Red Tail Sharks

[karawr]

Is it a bad idea to have 4 red tail sharks in a 90g with lots of plants and driftwood for hiding spaces?

 

[AshleyT]

Your only ment to have 1 because they don't like their own kind

 

[dbanner]

I agree with Ashley... Only 1 per tank. Unless the tank was huuuge. They will be OK but when they get bigger/older try will become very territorial and fight until eventually ur left with 1

 

[karawr]

Hm okay. Yeah I read everywhere that you can have more in a "bigger tank" but no one specified size. I guess it would have to be bigger than 100.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[DrewMuayThai]

I think a 90 gallon can handle 4 red tails. True, they do not tollerate their own kind. One per tank, unless the tank is huge. But I think a 90 gallon is okay. That way, they'll have plenty of room for their own territory.

 

[karawr]

Hmmmmmmm. Well now I don't know what to do lol.

They are being given away for free, maybe I'll get the 4 and see how it goes, and rehome if they start fighting.

 

[DrewMuayThai]

Hmmmmmmm. Well now I don't know what to do lol.

They are being given away for free, maybe I'll get the 4 and see how it goes, and rehome if they start fighting.

I think they'll be fine! Good luck and keep us updated!!!

 

[dbanner]

If you think of it I only said the tank would have to be huge because the requirement for a single red tail is 55 gallons so 4 in a 90 is way too much. I wouldn't change 2 to be honest but it's up to you

They shouldn't fight when they are small. Mine was fine til around 4-5 inch then caused havoc in my tank. I only had 1 as well with other fish. Tank was 260 litres

 

[karawr]

Maybe just the two then lol. A compromise between 1 and 4. Maybe that won't even work, but a lot easier to rehome 1 instead of 3 if they end up fighting.

 

[dbanner]

2 may or may not work but yes it's definitely better than chancing 4 together.

 

[samorkel]

I got 1 rtbs in my 90gal, I wouldn't think 4 would work and 2 probably wont unless you have a tank 120g+

 

[Tizer]

You need around 6-8 if you want to reduce bullying. The problem with these guys is, if they only have one target, they keep at it until its so stressed it flakes out and dies, with multiple targets it doesn't happen. The reason why most people cant keep this number of sharks alive in one tank is because they are algae eaters and they can eat a serious amount of it. They are also very picky eaters and young fish often ignore the wafers and veg that you might feed in favour of a bit of algae on a leaf. They tend to die one by one via starvation until you get into the fight mode with only a few left, then generally only the strong one survives. I did a fair bit of reading into them before xmas and i'm just going with a single one in my 100g tank. I've lost one for no good reason after a month, i'm hoping this new guy survives.

 

[karawr]

Hm thanks for the detailed reply tizer.

Do you think it would be worth getting a couple more so that I have 6 in a 90g? Or is the group thing only for really big tanks?

I've got plenty of algae in my tank so hopefully that will be sufficient for them. And the guy has had them for about a year he said and he didn't mention any problems for them with feeding. So I hope I won't have to worry about that.

 

[Gilli]

I have one in my 250L tank and hes not a fussy eater at all - he will eat anything and everything!

 

[Tizer]

Hm thanks for the detailed reply tizer.

Do you think it would be worth getting a couple more so that I have 6 in a 90g? Or is the group thing only for really big tanks?

I've got plenty of algae in my tank so hopefully that will be sufficient for them. And the guy has had them for about a year he said and he didn't mention any problems for them with feeding. So I hope I won't have to worry about that.

Id say give it a go, part of fish keeping is experimentation