I'm debating after a week of these guys, whether I actually still want them. My intent was a small peaceful dither shoal to tank mate a honey gourami/ betta, something like that. I probably don't want fish that I don't see much, and definitely don't want to be reliant on live food. I'd love advice from experienced rainbow keepers.
I added 6, there are shrimp but no other fish currently. 2 males, 4 females. One of the males is just a little punk, pretty much constantly herding the other 5 back into the shade and dominating the open space. He is actually less aggressive at feeding time. There doesn't seem to be any courting or peaceful community behavior because he is such a jerk. The aggressor is a beautiful male, with color, spots and big ventral fins – much more so than the other male.
I also can't get these guys to eat much. I've tried four different kinds of dried foods, frozen brine, and frozen blood worms. They come to the tank front for food and attack it, so I assume they are hungry. They mostly spit everything back out though. I don't know if it's possible that they are just getting full in a mature tank that's never had a bunch of little predators – so they are filling up on planaria, snails, scuds, whatever is in there… or whether they just aren't getting what they need to eat.
I'm trying to decide if this is just new tank adjustment behavior, whether it might change with a bigger fish in the mix, or if I should just look at other nanos.
10 gallon, co2, 7.2 pH, KH~100ppm, gh~120ppm, ~77*F.
Posted by Conscious-Carob9701