# Are Micro Rasboras recommended?



## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

Hello All,

I am developing an interest in stocking one or more of the following Micro Rasboras:

boraras maculatus
microrasbora erythromicron
boraras brigittae

They would be kept in a 46 gallon Bow with 11 Cardinals, 12 Hengels Rasboras and a few guppies. Water parameters are 5.6 GH, 6.4 PH from Co2 (24x7) and a KH of 5. The tank is fairly heavily planted and has 4 x39 watt T5HO bulbs.

Does anybody have experience on how they would do in this type of environment and how well they ship? They would probably be shipped from Texas to Northern Virginia (Wash DC).

Thanks for any input you may provide.


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## rich815 (Jun 27, 2007)

They'd probably be fine but may get chased a bit by the Hengels. I hope a tight-fitting top is part of your set-up or eventually your rasboras will likely all make suicide jumps, as may many of the micros....


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## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

rich815 said:


> They'd probably be fine but may get chased a bit by the Hengels. I hope a tight-fitting top is part of your set-up or eventually your rasboras will likely all make suicide jumps, as may many of the micros....


The tank is open top and amazingly, I've only lost one Hengels. I say "amazingly" because they go spastic when the lights turn off at 10:00 PM. Micro Rasboras jump too?


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

I keep the Chili Rasbora (boraras brigittae) in an open topped tank and have had no deaths. Lots of plants (none are floaters) make them swim in the open more. Seems like the more you have plants, the more comfortable they feel about swimming in the open. But the only other fish in there are Celestial Pearl Danios and Otos, so nothing really is there to chase them. Even with no threats, they school tightly in my 20gallon long. 

They also were shipped to me priority mail (2 days from shipper to me) with no losses at all. I was surprised how tiny they are, but they are quite lovely in a planted tank once they color up after shipping.


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## rich815 (Jun 27, 2007)

I'm curious how long you've had them in there with the open top. I lost 6+ danios out the top of my tank and about 9 penguin tetras too. Not all at once. Over about 6 months or so. But evenutally all of them. Out the top. Poor little buggers all dried up on the floor in the morn'.


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

I got the first 5 a year ago March, and added 10 more in February, for a total of 15. They school much better with larger numbers in my experience. My vet has a 75 gallon and maybe 200 of them! Such a beautiful sight to see them moving as one. I keep meaning to ask about take a picture of them.


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## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

OrangeCones said:


> I got the first 5 a year ago March, and added 10 more in February, for a total of 15. They school much better with larger numbers in my experience. My vet has a 75 gallon and maybe 200 of them! Such a beautiful sight to see them moving as one. I keep meaning to ask about take a picture of them.


What are the water parameters in your area? Does your tank or the Vets have any Cardinals in there by chance? I have 10 Cardinals, I don't think it will be a problem but would like to verify.


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

pH = 6.8 
Ammonia/Nitrites 0
Nitrates < 10
temp 78
KH/GH unknown (I never test for this)
DIY CO2

Water from the tap runs 7.6 to 7.8 normally. They use chlorimine plus chlorine, so I treat my change water with PRIME and run a pond pump that just pumps the water up from the bottom and dumps it back into the 40gallon trashcan. I do water changes on Sundays, and set up the water for the next week in the evening of the current week, if that makes sense.


Tons of plants, mostly fast-growing stems and crypts. My light is the one that sits on brackets about 4 inches above the tank. I have a lid for the tank, but I'm in there trimming so often that I forgot to put it on when I first got them, and it's been sitting under the stand for over a year now (I could have bought more plants for the money I spent on the glass top! hahaha!).

I've never kept Cardinals, and neither has my vet. He has only the Chilis with a bunch of otos and pigmy cory cats. Before the current tank, he had a pair of oscars. What a difference, from 14" oscars to teeny tiny rasbora!


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## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

OrangeCones said:


> pH = 6.8
> Ammonia/Nitrites 0
> Nitrates < 10
> temp 78
> ...


Probably just as well not measuring the kh/dh with a test kit. I did so for 2 years and found out my readings were wrong when I asked for the readings from the water authority. I thought I had hard water the whole time when it's actually medium soft at 5.6 (98 ppm) GH. If your interested, you might want to call your water company for the readings. Sometimes it will be in a water quality report with a link on the website or your local town or city. Why haven't you tried Cardinals? Is it "Old Hat"? LOL


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

My local water company posts weekly water quality tests online. The numbers change a lot from month-to-month, so I stopped worrying about it. Tht plants/fish I've been keeping do just fine no matter what the reports say, so I just didn't bother with test kits. 

Regarding the Cardinals: dunno, just never did. I've got nothing against them at all, they are a lovely fish. My fishkeeping experience was saltwater until about 4 or 5 years ago, when I delved into planted tanks. I don't think I've kept any tetras. 

Did the guppy route (I think most do!), then the danio/barb tanks. Then I overfed (DOH!) and had an explosion of pond snails that came in as hitchhikers with some plants. Then got into dwarf freshwater puffers to combat the snail population (still one of my favorite fish). 

Now I like fish that most don't keep: Badis badis, Celestial Pearl Danios, and Chili Rasbora (plus my infamous California Blackworm tank). And two different species of otos. They've all spawned for me and except for the otos, I've managed to raise fry to adult size. 

The Badis is my favorite fish with a 'personality.' They are very aware of what goes on outside their tank and remind me a lot of cichlids in their behavior. The male guards a nest and the fry into adulthood, something I never was able to find out. Most online sources tell you to take the parents away after they hatch. He will take frozen foods now and the 2nd batch of fry is starting to hit on pellets, so I'm hopeful they will not be as hard to keep as the wild-caught parents. 

My next fish will likely be some Marble (aka Calico) longfin bristlenose plecos.


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## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

what is your Black Worm Tank? Are they raised for fish food?


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

bosmahe1 said:


> what is your Black Worm Tank? Are they raised for fish food?


Yes, I raise the California Black Worm in a small fish tank, as live food for my fish. You can read more about it on another link of this forum:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/63752-blackworms-substrate.html

"They" say you can't keep blackworms in an aquarium, that they must be left slowly starving in your refrigerator. BAH!


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

is raise your own black worms cleaner than buying them from LFS?


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

armedbiggiet said:


> is raise your own black worms cleaner than buying them from LFS?


I got my starter culture from them, so I guess its as clean as what they initially provided me. I do weekly 50% water changes on the tank, and it has floating plants in it for filtration. I have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and usually between 5-10 nitrates when I test. The worms are fed what I also feed the fish (sinking shrimp pellets, algae wafers, tropical flake foods, etc.)

The live foods really bring out their colors and even with the Chili Rasbora (Boraras brigittae), as tiny as they are, it is easy to tell males from females at feeding time. And all my fish love the fun of 'the hunt' for the worms. I love it when a Chili will grab a worm too large for it to eat. He will just shake it and since the worms are segmented, it breaks off easily. That gives his fellow Chilis the chance to share a worm or two.


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