Do Red Tail Sharks Eat Neon Tetras?

[ixvst011]

I have a red tail shark and 2 small neon tetras in a 20 gallon tank. One day 1 of the neon are missing. The red tail shark is the only aggressive fish in the tank. Did the red tail shark eat the neon tetra? No body or remains. Also the red tail shark did not eat for 2 days.

 

[catfish4ever]

Its possible if the shark is dominant and much larger than the neon tetra, its unlikely in my experience though, keep an eye on the shark for the next few weeks and keep it well fed, also a 20 gallon is a bit small for a RTBS its likely they need at least 50 gallons as they would consider a whole 20 gallon " thier" territory

 

[star4]

If the shark is big enough then yes it would eat a small neon.

 

[gh74]

What filter have you got in the tank,i had 25 neons and between them been eaten and the filter sucking them in through the gaps on the side of it,thats where i had found a good lot of them,so check your filter they could of ended up in it

 
And as for the redtail shark get shot of it there to aggressive,i had one and a ruby shark and they stressed & killed loads of my fish.

 

[ixvst011]

The filter i have has tiny holes that no fish could ever get into.

 

[gh74]

have you other aggressive or large fish in your tank,maybe they could be eating them etc just a thought,have you looked the tank for the skeleton of the fish etc?

 

[sawickib]

I  agree the RTS should be in a much larger tank, they will be very aggressive to all inhabitants in the tank esp. if its full grown in that size of a tank. What other fish are there in the tank? Neon tetras also need schools of 6+ to be happy and healthy, so it could be that one neon tetra died and was dissolved/eaten by fish or the bacteria in your filters, and warm water.

 

[Ruley0891]

I have a Red Tail Black Shark in my tank and he lives happily with 6 neon tetras...it is a 300 ltr tank so they all have plenty of space to themselves but he never bothers them  

 

[Ch4rlie]

I have a red tail shark and 2 small neon tetras in a 20 gallon tank. One day 1 of the neon are missing. The red tail shark is the only aggressive fish in the tank. Did the red tail shark eat the neon tetra? No body or remains. Also the red tail shark did not eat for 2 days.

 
I would suggest first off, the RTBS is not suitable for your 20 gallon tank, in fact minimum required, according to SF is 60 gallons / 240 litres.
 
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/epalzeorhynchos-bicolor/
 
Not the easiest of species to keep as they grow older, they become more aggressive, so tank mates has to be chosen carefully, even catfish are probably not suitable in the same tank as the RTBS.
 
Either upgrade your tank quickly or re-home the RTBS, not what you want to hear probably, but its better to hear this now than when you may have major issues in your tank.
 
BTW, if the RTBS is big enough, entirely possible he could have eaten the neon, or more likely the neons are too stressed in same tank as this fish, resulting in adverse affects to the neons health.