Rainbow Shark Mates....

[RRasco]

Currently i have a rainbow shark and a large angelfish in the same 55 gallon. My rainbow shark is beginning to be very tempermental and bully the other fish around. he lived for over a year in a 20 gallon with the angel and a pleco and never messed with him. but recenltly i have noticed the angels longest fins (the ones that hang down, and are narrowist) are being nibbled at, they have decreased in size two times now. First off, is there a way to curb this behavior without removing the rainbow shark? say maybe with a second angel to deter him? or is it a lost cause? second question....will the fins on the angel grow back at all?

i also wanted to know what make good tank mates for rainbow sharks? You know, ones he wont eat off of.

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

those fins do grow back. I remember when I put my first angel in my girlfriends tank. she had black convicts in there and the smallest, at first, nibbled the fins until they were small stubble things. they have grown back now...i think (i split up with her and dont see him anymore). last time i saw him they had grown back but those fins take the longest to grow back because they aren't just fins. they are feelers too. if you're talkin about the same things as me.
normal fins grow back too.
and i'm not sure about a way to stop the nibbling. I think it may stop after a while but its up to you whether you want to do that or not. another solution is to put the shark back into the other tank and buy another shark. red tailed black sharks don't do this to angels. correct me if im wrong but none of my previous RTBS have ever done it but ruby sharks have. thats my experience anyway.

 

[vancouver]

Ventral fins grow back?.. I've never seen em grow back before .. weird

 

[RRasco]

These are the fins, i put lines where they have been takin off to.

 

[RRasco]

anyone?

 

[SamUK]

and i'm not sure about a way to stop the nibbling. I think it may stop after a while but its up to you whether you want to do that or not. another solution is to put the shark back into the other tank and buy another shark. red tailed black sharks don't do this to angels. correct me if im wrong but none of my previous RTBS have ever done it but ruby sharks have. thats my experience anyway.

sharks (except balas) do tend to get pretty damn aggressive as they get older.

ive got 2 rtbs and they were both fine for about a year but since then they chase jus about everything.

even fully grown convicts.

mine are in a 80 and 180 gallon tank tho so i dont have a problem.

 

[RRasco]

i need to figure something out, or hes got to go, hes ruining the thing i like most about my angel, maybe ill buy like 5 more angels, and they will tag team his ass!

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

You may be better replacing him sad i kno, with a ruby shark. or rainbow shark or wotever. these arent as terratorial.
hopefull the fins will grow back but the other guy said those don't grow back. my first angel's did but really slowly.
also, if you do replace the rtbs, you should also add another 5 angels too because they would look amazing in that tank.

OH!! sorry i thought u said you had a red tailed black shark lol sorry

 

[RRasco]

yeah, it IS a Rainbow Shark. I dont want to really get rid of him because he is quite large now, i would say 3.5". i may take him to a LFS, or find him another tank. I am going to wait until i get the tank planted and add more caves. then maybe it will break up the territory better and keep him at bay. just have to wait and see.

On a side note, he really messed up my black ghost knife a few weeks ago too. the BGK would stay in the big log, and once i finally got him out his lower vin was all ripped up, and what appeared to be his eye hanging out was a chunk of meat on his cheek. so the rainbow shark is definitely too aggressive for the type of fish i want. he is now dead from his injuries.

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

if he can kill a ghost knife then he is definatly too agressive. bearing in mind the fish he killed was black too and was probably thinking it was another rainbow shark. but still he sounds too agressive. maybe it is worth changing him for another more peaceful fish and adding another 5 angels
seriously they would look amazing in that 55Gal

 

[RRasco]

today i noticed the angels fins growing back already...they are coming back fast. so i guess that answers the question, THEY DO GROW BACK! im so happy. and pink, no need to worry, i do beieve i will be getting rid of the Rainbow shark and adding a few more angels. any other stocking suggestions?

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

i think some sort of fancy pleco would look great in there.
and since u hav sand, maybe a couple of corydoras. theres loadz to choose from so take your pick!
before you buy more angels, you'll have to bear in mind that because small angels are impossible to sex, they are going to be assorted. this means when they reach breeding age, they will begin to pair up. unless you're incredibly lucky to buy all males or all females. you may even get 2 pairs. this is bad because they do become quite terratorial when paired.

 

[adgori]

do all rainbows get that aggressive as they get older? or is it only towards some fish?

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

not alot acctually get that aggressive. its a shock that he killed that knife fish. its usually the red tailed black sharks that are more aggressive. black sharks are another matter! kill anything and everything.
red tailed black sharks usually just attack black fish or something with large feathery fins (like guppys or fan tailed goldfish) i currently have a black moor that is in trouble because she is black and have elongated finage. her tail is often shredded, then it heals, and gets shredded again.
my 7inch goldfish never gets attacked tho. probably because he's a giant compared to the shark.
its just how sharks are. apart from BALA SHARKS

 

[adgori]

yea my rainbow and bala get along great