Anyone try a "shark tank?"

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drgold

drgold

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I'm looking to set up an asian biotope tank and I'm kicking around the idea of a shoal of rainbow sharks. Anyone ever try this? The tank is a 6' 125g and I'm thinking about adding 12-15 sharks to go along with a couple dozen botias and a school of danios.

My main goal is a lively, active, tank and I'm curious if the sharks will be active, or just run around attacking eachother.

Does anyone have any experience?

Thanks
 
K

KarlTh

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These fish need to be kept either singly or in large shoals (as they are found in the wild). A dozen doesn't sound excessive to me.
 
drgold

drgold

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KarlTh said:
These fish need to be kept either singly or in large shoals (as they are found in the wild). A dozen doesn't sound excessive to me.
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That was my thinking, too. I thought half a dozen would beat on eachother too much - but 12 would disperse aggression and create more natural behavior. Certainly 125 gallons wouldn't be cramped with 12-15 sharks?
 
jpappy789

jpappy789

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Feb 18, 2007
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But with the other fish? Maybe. I have never heard of anyone trying that many together before so to be completely honest I am guessing at what might happen. I would rather not try it but I worry too much about these things...go for it if you are sure about it working but I would have backup plans...
 
H3D

H3D

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Adding more of them is not going to disperse aggression. It is going to create more aggression as you are vastly limiting the amount of territory available to each fish.

The minimum recommended tank size for just one of them is 55 gallons. IMO 12-15 are going to be extremely cramped, and territorial in a 125 gallon.
 
drgold

drgold

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H3D said:
Adding more of them is not going to disperse aggression. It is going to create more aggression as you are vastly limiting the amount of territory available to each fish.

The minimum recommended tank size for just one of them is 55 gallons. IMO 12-15 are going to be extremely cramped, and territorial in a 125 gallon.
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I hear ya - but that's not been my experience with aggression in fish. I used to keep mbuna in this tank and the more fish, the less aggression. I think the minimum sized tank for mbuna is 55 gallons, too, but I kept probably 50-60 in the 125g.
 
calivivarium1

calivivarium1

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May 5, 2008
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Now, with African Cichlids I have heard that you may want to slightly overstock your tank so no one fish can establish a territory. This supposedly replicates the conditions sometimes found in Lake Malawi.. If this is true, is this behavior only common in cichlids(the lack of a territory actually promoting a more peaceful environment)? I'm not trying to call anyone's experience with sharks into question, I am just curious if anyone knows why this behavior isn't replicated in territorial shoaling fish(like some species of "sharks")

*drgold made the post right above mine as I was typing this...*
 
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