Description
Boeseman’s Rainbow (Melanotaenia boesemani)
Overview
Melanotaenia boesemani, commonly known as Boeseman’s rainbowfish, is a vibrant freshwater fish from the Melanotaeniidae family, endemic to the Ayamaru Lakes and surrounding tributaries in the Vogelkop Peninsula, West Papua, Indonesia. Renowned for its striking bicolour pattern—bright orange-red on the anterior half and deep blue-green on the posterior in mature males—it grows to 9–11.5 cm. Females and juveniles are duller, with silvery bodies and faint yellow hues. Critically endangered in the wild due to overcollection and habitat loss, most aquarium specimens are captive-bred. Their active, peaceful shoaling nature makes them ideal for community tanks, though they require spacious setups and pristine water.
Care Requirements
- Aquarium Size: Because they are active, fast swimmers that enjoy moving back and forth across the tank, they require plenty of horizontal swimming space. A minimum tank size of 150 liters (approx. 4 feet or 120 cm in length) is recommended for a small group.
- Water Parameters:
- Temperature: 24°C to 30°C
- pH: 7.0 to 8.0 (they prefer hard, alkaline water and do not thrive in soft, acidic conditions)
- General Hardness (GH): 9 to 19°H (150–300 ppm)
- Filtration & Flow: Good filtration and moderate water movement are ideal, ensuring high oxygen levels while keeping the current manageable.
Maintenance
- Aquascaping: Replicate a natural habitat by planting dense vegetation along the margins and background of the aquarium (such as vallisneria, sword plants, or broad-leaved stems) while leaving a wide-open central lane for swimming. Driftwood branches and smooth stones can also be incorporated.
- Water Quality & Changes: Maintain pristine water conditions through regular partial water changes (25% to 30% weekly or bi-weekly). Always use a secure, tight-fitting aquarium lid, as rainbowfish are powerful jumpers, especially when startled.
Diet
- Nature: Omnivorous, enthusiastic feeders that will readily accept almost any food offered.
- Staple Diet: High-quality flake foods, micro-pellets, or granules formulated for omnivorous or color-enhancing diets.
- Enhancing Color: To maximize their striking blue and orange transition, supplement their daily diet with frequent portions of live or frozen foods such as brine shrimp (Artemia), daphnia, mysis shrimp, and bloodworms. Vegetable matter or spirulina flakes are also beneficial for their overall health.
Behaviour and Compatibility
- Temperament: Highly peaceful, active, and social. They primarily inhabit the middle and upper levels of the water column.
- Shoaling Needs: This is a strictly schooling species that must be kept in a group of at least 6 to 8 individuals (ideally with more females than males to spread out male attention). Keeping them alone or in pairs causes chronic stress, faded colors, and immune suppression.
- Tank Mates: Excellent additions to a peaceful community aquarium. Good companions include other similarly sized, active rainbowfish species, peaceful barbs, large tetras, danios, and bottom-dwelling species like Corydoras catfish or loaches. Avoid housing them with slow, shy, or long-finned fish (like bettas or fancy guppies), as their energetic, darting swimming style can intimidate timid tank mates.
Breeding Behaviour
- Spawning Setup: Set up a dedicated breeding tank with mature, hard water, gentle sponge filtration, and plenty of fine-leaved plants (like Java moss) or artificial spawning mops to catch adhesive eggs.
- Conditioning: Condition breeding groups with a high-protein diet of live and frozen foods. Males will display intensified colors and flare their fins aggressively at rivals to court females.
- The Process: As continuous spawners, pairs will dash into the vegetation or spawning mop in the morning hours to release small batches of fertilized eggs. Spawning occurs daily over several weeks.
- Raising Fry: Adults will eat their eggs and fry, so spawning mops should be checked and transferred to a separate rearing tank every few days. The tiny fry hatch in roughly 7 to 10 days and require extremely small first foods like infusoria or liquid fry food before moving on to newly hatched brine shrimp.
Picture for illustrative purposes only. Either come in store to view available stock or request pictures to be sent to you.
Please Note: Due to variations within species resulting from age, region, sex, etc., the actual livestock may not look identical to the image. Approximate size range may also vary between individual specimens.
