Omg Acrobatic Rtbs

[stucolls]

Ok so just did some rehoming, I have 4 new platy in my main tank, and decided they would get on better with my mollies and corys so moved Sharky my Red Tail Black Shark into the 6gal Fry tank, on his own, there are a couple of hiding places but not that many really. I was watching the new platys figuring out that lfs gave me 2male and 2 female rather than the 1 male and 3 female I asked for when I heard a funny crash, thought nothing of it but went to look at sharky anyway to check he was ok in new tank but I couldnt find him, thats when panic set in and I spotted him lying next to the tank on the outside!!!!!

I do have a condensation tray ontop of the fry tank but he had managed to do a triple backwards somersault with twist and pike and work his way out!!!!

Is this common with RTBS? why did he do it? and are there any after affects I should look out for? he did discolour slightly but has it back now and was out for prob around 30-40 seconds?

Cheers

Stu

 

[halfbloodprincess]

Well first off sharks are jumpers. So it is normal for him to jump. You will have to make sure there are no holes for him to fit through on the tank's cover. Also red tailed sharks need a 40 gallon tank or larger. I have a red tailed shark in my 55 gallon tank since he was too big for my 29 gal. You should get him a bigger tank, or put him in the main tank again. What size is the main tank?

My red tailed shark is named Sharky too! lol

 

[stucolls]

The main tank is only 20gal I think? I have a 150 litre ready to set up, I just need a filter for it, but sharky is only about 2inches long so he is ok atm in a smaller tank, I keep going to check he is still in the tank lol

As soon as I get my big tank running he is the first in it.

 

[DarkEntity]

He will be fine in there short term but will hit 6" so needs a much larger tank in the long term. Ive never ever had a shark jump in the past, maybe he got a fright?

 

[halfbloodprincess]

Yeah since he is small he should be ok for the moment. Good to see you are getting him a new tank.

 

[stucolls]

Yep, without doubt he is having a new tank, im not one of these guys who says yes im getting this and that, the tank is actually in my back garden now, I bought it with heater, eheim powerball filter, lights, substrate the lot, only thing missing was the hood, all off a mate who kept jaguar cichlids but unfortunately the filter broke so until I find a cheap one (under £20) on ebay I cant get it up and running, I did think about buying say 2 smaller filters (internal) that did 300lph each and sticking one at each end of tank.

Stu

 

[merry78]

pretty sure you could run a couple of smaller filters in your big tank as a temporary measure till you get a big filter.

 

[stucolls]

Ok thanks )