6 replies to this topic

[tjvkooten]

i have an 85 gallon tank with 10 rainbow shiners, does anyone have any ideas of what to put in there with the shiner.

 

i have thought of sticklebacks but the seem to have aggression problems an bite fins of other fish.

darters supposedly won't get the chance to eat. (maybe i'll make a darter tank later)

 

as i'm new to american fishes, and want to stick to this area i'd like to get some ideas.

 

also i think i just saw my shiners start with mating/breeding behaviour.

[littlen]

Are you looking for suggestions for additional North American species?  If so, most species of shiner are fine together.  

Or, if you have access to darters, they would also do very well with Rainbow shiners.  In an 85 gallon tank, there is plenty of room to disperse the food such that the bottom dwellers will get their share of food.



(Be cautious of any jokers who suggest Creek chubs or Green sunfish).

[Michael Wolfe]

If you are looking to breed these, as some do, then you need no other fish in there.

 

But if you are like me and just like a nice community tank then I have a few suggestions.

 

The first fish that comes to my mind if Mobile Logperch.  They are hardy and large darter and will be able to compete with the rainbows for food (plus they scour the bottom anyway).  And a really cool fact is that they naturaly occur together anyway.

 

Blackbanded darters are a little smaller but also are hardy and are also found with rainbows in the wild.

 

Going the other direction, you could add a large Cyprinella shiner. Tricolors and Alabamas are found with rainbows in the wild, but any other Cyprinella would also likely work.  I like Bannerfins (C. leedsi) myself.

 

And since this is my response I will have to put in a plug for Nocomis chubs (particularly the best looking architect in the stream, the bluehead chub... see my avatar).  They are great aquarium inhabitants.

[tjvkooten]

thanks for the list of ideas, i'll be looking for how to care for them and see which are available locally.

 

i came across campostoma oligolepis, the largescale stoneroller, since most minnows seem to like spawning in their nest, it might make for some nice behaviour to look at.

would stonerollers be possible?

[littlen]

Yes.  I currnetly have some stonerollers with my rainbows.

[tjvkooten]

let's hope i can get them somewhere around here.

[loopsnj64]

I keep Banded Killifish (Fundulus Diaphanous) with my 5 Rainbow Shiners, I also saw someone else show me his tank (on facebook), he was keeping Blackbanded Sunfish with his Rainbows

Key to getting live food to darters & whatnot in the presence of shiners is to feed the shiners flake food on one side of the tank, while they swarm that, bring some live/frozen food down to where the darters can get it (also they will use plants if there are any in the tank as a means to get to food on/near the surface, though I have yet to see any darters do that)

Edited by loopsnj64, 24 June 2016 - 12:10 PM.