# Featherfin Rainbows



## SirKappa (Apr 19, 2010)

I went to the LFS today to pick up some cherry barbs. They were all out!!! What the !%[email protected]#%? was not expecting this. So I asked the cute girl working there to show me some small suitable tank mates after describing my tank. She showed me rummy nose, several small rasboras, numerous tetras, CPD's and featherfin rainbows. I have had no luck with tetras in the past as I found they are very delicate and sensitive to water quality. We have hard water with a high pH here. I was curious to get rummy nose but they are from blackwater and I have HIGH lighting in my tank. 

We talked about how featherfin's are potential jumpers, but I could not resist. They are soo beautiful. I have an open top aquarium but I decided to go with them anyways. I figure I will either get a glass top cut or else I will have to lower the water some temporarily to prevent them from jumping out. 



My question is.... HOW HIGH can these guys jump?  I would like to lower the water enough that they will not be able to jump out but I am unsure about how much to lower it.



Any input would be greatly appreciated by me and my featherfins.


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

If they are Iriatherina werneri I've never had them jump out, hell they won't even touch food on the water surface.


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## SirKappa (Apr 19, 2010)

Correct they are Iriatherina werneri. Well that is good news. I have read before that they are potential jumpers.

What do you feed yours?


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

you should be allright with them, i had a few and never saw them jumping...they are very delicate and should be in a species only tank, they are also sensitive to water quality.


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

SirKappa said:


> Correct they are Iriatherina werneri. Well that is good news. I have read before that they are potential jumpers.
> 
> What do you feed yours?


Mine won't touch flakes, so I feed a combo of frozen blood worms, BBS, daphnia(live and frozen, mosquito larvae(live) and cyclopeeze.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

TAB said:


> Mine won't touch flakes, so I feed a combo of frozen blood worms, BBS, daphnia(live and frozen, mosquito larvae(live) and cyclopeeze.


oh yes yes, they have TINY mouths so i did frozen brine shrimp and worms and new life spectrum for baby fish,


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## SirKappa (Apr 19, 2010)

Would the NLS .5mm sinking pellets be too big?

I have them in a tank with coryrdoras, otocinclus, amano shrimp and cherry red shrimp. I think they will be ok... I hope so.

Haha looks like I now have a reason to get the baby brine shrimp factory out.  I think I might also purchase a live daphnia starter kit from a local guy here.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

SirKappa said:


> Would the NLS .5mm sinking pellets be too big?
> 
> I have them in a tank with coryrdoras, otocinclus, amano shrimp and cherry red shrimp. I think they will be ok... I hope so.
> 
> Haha looks like I now have a reason to get the baby brine shrimp factory out.  I think I might also purchase a live daphnia starter kit from a local guy here.


i think so, is the same size as the spectrum grow


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## SirKappa (Apr 19, 2010)

Do you know if grindal worms are too large for this fish or should I use micro worms?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

They do not jump.

The food that seems to excite them most is live newly hatched baby brine shrimp. Other than that - anything dust like. They do not touch food that has fallen on the bottom, so have some other fish to take care of that.

These actually very hardy fish. If they feel good they will change color literally every day - from dark blue to salmon pink. Seldom the same coloration.

Try to get at least 1 female if possible. The males will show off fins and colors a little more with a female around.

If the store has not had the featherfins (or any other fish) in their tanks for at least a week don't buy them. They maybe imported only a few days ago and you don't know if they will die. After the shipping stress a week is a bare minimum to try to make sure they will be fine. Most stores will tell you they get quarantined, healthy fish etc. Use your judgement deciding if you believe this or that guy.

--Nikolay


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## SirKappa (Apr 19, 2010)

Thanks Niko. I gave them a batch of BBS yesterday. They went nuts for a bit but after a while they seemed to ignore them(I massively overfed, it's hard to portion enough BBS for only 10 one inch fish). Maybe they were just full. They seem to be doing really good so far. Dancing and prancing around fluttering their beautiful fins. LOL. I have even witnessed them getting adventurous and closing in on the algae wafers that the cories and ottos push and shove for, but they have yet to compete for it.

Luckily we have 1 particularly very good LFS store here in the city(Big Al's believe it or not. Usually the franchise stores are the worst but this one is wonderfully managed). They actually do quarantine their fish for about a week before they go up for sale. They keep them in the show tanks but have big stickers that say (not yet ready for sale). I buy all of my fish from this store and have never once had a problem.


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## SirKappa (Apr 19, 2010)

I have acquired a culture of grindal worms and the featherfins and cories are going NUTS for them.


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