I didn't find any detailed information about the rainbow shark and whether they are a good community fish. But, based on what Im finding they are classified as community fish. Can I add a raindbow shark to my current setup? I have 6 buenos aries tetras, 6 cory catfishes, 2 swordtails.

I understand that you should only add one to the tank, but they tend to become more aggressive with age?

They need a minimum of 75g and have been known to become agressive with corries on occasion. This however is rare. If you have 75+ gallons of water in your tank, I think one would be fine with the current occupants. It's only the realy nasty ones that are likely to go for anything other than another of this species.

HTH
Rabbut

There's some information on them in the red-finned shark thread under the species index. Rainbow sharks are just an albino version.

I've seen the name Rainbow Shark on both E. frenatus and E. bicolor. Both fish will tend to get aggressive when they get full sized, but E. frenatus has the nasty reputation. You should be ok in a large tank with E. bicolor, but don't get more than one, since they claim quite a large territory.

Think you may have got a bit confused, Corleone - a Rainbow Shark is not an albino version of anything, although you can get albino versions of Rainbow Shark

Tameem: I have kept both types and still have my Rainbow at present. The Rainbow Shark can be kept in certain communities of fish (don't put any other type of sharks in with them though) but they are quite boisterous fish, always on the go and foraging for food. They can also bully other fish - I've had to move my Rainbow into another tank because he was stressing all his tankmates out too much. To give you a clue of his personality, I named him Billy the Bully!

Apparently, they normally grow to about 4"-6" in length - Billy is about 4" now and looking very handsome. They are very attractive fish and help keep the tank clean (Billy goes around like a vacuum cleaner over all the plants and ornaments sucking up food and any algae).

Actually, since I moved him into the other tank (with two African Dwarf Frogs and a Guppy), he seems more settled. He has his cave to hang out in and I think he feels he's the boss of this tank, whereas there was a power struggle going on in the other tank.

Athena

Thank you all for your responses.
Athena, your information does seem correct and you confirmed it. I was also a bit confused by the albino claim. And you are right, they are a species of their own. In a few LFS I have seen them partially grown, 4 inches, and they are very goodlooking. You also confirm what I have read about these fish. They do eat algae on occasion, but dont rely on them to get rid of it. I also read about providing them with a cave, as you have done, and they do forage the tank in search of food.

generally, I have found that most people say the red-tailed shark is more aggressive then the rainbow shark. And if they bully, I sure dont want that to happen. Especially to my cute cory cats!! I would get very disturbed when I see a fish bullying or frightening another fish in my tank. I would feel bad for a fish to not be comfortable in the tank. Fish are very cute so I just hate to see those setups where the wrong fish are put together. Every try putting an israeli and palestinian in one room together? It wont be pretty!