How to Breed Checkerboard Australian Rainbows

Checkerboard Australian rainbow fish are best known for their large eyes and deeply forked mouths. The back, tail and ventral fins of this peaceful egg layer exhibit a characteristic checkered pattern, after which the fish was named. The upper body is typically bluish, while the lower tends toward pink. Checkerboard Australian rainbows inhabit rivers in the northernmost extremes of Australia. This attractive freshwater fish will spawn readily in a well-managed aquarium, but the fry require dedicated attention if they are to survive.

Things You'll Need

  • Established freshwater aquarium, with heater and filters
  • 10-gallon plastic bucket
  • Pond water
  • Lettuce leaves
  • Boiled water
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • Pinch of baker's yeast
  • Small plastic container
  • Micro-worm culture
  • Live adult brine shrimp
  • Mosquito larvae
  • Java moss
  • 5-gallon rearing tank, with sponge filter and heater
  • Fish net
  • Eye dropper
  • Small paint brush
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Instructions

    • 1

      Fill a 10-gallon bucket halfway with pond water, and add a handful of well-rinsed lettuce leaves to it. The lettuce leaves are rinsed to remove any traces of pesticide. Leave the bucket for several days. Cultures of infusoria, which are microscopic organisms, will feed on the decomposing leaves and propagate quickly.

    • 2

      Add boiled water to a 1/2 cup of rolled oats, and mix into a creamy consistency. Mix in a pinch of baker's yeast, and place into a small plastic container.

    • 3

      Obtain a culture of micro-worms from your aquatic dealer and place them in the container, onto the oats mixture. The micro-worms will live, feed and propagate in this mixture, from which they can be harvested to serve as food for the fry.

    • 4

      Condition your breeding Checkerboard Australian rainbow fish in their aquarium by feeding them live foods, such as adult brine shrimps and mosquito larvae.

    • 5

      Check the water temperature of the aquarium, and adjust to between 75 degrees and 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

    • 6

      Place two to three handfuls of Java moss into the aquarium, as a spawning substrate.

    • 7

      Observe the female closely. She will begin to fill out as the eggs develop within her abdomen and will be visibly plump.

    • 8

      Set up a 5-gallon rearing tank, with the identical water parameters as the larger breeding tank. Place a small sponge filter and heater into the aquarium. Set the heater to the same temperature as the breeding tank.

    • 9

      Watch the behavior of your fish as the female becomes progressively heavier. Once the fish begin to dart between the Java moss, they are preparing to spawn. When the female releases her eggs among the Java moss, the male will follow her and fertilize them by depositing his milt or sperm over them.

    • 10

      Remove the Java moss from the breeding tank with a fish net and place into the rearing tank.

    • 11

      Observe the eggs between day six and nine, after they were laid. Look out for the fry, which begin to hatch at this time.

    • 12

      Leave the fry alone for the first two to three days after they have hatched. They will feed off their yolk sack during this period and will remain attached to the Java moss

    • 13

      Use an eye dropper to draw up infusoria from the bucket and add it to the rearing tank, once the fry become free swimming after two to three days. Fill the eye dropper three to four times and feed this amount to the fry every two hours.

    • 14

      Examine the fry through a magnifying glass. Use a clean child's paint brush to collect micro-worms which have begun to climb up the sides of the container of rolled oats. Wipe gently once around the inside walls of the container and feed one brush "scoop" three to four times per day, after the fry are a week old. Dip the brush into the aquarium and swish it about gently, to dislodge the worms.