I have had Marosatherina ladigesi (thanks, Harro, for the correct name) for
a few months (maybe four) and they were my first forray into what has become
a near obsession (according to my girlfriend, but I'm sure some of you guys
have it worse). I currently have 8 evenly split male-female ratio. I also
one Pseudomugil signifer that was a stow-away in one of the tanks I got
these from. After asking what was probably a dumb question about
Pseudomugil furcatus the other day, I happened to run across 2 (only two) at
the LFS today, and I got them too (I'm not sure how to sex them). I also
have three Melanotaenia splendia inornata (I'm not positive, but I think 2
males and one female). Wait, there's more. I have Two that are probably
Melanotaenia fluviatilis (no idea the sexes), two that are possibly
Melanotaenia herbertaxelrodi (again, don't know the sexes) and seven
Melanotaenia praecox (3 males, 4 females). What I want to know, is, will
these be ok in a 55 gallon tank, together, for a while? I have a 150 on the
way, and I can move them there in a couple of weeks if that is better. Or,
I could give each species its own tank, though I would rather not if it is
safe to mix them. My general understanding is that most rainbows mix well
(I'm not trying to breed them, but I may change my mind in the future, and
of course the fish may not care if I want them to breed or not), but I want
to make sure that these particular ones mix alright. The current other
inhabitants are 12 bottom-zone fish (plecos, loaches, cories) and the algae
crew (7 otos, 4 SAEs). Will the P. signifer, P. furcata, M.
herbertaxelrodi, M. splendia inornata, M. praecox, and M. fluviatilis get
along? Do they need anything vastly different for water or food? Everyone
seems to do fine now, but the two P. furcata are new and I'm still too new
to rainbows to just keep chancing it (since there are tanks available,
I just like the look of the 'bow community, and I would rather not set up
the extra tanks if they will coexist peacefully). If it matters, this is a
well planted tank (heavily planted if I skip a trimming) with pH of 6.8 -
7.0, KH of 4, GH of 20, temp of 76F, and algae free (knock on wood).
TIA,
Cameron