of unknown causes...

So rather than take a chance, I decided to leave them be for another while but was going to move the treated male back in with them when I noticed that he'd started to develop a slight spinal curvature. I went to check on him tonight but alas, he's dead.

So now I'm down to one male and three females that I'm going to let be for another while to see if they develop any symptoms of anything. I don't want to risk the three foot tank community by moving the Rainbowfish in there too soon. I can't decide whether or not to replace the male and female that died though...

Thats a shame about your fish Mary.

As for getting some more - do you have a seperate q tank to put them in? If you added new fish into the ones that are already in a q tank dont you run the risk of introducing something else into the mix??

Sorry about your fishes Mary - you have had a long run of healthy fish though after all the bad luck you had with your bettas etc havent you?

wow lovely clear pics
are you sure there is water in there.

Diana wrote:

Do you have a seperate q tank to put them in? If you added new fish into the ones that are already in a q tank dont you run the risk of introducing something else into the mix??

I do. But I have my eye on some female cherry barbs for that one as the poor males keep displaying to each other. I might add the extra Rainbows at a later date.