Red Tailed Black Shark Feeding

[luckyliam13]

hey guys ive had my RTBS for over a year now and shes about 10cm long. she only acasionally takes food i offer, is this normal?? i feed a combo of frozen brine shrimp and HBH tropical colour crumbles. however she is constantly nibbling everything in the tank, again is this normal? she has recently became a tad plump but i havent seen her eating any more than her one or two pieces of food??

anyways any general advice about feeding or keeping this fish would be greatly apreciated

ps i know they are agressive natured as she has killed all but one of my tiger barbs. however she gets along fine with my golden gouramis, upside down cats.

kind regards liam m

 

[Jenste]

how large is the tank she's in? if it is too small, then she is probably not eating due to stress from confinement

 

[macdonald20]

I rarely see mine eat and she's very healthy. If she thinks you are looking at her, she will hide. She only eats when she thinks you're not looking.
P.S. Guppies are wonderful tankmates for them. My red-tail hardly ever even LOOKS at the guppies!

 

[luckyliam13]

its a 30 gall tank so probz just big enough and its not that shes not healthy or anything she is very active. she isnt that shy either she is probz the fish i see most in my tank so... and guppies wow really? would have thought they would have been chew toys what do you guys feed your RTBS and what tank mates do they have ??


kind regards liam m

 

[Athena]

My RTBS ("Billy") has had 3 different homes since I bought him 3 years ago. First he was in a community tank when he was a little tiddler but as he started to grow he became a bit of a pest towards the other fish, so I moved him into another tank with a few guppies - one of the guppies took a shine to him and followed him around the tank everywhere LOL. They were like "Little and Large"! Billy didn't seem to mind this at all, whereas he would chase the other guppies away.

Anyway, due to Billy getting aggressive towards my other guppies and the fact I wanted to introduce other fish to that tank, I decided to give Billy a home of his own so that he doesn't have to share his territory with anyone.

He likes to eat frozen bloodworms occasionally, flake food, sinking pellets, live brineshrimp, algae wafers etc. He does appear to wait until I've walked away from the tank before guzzling his food, though. I've watched him from a distance so I know he does eat the food I put in there. Just a bit shy about it, I guess.

Oh, one thing I've never been able to work out - how did you work out if yours was male or female? I've named mine Billy but would be quite funny if he was really a she!

Regards - Athena

 

[Jenste]

its a 30 gall tank so probz just big enough

unfortunately - - NO!

these sharks are supposed to be in a 55+ gallon tank. they grow large and need swimming space to accommodate their length - - about 6"...but they are very territorial and very active swimmers - - anything smaller is hindering their natural requirements.


so, i stand by my point that if you have had this shark for a year and have noticed poor feeding habits....the fish literally does not have the room to grow and it is stressing to the fish.


for the fish's sake, and not your own, you really need to consider A) upgrading or B) rehoming

 

[luckyliam13]

once again this fish is perfectly healthy! and i did the feed and hide trick and she actually does eat, not as mutch as my gourami but she still does eat . i have been looking for a 4 foot tank atm as i know both my golden gouramis and RTBS get to about the 6 inch size so yer but money is a bit of an issue atm coz im at school and not working however bday + xmas is around the same time so i think she should be fine untill then. As for sexing i was lead to believe that females have a greyish belly and a white tip on their dorsal fin. they also tend to be slightly more plump.

thanks for your help

ps how big is billy?? after 3 years

kind regards liam m

 

[james_fish]

Just out of curiosity Liam, how big was your shark when you bought her?

James.

 

[DJ Day 1]

my RTBS used to love cucumber! if he wasn't devouring it, he'd be close by guarding it.

 

[luckyliam13]

umm i think it was around 5cm its about 8 or 9 now. why do you ask??

kind regards liam m

 

[james_fish]

Just wondered, I got one around 2 months ago & I was curios to find out the growth rate of them from a keeper's situation. So she's nearly doubled in length since you got her? Cool. Can't wait for mine to grow up!

James.

 

[luckyliam13]

yerp they grow pritty quick thats why i have bean looking into getting a bigger tank for her what are you keeping yours with? and what size tank is it? and do you really think my 30 gall is to small? im deffinatly getting a bigger tank just not shure when

kind regards liam m

 

[james_fish]

I keep mine in a 53 gallon (Fluval 200 litre) which is okay for them. A 30 gallon is too small unfortunately, as being a semi aggressive fish they need space to get away from it all. I make sure I have clear territories in my tank in which it can compete for. But to be honest, it is not aggressive at all except towards the Barbs, probably because it is still young, but im hoping because it has been introduced from a younger age it will calm it down in the future.

You can see exactly what I keep with them in my signature in the Blue writing. But to cut it short I basically keep them with Loaches, Tetra's, Barbs, Dwarf Cichlids and a Gourami.

Im considering upgrading... again, this time to something in the regions of 300-400 litres
I want to keep Clown Loaches.

James.

 

[luckyliam13]

awsome didnt notice your tanks descriptions thats kewl anyways your probz sick of me saying this but watch your barbs! my RTBS hates my tiger barbs with a passion reduced a school of ten to one lonely barb

ps they both sound like brilliant setups

pps and im right with you there with the clowns they are awsome dream tank would deffinatly have to be an asian river bed comuntiy

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuoWaEMBrJY copy that to your browser love this tank!

kind regards liam m

 

[Arrrnold]

you have answered your own question about tank size - - if your fish is killing other fish this young - he is trying to claim a territory.


you say you do not have the money for an upgrade, but you need to put the fish's needs before your own. take the fish back to a fish store, then do research to buy fish you can actually care for properly in the tank YOU ALREADY HAVE.

NEVER BUY FISH NOW FOR A TANK YOU WANT IN THE FUTURE - - the ones who suffer are always the fish!