Aggressive Boesemani Rainbow Fish  8/15/10
Dear Crew,
<Alex>
I have recently discovered that one of my male Boesemani Rainbows is a terror! He is kept in a 55 gallon aquarium with 3 fully grown angelfish, 2 neon tetras, and 7 other Boesemanis, which include 2 males and 5 females.
He constantly terrorizes the other rainbows, both females and males, but the males more so. He chases them into corners and won't let them come out. He is the biggest male rainbowfish and the best colored too, and I got him before the other 2 males (before there were just 3 females and him, but when I noticed some missing scales on the females, I stocked up some more to diffuse the aggression). I have separated him into the 10 gallon quarantine tank,
<Good>
but I was wondering if I should return him to the LFS for a less aggressive one, or isolate him for a couple of weeks and then put him back (and hopefully his behavior will have changed by then!).
<I would try the latter... this isolation often serves to calm down such aggressors>
Thanks,
-Alex
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Compatibility: Bolivian Ram and Rainbowfish  10/12/09
We are commencing to re-stock a 30 gallon community aquarium. It's been stable with a few fancy goldfish for a couple of years, but we are wanting to convert this aquarium to a tropical community. All residents of this tank have now been moved to new homes.
<Very good.>
We are in the habit of regular water changes. We live in the Seattle area of Washington, USA. Our water tends towards softness, I believe.
<Soft can be good for South American and Southeast Asian fish in particular, but you do want a steady pH. A little information here in terms of water chemistry would be useful. But assuming something like pH 6.5-7.5, 5-15 degrees dH, then most community tropicals should do fine, with the obvious exceptions of livebearers, which prefer hard water.>
We have identified Bolivian Rams and Rainbowfish (Red, turquoise, emerald, etc.) as 2 types of fish that we'd definitely like to keep in this
aquarium.
<Rainbows are schooling fish, so keep at least six per species, and preferably equal numbers of males and females to ensure optimal colouration (if you don't have equal numbers of males and females, the males have no reason to colour up properly!). You usually can't sex most Melanotaenia species when young, but some foolish aquarists keeping Glossolepis incisus try to keep just males, and wonder why their fish don't look happy. In any even, a 30-gallon tank will be too small for most Rainbows, the only exceptions commonly traded would be Melanotaenia praecox (the Dwarf Rainbow) and perhaps the Telmatherina ladigesi (Celebes Rainbowfish). This latter species needs neutral, moderately hard water and doesn't like pH levels below 7, so it might not even be an option.>
Are these compatible in the same community?
<Yes. Most Rainbows like neutral, moderately hard water that isn't too warm, and this is optimal for Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus.>
If so, what conditions (temperature, PH, etc.) would be best for them?
<7.0-7.5, 10 degrees dH; 24-26 degrees C.>
Also, how many of each of these should we limit ourselves to?
<A pair of Mikrogeophagus altispinosus plus 6-8 Melanotaenia praecox would work fine in a decent length 30 gallon tank (i.e., not some daft hexagon or something, but a long, shallow rectangular tank).>
Can you please recommend other compatible tankmates for this community?
<Wouldn't add anything more to begin with. Possibly some Cherry Shrimps and Nerite Snails as scavengers/algae-eaters, but that's about it. Catfish tend to be harassed in small tanks when kept with Dwarf Cichlids. So while you could certainly add a school of Corydoras aeneus or similar if this was a 55-gallon tank or even perhaps a 40-gallon tank, a 30-gallon system is just too risky. Dwarf cichlids chase the catfish, nip them, even blind them. Not nice. If the tank was properly maintained for six months and there was enough light to get some green algae growing, a school of Otocinclus might be an option, but they're such sensitive fish I'd not recommend them.
Shrimps and Nerite snails are safer, much more effective algae-eaters.>
Thank you,
Jeff
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Bolivian Ram and Rainbowfish 10/13/09
Thank you very much for your prompt and highly informative response to my previous questions.
<Most welcome.>
According to the test run at our local aquarium shop, our water has a pH of 7.1 and hardness of 2 degrees dH. Will this be a problem for Bolivian Rams and Rainbowfish?
<Yes. Water this soft, assuming it has a comparatively low carbonate hardness as well, less than 3 degrees KH, tends to be unstable. Do test the carbonate hardness, because this really is critical. Read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/fwsoftness.htm
I don't recommend relying on shops to do your water tests, by the way. It's a good habit to get a few basic test kits of your own, so you can keep track of water chemistry and water quality.>
Is there anything we need to do to condition our water?
<Quite possibly. If your water has low general hardness (measured in degrees dH) and low carbonate hardness (measured in degrees KH), it will likely be too soft to keep these fish comfortably. One approach is to add limited amounts of Rift Valley Cichlid Salt mix, as described here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
You wouldn't use the full dose, but around a quarter to a half the dose.
Let's say you started with a quarter dose, that'd be 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon Epsom salt, and 1 teaspoon marine salt mix per 20 US gallons.>
Our tank is the long, rectangular 30 gallon variety. We like your suggestion of a pair of Bolivian Rams and 3 pair of Neon Dwarf Rainbows to begin with. Can we add more fish than this eventually?
<Sure.>
If so, would you suggest more Rams or more of the Dwarf Rainbows, or could we add another variety of fish?
<I'd not add more Rams, or they're likely to fight. Certainly, not more males anyway! As for Dwarf Rainbows, yes, a few more is always a plus. The bigger the group, the prettier they look, because they school nicely and show better colours (they're happier!). You might add some Silver Hatchetfish, Pearl Danios or Halfbeaks at the top of the tank.
Alternatively, you could add a retiring catfish like a Bristlenose Plec, but the problem here might be if your cichlids spawn. The catfish would likely be harassed if it didn't have a suitable cave, and conversely, it would eat any eggs.>
Our next questions regard diet and habitat. Are there any special dietary and feeding requirements for either of these 2 species?
<A mix. You can't go far wrong with this: A good quality staple flake or pellet, regular offerings of wet-frozen bloodworms, and occasional treats of things like live daphnia and live brine shrimp.>
For instance, I read somewhere that Rainbows should have some fresh greens such as duckweed occasionally.
<No, not necessary. For one thing, duckweed can easily become a pest.
Rainbows feed primarily on insects that fall onto the surface of the water, as well as zooplankton and small crustaceans.>
Also, I understand that in the wild, most of their diet is live food, so do we need to supplement their flakes with something else?
<I don't recommend you use flake exclusively, if for no other reason than fish get bored with it. All dried foods, whether flakes, pellets, or freeze-dried foods, are also more likely to cause constipation (imagine what would happen if humans just ate beef jerky all the time...).
Wet-frozen foods tend to have a high "ash" content, and this works like fibre.>
And speaking of flakes, I understand that rainbows are surface feeders, so flakes or something that does not sink immediately is best. Is that true?
<They certainly don't want foods that sink right down to the bottom. But they will take food from the surface and from midwater equally happily. If all else fails, ask the retailer to feed the fish in front of you. Whatever they're eating, buy some of that!>
On the other hand, I read that the Bolivian Rams need to be fed a special Cichlid formula. Is this the case?
<Cichlids certainly need a varied diet otherwise become prone to various health issues including Hexamita, Hole-in-the-head, constipation, bloating, and perhaps other things too. Wild Bolivian Rams are substrate sifters -- their Latin name Mikrogeophagus means "little earth eater" -- so what they would do in the wild is take mouthfuls of sand, sift it across their gill rakers, and extract small invertebrates, algae, and bits of organic detritus. In captivity they happily do this, and it's charming to watch. I tend to give my cichlids wet-frozen rather than flake foods, and enjoy watching them sift out the bloodworms or whatever from the sand. It's fun to see. Of course, you might only want to do this a couple times a week, in which case a good quality sinking pellet such as Tetra Min or Hikari Micro Pellet would be a good place to start.>
Will they come up and eat the flakes or do we need to feed some sort of sinking food to the Rams? If so, what do you suggest?
<They won't feed from the surface, no. But they may well eat uneaten flakes that float down to the bottom.>
Regarding habitat, we have 2 or 3 plastic plants and a small cave formed out of a few rocks. We read that the Rams don't like bright light and should have some shade. Will the single cave be enough for the 2 Rams or will they each need their own?
<At least a cave each, ideally more than one.>
Or should there be some sort of special style of plant (such as floating plants) that we need to provide?
<Start with some Java fern and/or Anubias on bogwood roots, and throw some in some Indian Fern and Amazon Frogbit for the floating plants. Easy plants to keep, no need for a substrate (so cheap to grow!), and these will, together, provide plenty of shade.>
Finally, (for now at least) are there any other considerations that we should be made aware of regarding our setup?
<Consider using a thin layer of _smooth_ silica sand (from the garden centre, very cheap) about 1-2 cm deep for the bottom. You'll love watching your cichlids behave naturally, and they'll keep the sand nicely sifted and clean as a bonus. Much prettier than gravel, too.>
Thanks, Jeff
<Cheers, Neale.>