Boesemani rainbowfish
(Melanotaenia boesemani)

The spawning is very easy to achieve, the rearing of fry is a little more difficult.

To stimulate spawning, feed your fish with live prey (small amount but up to 5 times a day), make partial water replacements and expose your aquarium to the morning sun. This should trigger spawning quickly. It lasts several days (almost 7 days) and about twenty eggs will be weighed daily.

Rainbow fish lay their eggs among fine-leaved plants (Java moss, for example). Eggs are suspended from their support by filaments. The incubation is quite long, count from 7 to 10 days before seeing the birth of fry. They will swim freely 4 to 5 days after birth.

Problems can occur from the moment of hatching. Indeed, as the spawning is spread over several days, births also are. For example, tiny newly hatched fry are in contact with others a week old, which can lead to predation problems. To overcome the problem, many aquarists are laying their rainbow fish on tufts of synthetic fibers. It is then easy to remove them from the aquarium to raise the fry in successive groups in different small aquariums. You can take this fiber daily or every 2 days.

The rearing of fry is the most difficult stage. They should be fed little but regularly (4 to 6 times a day). The cleanliness of the water is also critical: it will have to be constantly irreproachable. For this, simple sponge filter can suffice if you siphon the dead nauplies at the bottom of the aquarium (be careful not to suck the tiny fry) and if you make water changes regularly.

The fry are gray and grow very slowly. This is perfectly normal. They will take about 1 year to reach their adult size.

Fry food: infusoria, plankton, young Artemia nauplii, finely chopped strawberries, spirulina...