Should I Re-Home My Red-Tailed Shark?

[AshleyNZ]

Im in Hawera, Taranaki. I swear I read it as litres. The lady I got them from only has a guppy tank, a gourami tank and electric yellows. I don't think they'd go there... and I dont want to give them up. with only 15 fish the tank would look bare

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Believe me, with 15 fish, the tank wouldn't look bare, if you're worried about there not being enough activity in the tank, you could go with this stocking....
 
7x neon tetras (or another tetra if you don't like these)
7x pygmy corys
1 honey gourami (I think this is what you have now).
 
This stocking list adds activity to all levels of the tank, I've seen people with almost the exact same stocking and the tank does not look empty. IMO tanks look a lot better with one or two biggish schools rather than a little bit of everything.

Sorry, but you either read it wrong or the place where you read it was wrong, it is definitely one inch per gallon, sorry.
 
What are the tank dimensions and what filtration are you running?

 

[Ninjouzata]

I agree with all that Blondie has told you. I did want to add though, just in case.. that no one is trying to be rude to you or anything. Everyone here just cares for the well being of your fish.
 
Also wanted to say 

 

[Doomchibi]

I just wanted to add, it's also possible that the red-tail was being aggravated by your more vibrant fish. Are any of your platys an orange-red color? Are your neons very bright? Red-tails and rainbow sharks are a bit like bettas in the sense that they get upset with fish that resemble them. They see red and want it out of their territory. I have my rainbow shark in a tank with all brown, black etc colored fish and he has left all but a featherfin catfish I have alone since they are both bottom dwellers. I recently added a platy on a very temporary basis because the tank it was in needed to be moved and he was the only one that could not go into my brackish tank, but within a few hours of being in the tank my shark started trying to chase it off. This platy is only partially red so I was hoping the shark wouldn't notice, but apparently that isn't the case. 

 

[Seal36]

I must say I had about 47 fish in a 110litre tank and I thought they were happy but after talking to people here I realised they were not. I completely changed my stocking in the tank and I thought it would look very bare but it does not if anything I think it looks much better and almost as active. I am now fully stocked at 25 fish which are neons, honey gouramis, apistogramma cactuoides and my faviourite panda Cory's. The tank looks amazing because all the fish have plenty of space to swim in and as there is only 4 species of fish in the tank they interact with each other and I think are so much happier. Also as there is less fish in the tank they are acting more naturally and I'm having fish trying to breed that were never able to when my tank had so many fish in. Although you might think it would look bare it won't and the fish will be much happier and be in a more natural environment and be kept in more natural stocking from Tom

 

[CSnyder00]

Well said Seal. AshleyNZ, take it from those of us who have MTS (Multiple tank syndrome). I want to house every fish in the world in my basement. Unfortunately, my wife and my wallet oppose this idea. We just want to see a young fish keeper with a happy tank. The more of us who do this right, the easier it will be to help others.

 

[AshleyNZ]

The filtration is what comes with the tank... but I do feel it is way too strong for it . If you look up Aquamode 600 You'll be able to see what it looks like  

 

[AshleyNZ]

Yeah, I'm not taking offense to any of this? I know you are all trying to help. Under these circumstances its a little hard though ... Ill have to see what I can do. 

And my Gourami is a three-spot

 

[Blondielovesfish]

I understand it can be hard, but we have all had to make hard decisions for the wellbeing of our fish, believe me, it is well worth it in the end! 
 
Unfortunately, three spots are too big for your tank, so would also need to be rehomed Sorry.

 

[AshleyNZ]

I understand it can be hard, but we have all had to make hard decisions for the wellbeing of our fish, believe me, it is well worth it in the end! 
 
Unfortunately, three spots are too big for your tank, so would also need to be rehomed

Sorry.

Really? He's smaller than the shark.. he stays mostly at the top/middle of the aquarium... there's plenty of room, so I thought.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Three-spots reach 6", when we say something is too big does not necessarily mean right now. But eventually it will be & so it's usually good to re-home ASAP, or upgrade
When you get everything figured out, if you like gourami, there are smaller ones that can work in your size tank.

 

[AshleyNZ]

Thanks. Yeah ive had him a year and he hasn't grown! Maybe I just don't notice. I've contacted Animates, to see if they will be interested in my fish, to do a trade Im so glad im getting on top of this now. Excited to see what they say There are a few pet shops up there that I can try if they reject. 

 

[Ninjouzata]

I hope they say yes! And am really glad about your decision

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Not sure if they'll accept or not, but if they don't, hopefully one of the other petshops will!
 
I'm very happy you're trying to rehome them! You're doing great and i'm sure in no time you'll have a happy, well stocked tank, maybe even two
 
Although your three-spot might not be very big now, he does need a bigger tank sorry. 
A dwarf gourami or a honey gourami would be suitable for your tank size

 

[AshleyNZ]

Never seen those gouramis before! Would like to Haha. I learned im going up to NP this or next week (To go fishing) but dad thinks its a great idea im getting on top of the problem.
It was weird he agreed when I said I think it's too overstocked...I didn't think he's seen my aquarium  
 
Im thinking about just getting some guppies, not those fancy imported ones though. They dont seem to last. I don't know if it's me or not.
But I think schools of brighter fish would brighten up the tank. Ill have to think, hard.
 
I've now tried three places, waiting for an email. Will think about trade-me.