Rams didn't work, how about Red Tailed Shark?

tomm10

tomm10

Prodigal Son
Oct 15, 2003
751
0
0
Oxford, MA
www.tomwalkerportraits.com
Some may remember me posting before about one of my two male rams dieing and me looking for a female companion for the remaining one. Well, the second male died and I'm giving up on rams for the time being. They are a bit too fragile and a bit to expensive for me to keep dealing with. All the rest of the tank's inhabitants are doing quite well so I'm left to think that the rams died due to being unhealthy stock in the long run. Not too uncommon from what I hear.

Anyway, my thoughts are bringing me back to my original idea of getting a Red Tailed Black Shark. the tank is a well planting 29g with hiding spaces and driftwood so I believe he'll work well there. From what I read he'll get along with the danios and the khuli loaches in the tank but I don't know much about how he'll react with the pygmy cories or the shrimp. Does anyone have any experience with that?

The other fish I am thinking about is the Boesemani Rainbow. I believe there shouldn't be a fighting problem with this fish but would they do okay in a pair? I'm not sure how many I'd want to put in the tank. I would thing 3 would be as many as I'd be willing to get just thinking about swimming space.

Tom
 
Hi Tomm.....

the RTBS should be fine with the cories, they will know (or should) to keep from his area. I've kept cories and the RTBS together forever and have never ever had a single problem. The fact that your tank is planted or does have plenty of hiding spaces might make things ok but I would think the RTBS would prefer a bigger tank.
 
I kept my rtbs with cories without any problem either. He has been in a few tanks, and only seems to bother bigger fish. From what I read, they would only bother other rtbs and fish of similar shape. However, in every tank he's been in, he harrassed any fish that were almost as big as him, including buenos aires tetras and giant danios. However, he doesn't care about small fish, and he leaves the 5 cherry barbs he's with now alone. Your danios and cories won't get as big as a rtbs, and I don't know anything about your loaches. However, rainbows might be a problem as they are a larger, active fish. Fish that fit that profile are the ones that seem to put my rtbs in attack mode.
 
vaheelsfan, thanks. This is an either or situation. I would either get a few rainbows or a RTBS.

dangerdoll, I think the cories are smart enough to stay clear and they're good hiders. I just wanted to make sure no one had any "My RTBS ate all my pygmies in an hour!" horror stories ;)

I'm a little more concerned with the swimming room for the rainbows than for a single RTBS. Does that make sense? I know that the RTBS would have the middle of the tank all to himself where as the rainbows would have to share with other rainbows.

The plan would be to get a small RTBS so that he can mature in a tank where he is the new comer. The hope being that it will curtail some dominance issues. It would also give him more time to grow. I'm hoping that my situation will allow for a bigger tank (at least a 55 if not a 75) in another year.

Tom
 
A red tail black shark will spend most of it's time on the bottom of the tank. They are somewhat territorial, and mine likes to stay in a cave a lot of the time. However, you may want to make several caves (if you already don't have some) so that all of the fish won't try to stay in one, and your shark can have one to itself. I don't know if rtbs can eat anything bigger than fry, as far as fish are concerned. I guess some big ones could, but I've honestly never seen mine eat anything, other than when he would occaisionally eat some algae off of the glass. He's definitely not starving though, and has grown considerably in the year and a half I've had him, so he's eating something.
 
Tom, my rainbow shark (related to rtbs) has been in the tank since it was done cycling... he stays in his cave a lot, and doesn't really bother anyone. He will, every so often, chase a tiger barb (used to chase zebra danios around too). But it doesn't last long, and I don't think it's done out of malice, because he never bites.

That said, I HIGHLY suspect him of eating my school of neon tetras. They all disappeared (no carcasses to be found) within 3 days of getting them, and they were small, maybe 1/2" or so... other than that, he rules the tank and definately has his territory, but he doesn't mess with anyone else, and nobody bothers him (and nobody else goes into 'his' cave.)

I don't think he'll mess with your cories, or your shrimps either (assuming the shrimps are bigger than 1/2" or so, right?)... I think he'll make a nice addition to your tank!

~Tara
 
How big are your tiger barbs? They can be pretty nippy, and neons aren't really that tough. It could have been your rainbow shark, I suppose. However, the fact that these fish don't really seem like "hunters" to me. The fact that their mouths are on the underside of their head would make it hard to actually chase and grab a fish and proceed to eat it, in my opinion.
 
Tara, how shy is your rainbow shark? I already have clown pleco that I rarely see so I don't want another fish that's going to hide all the time.

My shrimp are all bigger than 1/2" and a couple are getting frighteningly big.

Tom
 
vaheelsfan ~ I recently got the tiger barbs, I didn't have them when I got the neons. The rainbow shark is the only guy I can think of, except maybe my pleco... everyone else at the time (zebra danios, a few guppies, and 2 serpae tetras) were tame! Of course they could have been abducted by aliens! :D

Tom ~ He's not shy really at all! When we drop the algae wafers in the tank, he's all over them. He's been a bit more skittish the last 2 months or so, since my son took an interest in the tank, but I can't say I blame him - Ray tends to whack the glass despite my telling him not to. He often hangs out at the back of the tank, behind the castle, when he's not in his cave. A lot of times he's just swimming around, nibbling on the castle, his cave and the glass for algae etc... He's a lot less shy than my common pleco, but not as un-shy as my barbs. If that makes sense :)

~Tara
 
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