Rainbow Shark

[junosama]

I got a rainbow shark today in a 30 gallon tank going to upgrade to a 55 when he gets bigger. So far he hides ALL the time. He found this nice piece of wood in my tank and refuses to come out to explore at all lol. I should have gone with the redtail...but they had him in a 10 gallon tank with two other rainbows who were smaller and he was beating the crap out of them so I thought id ease things and take him home.

I bought him to replace my betta who jumped out of the tank. The only other things in the tank are two dwarf frogs which i hope he wont bother since they are frogs and dont look anything like sharks. I know they are both bottom dwellers but we shall see.

When i get my 55 im going to add tiger barbs. Do u think i could add some tiger barbs now in the 30 with him and the two frogs? Since hes a bottom dweller i doubt he would go way up top to mess with the tiger barbs much if i had them in a good size pack maybe like 10 tiger barbs?

 

[pkppv]

I sure think so! Im the proud owner of a rainbow shark, and she does not bother much of anything in my tank, unless of course another fish tries to invade her cave. She isnt capable of doing any damage anyway, all she does is chase them for a moment or two until they leave her territory. She explores lots and intermixes with other, smaller, different fish. As for being over stocked, 10 barbs would be fine until your shark and barbs get bigger. As for barb aggression, the shark can protect itself

 

[junosama]

Thanks good to know i think this would be a good setup until i get my 55 gallon then maybe i can add a few more fish.

 

[TropicalJuwel]

Give the ruby shark time to settle in, it will have been stressed from being in the same tank as a rtbs at your lfs and then the journey and new tank, once settled in it will be fine. Keep an eye on feeding times as they can get quite aggressive when foods about with any type of fish, there not scared when it comes to size, my ruby shark used to chase my silver sharks away who were twice there size, so just be careful about the frogs, i dont know enough about them for compatability, but i'm guessing there slow moving which may be a problem. The tiger barbs would be fine but keep there numbers up to keep the fin nipping between them and not other fish so minimum of 10 but 12 if you can. You will love your ruby shark once settled, a beautiful fish.

 

[Greg_DS]

I had one in with a few different fish, Bulldog Pleco, Dwarf Gouramis, Platys & Danios and he was fine, even used to share a cave with the Pleco which was nice to see!!