Iridescent Shark

[CLJF82]

At my LFS the other day (not my favorite one, but the closest to where I live) and checking out some of the new arrivals.  I came across this very small 2-2.5 inch shark catfish in a tank with larger red-fin sharks.  I am pretty sure it is an Iridescent shark, was much smaller than the others, and was being terrorized by the rest.  He has already COMPLETELY lost one front fin, so, I decided to try to rescue him.  I am pretty sure he made it there somehow by mistake because it was the only thing like him in the whole store and the store owner did not know what it was.  He is currently in my 55 gal community tank and starting to do MUCH better.  I hope to eventually find a new, larger home for him, but in the meantime, what should I do for him?  How quickly do they grow and how long till I have to find him a new home?  Will his fin grow back? (it really is completely gone)

 

[techen]

Unlikely the fin will grow back however you may have just made the problem worse. Putting a shark into a community tank can have risks and I hope you are prepared for the shark to bully some peaceful fish or even them/eat them.
 
I understand that seeing fish suffer is hard and you feel it's your duty to save them but at the end of the day if you can't rehome/find a new tank for him he'll just suffer more
 
That being said if it is a  Iridescent shark I thought they grew huge.

 

[Wills]

... its a bit of a nightmare situation really. Yes its a real shame about the fin but the store has just sold a fish it should not have had in the first time.
 
For healing the fin - regular feeding, lots of water changes and melafix + primafix would work really well to heal them up.
 
They are not really aggressive fish like Red Tails but are a bit boisterous so be careful with other fish and as they get larger they will eat smaller fish.
 
The bigger issue is long term plans for this fish. That 55 might work for a year possibly two but other than that its going to be an extremely large tank or a tropical pond. Im sure your aware but they do grow to like 4 - 6 feet long in the wild so you are looking at a serious monster here!
 
One other thing I would do is print off some info on them and take it into the shop so the owner knows what it was he had in stock to make sure he does not buy more in. Often when "saving" a monster fish like this the purchase tells the owner that they should get more in because people like them...
 
Good luck!
 
Wills

 

[Mikey1]

ID Sharks are actually catfish, not a shark at all.....they are very peaceful fish and will rarely bother any other fish even if the other fish are smaller.....
 
they grow VERY FAST and get VERY BIG!!!
 
he will outgrow your 55 gallon in less than 6 months if properly fed.....good luck!!

 

[CLJF82]

Very huge.  I am hoping my other LFS that I like but is much farther away can help me find someone who can better house him.  I take them some of my guppies I raise from time to time.  For now, he is doing well with my other fish, he seems more scared of the other fish (probably from already being tormented) and tries to stay away from them, and they are all peaceful fish, so are not bothering him too much.  It may be a few weeks before I get over there though.

 

[Wills]

If your looking to start rehoming now thats great make sure you get in touch with lots of shops to try and track down the big tanks in your area.
 
Wills