>Hello all,
> I am new to keeping rainbows. Not to keeping fish I raise rare livebearers and Corydoras. I have been informed that the best way to start is by getting a mop of eggs and hatching them. I've read most of articles at the RSG page. I still have some ques
tions though. What is the average # of eggs per mop. What water conditions are needed for the following speices Melanotaenia boesemani, Melanotaenia herbertaxelrodi, Melanotaenia lacustris. Are these the best starters?
>
>Thank you
>Chad
Hello Chad
In the US a standard mop should contain at least 2 dozen eggs, unless
otherwise stated. Often blue-eyes mops will only be listed by a dozen.
While these are minimums, you could find the mops you receive have
hundreds of eggs. If the seller is sending vials of eggs expect to get
near the two or one dozen mark. If you're getting the actual mops you
will normally get much more.
Of the fish you listed, I would recommend the boesemani as being the
easiest for a new comer. I also typically recommend the furcatus as
the easiest blue-eye, although the folks down under don't agree with
that pick.
As to the pH requirements of these fish, boesemani is 7 to 8, herberts
7.5 to 8 and the lacustris are 8.5 to 9. The lacustris is about the
only bow that likes my straight tap water :-) Both the lacustris and
herberts prefer the water cooler than normal tank temps. The herberts
will probably have the fastest growth rate, boesemani second and
lacustris have to be the slowest growers there are.
These are general recommendations. Like most bows, all will do well in
a much larger range of water conditions. But hopefully this will help
you pick the fish that will be the easiest to adapt to your local
conditions.
Good luck
Cary Hostrawser
My Rainbowfish Home Page
http://pw2.netcom.com/~caryho/home.html
Rainbowfish Study Group Web Page
http://home.stlnet.com/~gwlange/rainbowfish.index.html