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Hello from BC, Canada


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#1 Guest_andyrtg_*

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Posted 04 February 2014 - 08:34 PM

Hi everybody!

Found the site when I wanted to look up more information on the rainbow shiner. I've recently managed to get a shoal of them and eager to get them to spawn. They don't seem to be as colorful as the pictures from other members. Could it be that I have a lot of female shiners? Or are they supposed to be as colorful too. Currently, I only have 2 shiners display the blue irridescent color. Any help would be great thanks.. Looking forward to learning more from the forum.

#2 Michael Wolfe

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  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 04 February 2014 - 08:59 PM

Where did you get these from? Certainly not native to Canada. :biggrin:

I am just asking because I know that several of the on-line vendors are breeding these and selling juvenile/teenage sort of fish. So you might see them as orangish shiners... and have to feed them like crazy for a while to get them to full size and full color.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#3 Guest_andyrtg_*

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Posted 04 February 2014 - 09:43 PM

I got it from a local speciality fish store that so happen to have them. They are all roughly 2" long. Should they be displaying their color at this size? They mostly look like this pic. Did I get a mixture of rough shiner and rainbow shiner? One of the fishes has a reddish orange tinge body
Posted Image

#4 Michael Wolfe

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Posted 04 February 2014 - 11:15 PM

I'm certainly not going to guess without seeing the fish. Isn't that a pic from the Alabama web site?

At two inches they might start showing some color. But that is still far from full sized.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#5 Guest_andyrtg_*

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Posted 05 February 2014 - 02:29 AM

So I'm really curious on id these guys so I ended taking some pics a few mins ago.. Sorry bout the blurryness but I'm new to photography too. Let me know what u guys think?
Posted ImagePosted Image

#6 littlen

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Posted 05 February 2014 - 08:13 AM

Andy, you certainly have juvenile Rainbow shiners there, and a very interesting looking goldfish. I have some CB Rainbows about the same size--and mine are 1 year old. Mine are feed on the heavy side to get them to grow a little faster. Without knowing where the store you purchased them from originally got them, it is difficult to say how old they are. But lets say a year to 18 months.

As Michael said, the fish have some additional growing to do. Juvenile fish do not display as much coloration as a mature, breeding adult. Your fish have good color for their size. (IMO, Rainbows are beautiful fish even without the metallic blue and pink). Try adding some (dark) substrate to the bottom of your tank. That might help them feel more comfortable and also express more coloration.

My opinion would be to ditch the goldfish (and any other non-current loving species) and add a decent powerhead in your tank to create a current for them to swim against. I have nothing against goldfish, but a severely mutated Ranchu will not be able to thrive in the same habitat that your shiners enjoy. Recreating the habitat/environment the fish are found in nature keeps them happy. A happy fish is (usually) a colorful fish. Do you have a heater in your tank? If so, I would ditch it too as they enjoy cool water.

I don't mean to speculate on how you are maintaining your fish. I just wanted to offer some suggestions on how to best keep them and to hopefully get them to color up more for you. They need to double in size first before they really start to show their true colors. Spawing Rainbows is fairly easy once they mature.
Nick L.

#7 Michael Wolfe

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  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 05 February 2014 - 08:53 AM

I second Nick's vote, you definitely have some rainbows there... the second one from the top (first picture) and the second one from the bottom (second picture)have the strong orange line that I associate with CB juvenile rainbows... and obviously those with the blue spangle on their backs.

Good job, keep feed em and growing em up.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#8 Guest_andyrtg_*

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Posted 05 February 2014 - 09:44 AM

I have them in a 6 foot 125 gallon tank. With half the tank with a strong river flow and the other half with lots of plants. The goldfish loves to swim in the current every now and then as well. It's sort of like a thread mill for fishes. The rainbow shiners tend to stay in the current part of the tank most of the time. Lol and the ranchu is a juvenile as well which makes it look a bit odd but they are the right size so they don't really become a threat to my shiners. That's great that I got some rainbows. I wasn't sure due to the pictures everybody has of these guys. Can't wait to see these guys grow. Also I have no heater on my tank which is one of the reasons I got the shiners. Thanks for the input guys. I'll get some gravel for them ASAP.

#9 littlen

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Posted 05 February 2014 - 10:11 AM

A 125 is a great tank to house many shiners. The goldfish is a Cyprinid whose original, streamline, body plan makes them good at navigating current. The fish cannot resist its natural instinct to play in it from time to time. However, the mutations out there are no longer suited for sustained activity in such environments. All goldfish also enjoy cool water so it works out that you don't have a current.

I'm sure you have already come across many threads and pictures of stream tanks on the forum. You could make quite the display tank if you put a little effort into it and have such a desire. You'll find that stocking it with natives is the way to go!
Nick L.

#10 Michael Wolfe

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Posted 05 February 2014 - 10:18 AM

a tank that size needs a natural dirt base capped with sand and some val... and a jumprock!
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#11 Guest_andyrtg_*

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Posted 07 February 2014 - 02:16 AM

Littlen - how often do you feed your shiners? So far I've been trying to feed mine 3 times a day, a little at a time of course. I just want to be sure I'm keeping up with their potential. I checked the forum for peoples feeding schedule but nobody has ever talked bout it yet.

Wolfe - I've been so happy with these rainbow shiners so far, I just might have a dedicated shiner tank. They're so active and so much fun to watch, especially during feeding time. I cant wait to see them during breeding season. From the vids on youtube it seems pretty chaotic. Is it me or do these guys seem to give more color when their excited during feeding time?

#12 littlen

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Posted 07 February 2014 - 07:28 AM

Andy, my tank is 67-68F and I go on stints from feeding them daily, to every-other-day. Depends on how fishy I'm feeling. (On a side note, once darters are added, I'll be feeding daily--for the darters sake). Like you, I'll try to feed a few, small portions throughout the day. Although, I will admit I will gutload them in one sitting if I'm feeling evil (lazy).

They certainly do color up right away when I approach the tank to feed. They, like many other species of shiner, have that response to food. They are a very peaceful species that likes to interact with one another. I highly recommend you doing a larger school of them.

FWIW, I feed mine all the same, wonderful foods that others do: blackworms, frozen blood worms, mysis, cyclop-eeze, various flake foods, New Line Spectra pellets, New Era pellets, and even fruit flies and pinhead crickets when available. The last two options really get them into a feeding frenzy. If you have a wife, girlfriend, mom, or other that doesn't want bugs in her house, I recommend not feeding the insects as some do make their way out of the tank. (All the more for the loose Mediterranean house geckos to eat, right?)

Good luck.
Nick L.

#13 Michael Wolfe

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Posted 07 February 2014 - 08:39 AM

Yes, shiners of this type (Hydrophlox shiners which includes my local yellowfins and your rainbows and a half a dozen or so others) can certainly "turn the color on" very quickly. Like Nick says, they seem to color up when they know food is coming. Mine also consistently color up if I do a water change (I suspect this is because the incoming water is cold tap from a python and they are enjoying the cooler temp). My main tank in the house is just room temperature and am not at home as much as I would like so i am feeding probably 4 or 5 times a week... cheap flake, earthworm flake, cyclo-eeze, frozen brine, mysis, some smaller pellets (but the bluehead chubs seems to steal all these). I have a school going now that I have had for a couple of years and they were all about 1.5 inches when collected. Now they are 3.5 inches and red, and the blueheads (which were mixed in and the same size) are over 5 inches... so they are growing well on my (nearly) neglectful feed regimen.

Some good and bad pictures of these fish and the tank (the large blurrs are the bluehead chubs)
http://gallery.nanfa...lfe/yellowfins/
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin



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