Boeseman's Rainbowfish - Question

**Zilla** · 01-07-2010, 01:19 PM

I bought 2 juveniles a couple of weeks ago to keep my Turquoise Rainbows company and one of them is a total punk. He doesn't torment the other fish, but he does things that are funny / irritating at the same time.

Last weekend I bought some plants. As I was trying to plant them, he grabbed the roots of the one I was trying to plant and proceeded to play "Tug of War" with me. Later he uprooted it, so I planted somewhere else in hopes he'd leave it alone. Nope, the plant is now leaning on its side because he uprooted it again.

This morning I wanted to check the tank for ammonia levels before I fed the tank. The same Rainbow came up to the top as fast as his little fins would carry him and he bit the test tube.

If I clean the tank, he's the first on to go after whatever I'm using at the moment. The Gold Gourami's he's in with are no help in this department as the three of them huddle around the syphon tube. They can see gravel moving around so they think it's food. If I clean the inside of the glass, my hand gets swarmed by the Gourami's, the bratty Rainbow and the Angelfish.

I've had cichlids do stuff like this, but I've never had a Rainbow behave this way. My Turquoise's go about their business and don't bother with me or anybody else. Is this common behavoir for Boeseman's Rainbows? Should I add a few more? Will he outgrow this obnoxious behavior?

**rich311k** · 01-07-2010, 01:23 PM

I would get him some friends, they like groups. I have 5 and they dont do anything like you are describing. Sounds pretty cool.

**Lady Hobbs** · 01-07-2010, 01:32 PM

I have 9 and don't see this behavior.

**Northernguy** · 01-07-2010, 01:54 PM

A video of that fish would be fun!
I have seen bows chase other fish around but not attack a plant or anything.
Maybe it thinks its an oscar!lol

**Zilla** · 01-07-2010, 02:19 PM

I don't know what he's thinking. LOL The one Oscar I had a long time ago never acted that way. His thing was to be still in one spot and beg for food. If I had to clean the tank, he'd just move out of the way. Even when I had Convicts years ago, they never acted that way either. They would shred a plant in a matter of seconds, but they never went after other things like a syphon tube or a test tube.

It took forever to decide what to buy as our Jurapari is about 5.5 inches now, so we have to be careful what we add to the tank. To make life more interesting, the fish store we go to only carries juvenile fish for the most part, so we only had a handful to pick from that wouldn't become a snack. He's a grump and becomes even more grumpy at bed time. He spends a good hour chasing everybody out of his corner every night.

Next time we go to the fish store for whatever reason I'll talk to them about it. Since he's not nipping or harassing other fish I'm not worried about it, I just thought it was odd and apparently it is. None of them are starving so it isn't from the lack of food, I think it's just him being a punk.

**annageckos** · 01-07-2010, 02:26 PM

The rainbows should be in schools of 6 or more. He sounds like a fun fish. IMO, it seems you have an inquisitive fish. Remember all fish are individuals, I don't think there is anything wrong with him and I wouldn't worry about it or thy to change it. You can alway try putting rocks around the base of the plants to keep him from ripping them up.

**Zilla** · 01-16-2010, 02:00 PM

I think I've just been blessed with a tank of goofy fish as the Angelfish has decided to get in on the fun of chasing tubes for water testing as well. I had him zig-zagging all over the tank the other day. LOL

One of these days I'll get a pic of them all crammed to one side of the tank waiting to eat. Every morning I wake up to 7 pairs of eyeballs looking out into the kitchen as they know that's where the food comes from.

**Lady Hobbs** · 01-16-2010, 02:04 PM

I have nothing but sympathy for my last remaining female boesemani. She has 7 males to herself and is very, very popular at daybreak. Altho I did not want more, I will have to have more just to give her a break and take some stress from her.

**Zilla** · 01-25-2010, 01:34 PM

Everybody keeps telling me that I need to add more, so I did. I added two more and now the ones I had are more obnoxious than before and the 2 newbies have joined in on the freak show.

Along with the new fish I bought yesterday, I also bought some new plants later in the afternoon. The plants were not in the tank for an hour and all 4 of them were determined to either make a salad out of them or rip them out. At one point I had 2 on one side of the plant with the other two on the opposite side and they were playing Tug Of War with a root that just happened to be sticking out. When that didn't work, they started fighting over it. Nobody was injured, but they wouldn't leave it alone until they successfully uprooted the plant which they did.

I'm not adding anymore. People can complain and tell me how they sky is falling because I don't have a big enough group, blah,blah,blah. If they were suffering they wouldn't act this way. They'd be pouting in a corner somewhere or refusing to eat.

The ones at the store don't act any better. I mentioned how the 2 I bought a few weeks ago have been behaving, so the guy we deal with all the time went over and stuck his finger in the tank. What was a somewhat peaceful tank turned into a massive ball of Rainbows without any space between them.

I still don't understand why my Boesemani's are so much different, but I gave up trying to figure it out. After what I witnessed yesterday, it's clearly not something I'm doing, it's just them. Maybe they'll chill out when they get older, maybe they won't. I won't know until they get there...

**The Curious** · 02-11-2010, 03:01 PM

I have never kept Rainbows before, but a good friend of mine has, and he had almost the same problem...he was told he needed more bosemani because they were being lil punks to the other tankmates and generally being holy terrors...so he did...he had 3 originally and then added 3 more.

Instead of that chilling the rainbows out it was like adding new members to a nasty street gang.

The 6 of them ended up killing all their tankmates and destroying most of the plants...these guys are pretty as can be, but I wouldn't keep 'em cause they seem to be obnoxious lil squirts.

good luck though mate...sometimes sacrifices have to be made for peace in the tank...just a thought.

I don't know if you are using a LFS or a corporate company, but my LFS lets me bring fish back for full credit, allowing me to test out combinations and find the community that best fits my desires in my tank.

...again good luck.

Hehe...that Rainbow does sound like he thinks he is an Oscar...hehe

Got any pics??? Or a vid of your crazy group would be fun.