rainbow shark

[masterfishes]

i bought a rainbow shark 2 days ago and when i give it flakes it dives up takes a gulp of food and goes back down...i read that need plant material so i tried zucinini and and algea wafers but it didn't touch them....is all this normal behavior for them?

 

[@ombomb]

Rainbow sharks / RTBS are bottom feeders and will roam around the bottom of the tank looking for bits and pieces the other fish have missed on the way down. Make sure you feed them some bloodworms / brine shrimp every so often and it'll gobble them up off the bottom of the tank.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

i bought a rainbow shark 2 days ago and when i give it flakes it dives up takes a gulp of food and goes back down...i read that need plant material so i tried zucinini and and algea wafers but it didn't touch them....is all this normal behavior for them?

You need to try things more than once.

 

[masterfishes]

thanks for helping....i asked the lfs where i bought him and they said all they feed them is zucinini and told me i could try romain lettuce....is this correct....as for the zucinini and the algae wafers i left them in over night and they werent touched....il be sure to try the bloodworms though

 

[kingsgal]

Mine likes shrimp pellets. Have you tried those?

 

[masterfishes]

never herd of them....r they available at most petstores

 

[sylvia]

They'll eat anything. It doesn't realy matter as long as you vary it. Ordinary flake/pellet foods are usuly balanced enough. Zuchinni or romain lettuce is fine.

 

[masterfishes]

thanks for helping....i gave my shark some bloodworms and then went to check on him a few min later and there were none left(atleast that i could see)....well i have a question....r sharks normaly nocternal mine hides in his "cave" all day and only comes out when the lights r out....he seems really shy too

 

[sylvia]

It sounds like he's quite new to your tank. With time they learn to come out more and get to know that when you're approaching it's about time to get fed. Also, he's probably still quite young. The fact that he's in a small tank and there are no other fish will add to this behaviour. If you put an RTBS in a big planted tank with some schooling fish and given some time, it'll be out resting on broad leaves and searching for food all over. Put a big, broad-leaved plant in and dim the lights to make him feel more comfortable.

 

[masterfishes]

thanks for the info.....he isnt too young i dont think (3 1/2-4 inches aprox) there is a good sized cave made of pieces from a tera cotta and there r lots of plants(fakes cuzz i cant keep real ones alive they do good for a few weeks and then suddenly go down hill

 

[sylvia]

If you are planning to upgrade your tank soon anyway (which you realy kind of should as the RTBS will eventualy be too big to lvie in there comfortably), try some amazon sword. This plant does ok with low light levels and has huge broad leaves - prefect for an RTBS. Unfortunately though, it gets huge so will eventualy need to be transplanted.

 

[masterfishes]

thanks....do u know anyplace online that sells them cuzz my lfs has extremely small ones that would be absolutely pointless to buy....will they be ok in bright light cuzz the light i have is very bright(it was the only one i could find in the size i needed) the light is on for about 8 hrs a day so.....