# Rainbow breeding



## Bettacreek (Mar 22, 2008)

I have a dilema, I have one rainbow that is black, which I'm assuming is a male in breeding colors. I also have two females (I think they're females) who are fighting over him and chase everyone else off and fight with each other, then gently dance/side-slap with the male. My problem is that these guys are all in a small tank. I haven't gotten the 65 up to transfer the piranha into that, then them into the 30 gallon tank. So, if I hurry up and do the transfers, would it hurt the process of them spawning if I move them into new territory? I was thinking about letting them spawn in the small tank then moving them into the 30 once the fry are free-swimming. Should I get rid of the rest of the rainbows that are getting beat up now, or how should I go about this? I don't want any grief about them being in a small tank, because they've been getting plenty of water changes and live foods and are doing quite well as of right now, I just need to know what is best in this situation.


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

I'd go ahead and move them now. Even if it disrupts their spawning, it isn't like they won't ever spawn again you know!! And I'd take the remaining rainbows back to the LFS now too....

Good luck!! :thumb:


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## Big Den (Apr 5, 2008)

I have 3 rainbows, 2 female and 1 male, in a 200 uk gal tank along with other much larger cichlids. The 3 always go around together, even while 2 of them are spawning. I am never quite sure which 2 are the pair because they look the same. They can be aggresive and often chase off a 8" jaguar, but they never seem to come into contact with anything. When I bought these a year ago they were already adults. They spawned within 3 days of being put in the tank. I think if you move them to another tank they will spawn quite soon. You may have 2 males and 1 female because the females don't normaly fight. The color is not a good indication of sex in these fish as both seem to turn blackish when in breeding mood. A pair of these fish would be quite happy in a 30 gal. Good luck with them.


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## Bettacreek (Mar 22, 2008)

Thanks guys! Should I use a gravel bottom or bare bottom? Most of our "display" fish have gravel, but the rest are bare bottomed.


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## Big Den (Apr 5, 2008)

I always use river sand, its not too course and rainbows do like to move their young to pits as well as tucked into plant roots etc. I always think with a bare bottom tank the fish can see their reflection and get a bit confused. These fish also like to nibble on the plants, even java fern, not to eat it but just to get it out of the way. I am watching mine at the moment and they are trying to spawn on a rock right in the middle of the tank, just where the green terrors like to hang around.


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## Bettacreek (Mar 22, 2008)

How much of a PITA is sand to clean though? I hate the gravel because it's such a hassle to clean, I couldn't imagine sand... With the rest of the fish, I haven't had any problems with bare bottoms, but I didn't know if the rainbows maybe "needed" substrate.


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## rmcder (Jul 9, 2005)

I've found sand to be easy to deal with. The problem with sand is getting it coarse enough to sit on the bottom. Pool filter sand is the best, imo. Needs to be washed REALLY well or you'll get fine suspended particles in your water. Filter intake has to be several inches above the sand or it'll suck up sand (and your filter will NOT like that!). Don't let the sand pile up too deeply (2" is good). Easy to clean since everything stays on top. Disadvantage is... Everything stays on top!


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## Bettacreek (Mar 22, 2008)

Is the coarse pool filter sand heavy enough to handle a python?


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

I almost always loose a little sand when I vacuum my tank. As cheap as sand is , adding a bit from time to time to make up for the loss is no big deal . You can always reclaim the sand the sand you loose if the python sucks out a bunch , but at $3 per 50 bag it's kinda pointless.


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