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Harvey Creek rainbow frustration.

5/15/2014

 
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  I have failed at my first attempt to breed rainbowfish. I have a group of six Melanotaenia maccullochi "Harvey Creek" that are very attractive fish, particularly when the males are flashing (showing off for the females). I spawned them in a 5.5 gallon aquarium chock full of Najas guadalupensis (aka guppy grass). I left them in the tank for about a full week. I saw eggs appear day after day suspended by thin clear strands of something (see the picture below). Some disappeared shortly after. I removed the adults to another tank and allowed the eggs to hatch. At first I was disappointed when I found a measly four fry after about four or five days. Then the number jumped up to about 20-25 within the next three days.
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  Everything seemed to be going well, but the fry began disappearing after the first few days. I am down to single digits, perhaps five or six fish. I believe the problem is the food I've been offering. I was feeding Golden Pearls, a brine shrimp replacement. It is the 5-50 micron size, but even that seems to be too large for the fry. I have read that infusoria and green water are better first foods for them. I will try that with the next batch. Hopefully that will yield better results.
  By the way, if you've never bred rainbows but wanted to try, I would highly recommend it. They spawn quite readily once mature, as long as they are well fed. The tricky part is raising all of those needle-point sized babies. The same is true for many of the egg scattering species out there, such as danios, tetras, etc.
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