My Red Tailed Shark.

[randalthor]

On all the pics of red tailed sharks I have seen online, they all have black fins, black body, and a red tail. My fish however has red fins, black body and a red tail. And if you look at the fins closely you can see some black specs. I would be so angry if I bought a painted fish.

 

[@ombomb]

Slight case of mistaken identity I think...

You have a Rainbow Shark from the sounds of things...

Similar is almost everyway to the RTBS. (apart from the fins of course! )

 

[randalthor]

U..oh...how big do these get, what type of food do they need, I have been treating it as a Red tailed shark the whole time. What is their temperment....Any info would be helpful....ahhhh!

 

[@ombomb]

Well...

Similar is almost everyway to the RTBS.

Tank requirements = 40G Minimum

Food = Pretty much anything, flakes, daphnea, brine shrimp, blood worm, really not fussy

Max Size = 5"

Temprement = Ranges from Good community fish to absolute &*(^er depending on the individual. As a rule of thumb they are highly territorial but will only really show any aggression towards fish of a similar shape, particularly their own species which will not be tolerated. They mature at around 3" which is where the aggression would really manifest itself. Give them plenty of space and caves to hide in and you should have a stunning centrepiece for your aquarium. Too little space, no hiding places or a similar shaped fish and you have a problem waiting to happen.

 

[randalthor]

Thankyou so much That helps a lot. When I bought it I wanted to get more than one, however, I learned that you should not have more than one red tailed shark. Can I get more than one Rainbow shark in a 45g?

Cheers!

edit: when you said with thier own species which will not be tolerated, did you mean agression towards eachother, or putting them together?

 

[@ombomb]

100% NO!

 

[randalthor]

Thanks.

 

[LoachLover]

Red Tailed Sharks and Rainbow Sharks don't mix well at all with their own species.

 

[randalthor]

What if I had 4-6 of them?

 

[@ombomb]

Forget it, 1 per tank and that's it.

 

[LoachLover]

What if I had 4-6 of them?

Well then they would probably start fighting tournements in the tank and the dominant one would kill off the rest.

Before you buy a fish, next time know what you're getting, and know about the species. Research is the key word in fish keeping.

 

[randalthor]

I did, But I researched the red tailed shark. And the LFS sold them as Red tailed sharks

 

[LoachLover]

Well if you did in fact research red tailed sharks, you would've known it was a rainbow shark.

 

[@ombomb]

Slightly irrelevent now, but if you did your research should have known not to have bought it at all as they require a larger tank. Also your research surely would have told you they don't look like that...

Any way, the point is we have all made mistakes. Just learn from the this and research properly before buying fish.