Rainbow darter questions

I'm getting 2 pairs of rainbow darters soon, and I have a few questions on their care. These will be my first darters, so I want to know how to take care of them.

1) Will they eat frozen tubifex?

2) What is a good temp. for them?

3) Will they get along with small shiners, a bluefin killie and a couple small(1") sunfish?

I'm not a big darter person, but I'm getting a growing interest in them, so if these are "stupid" questions, please forgive me.

Probably, room temperature, and yes. Rainbows are good aquarium fish, as long as the water isn't too hot or stagnant.

I'm no expert, I've only had my rainbows for a few weeks, but I am very impressed with them as aquarium residents.
They eat all the frozen stuff I offer including blood worms, brine shrimp, and mysids.
They compete very well for food in a busy community full of hungry minnows and some large tesselated darters. The key is to deliver plenty of food to the bottom level of the tank. They don't seem as willing to swim up as some darters but as long as the food is near the bottom, they charge right into the mix and grab their share.
At first I thought my biggest tesselated darter was going to harrass them too much but some how he decided to accept them. Now he doesn't mind that they share his prime spot in the highest flow of current. He won't let any of the other tesselateds even close.
Mine have colored up somewhat but are not near breeding colors. Still, to me who only has tesselateds locally, their off color is still beter than the best breeding color of the locals.
A great captive!

I'm getting 2 pairs of rainbow darters soon, and I have a few questions on their care. These will be my first darters, so I want to know how to take care of them.

1) Will they eat frozen tubifex?

2) What is a good temp. for them?

3) Will they get along with small shiners, a bluefin killie and a couple small(1") sunfish?

I'm not a big darter person, but I'm getting a growing interest in them, so if these are "stupid" questions, please forgive me.

Since I am sending them to you let me tell you what I know.

1) Will they eat frozen tubifex? Yes, they eat frozen foods.

2) What is a good temp. for them? they are kept between 65° and 70° here.

3) Will they get along with small shiners, a bluefin killie and a couple small(1") sunfish? Yes shiners, no( killlie and sunfish, due to the water current.

Not stupid, these are good things to know.

PM me.

Tom is right - rainbow darters and bluefin killies occupy totally different habitats. Your rainbows do like a bit of current, and some nice cobble would make them feel right at home.

Tom is right - rainbow darters and bluefin killies occupy totally different habitats. Your rainbows do like a bit of current, and some nice cobble would make them feel right at home.

Yeah, I've taken the killie and the sunfish out, along with about 6 fathead minnows I had in there. Will they eat all frozen foods, or just certain ones? Right now I have frozen mysis shrimp and tubifex, but I may be able to get bloodworms soon. Petsmart was out of stock last time I went to buy food.

They will gorge themselves on blood worms. Will eat FBS and FD tubifex as well.

Yeah, I've taken the killie and the sunfish out, along with about 6 fathead minnows I had in there. Will they eat all frozen foods, or just certain ones? Right now I have frozen mysis shrimp and tubifex, but I may be able to get bloodworms soon. Petsmart was out of stock last time I went to buy food.

They eat anything frozen I give them.

Thanks.

Anyone have any info on breeding? I know they have to be "cycled" with a temp. drop down below 50F. Do they breed in riffles, under stones, etc? Any advice will be appreciated.

I have been keeping both low current(flagfish and mudminnnow) and high current(darters and shiners) in the same tank. What I did was take a long tank (40 long) and place a large stump about the middle of it. Left of the stump is rubble, cobbles, and directed filter outflow with a few "escapee" plants from the planted side. Right of the stump is very heavily planted, indeed, almost totally overgrown in a variety of stem plants. The stump itself is covered in java moss, with some java fern here and there. The stump serves to do a very good job of separating the tank w/o any unnatural barrier, it keep the large majority of the current on the "darter side) and the heavy plant side just has a very gentle movement for about the top 3rd, and pretty much no movement at all in the bottom. The slow fish hang out there, with occasional forays into the current side. The current/rock lovers hang out on their side, with occasional visits to the jungle. Both "sides" have very roughly 20 gallons or so. Both groups are happy, the plants serve as a great natural filter, the tank itself looks great, and I'm able to keep some very different fish together and see some unique interaction. This has been maintained for over 6 months now with pretty much this mix.
As to food..the darters are very aggressive feeders, and hold their own with anything, as long as the food get down a bit. I use a turkey baster to squirt live blackworms, brine shrimp, wild caught amphpods and assorted frozen goodies down into the current, and they take it all with abandon.

Thanks.

Anyone have any info on breeding? I know they have to be "cycled" with a temp. drop down below 50F. Do they breed in riffles, under stones, etc? Any advice will be appreciated.

There are some very detailed articles on the web. I found a bunch with a simple Google search. Bottom line is they spawn in gravelly riffles, burying the eggs in the substrate.
I'd give you links but I'm at work right now and there's a foot of fresh snow out there and a shovel with my name on it is waiting. I broke the snow blower during the last storm 3 days ago.

Taken a brake from shovelin. I'm gettin too ole for the shtuff.
Didn't mean to side track the breeding inquiry by suggesting a web search. Eagerly hoping experienced forum members will relate their rainbow darter breeding tips.
My females have plumped up noticably and one of my males is gaining color and intensity. Temps are ~ 68 F, photo period is 15 hours. Might they spawn without a prolonged cool down?

While I really have no need or desire to raise fry, I'd love to see some breeding behavior from mine!
If I just shut off the heater entirely, I'd get it down to about 65..but that's as cool as I'll be able to drop mine, w/o a cooler. So far, my males have maintained pretty intense colors all along, but they have shown zero aggression or territoriality toward one another..so I'm not particularly hopeful:( Love to hear they may come "into season" without a serious drop in temp!

My Orangethroat Darters were wintered in the garage. At one point, the surface was 75% covered with ice. Rainbow Darters collected in the early spring also spawned for me. Very similar.

Bob Muller does the gradual change in temperature and photo period. I let mine warm up from 45F to 72F? overnight. Jumped up to 14 hours of light per day.

Fungus! The eggs are laid in the gravel. Keeping the eggs from growing fungus is a major battle.

Method 1 - search for eggs every day

Method 2 - move the breeders into a CLEAN tank for a week without food. Remove the adults and wait another week for fry.

Thanks! I probably won't try to breed them until I keep them alive for a few months, since these are my first darters. Will the fry eat infusoria? Or frozen glassworms(when they get a little bigger)?