question about rainbow shark

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Frostbite1084

AC Members
Aug 27, 2014
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Hi! So I'll jump right in. I have a 50g tank with
About 5 wild guppies, 6 neon tetras, and 2 other types of guppies, not sure the breed(they are solid bright yellow with black lines going thru the fins) couple ghost shrimp and snails. It's a very peaceful tank. Here's the kicker. I rescued a very small/sick rainbow shark about 1 inch long give or take. He was very skinny and pale, probably close to death. Anyway I didn't really have any other place to put him but my 50g tank. All my others were too small. That was a few months ago, now the shark is super colorful super fat and healthy. Couldn't be better. He is also a pretty mellow tempered shark. He usually stays at the bottom minding his own business, but sometimes he'll try to nip the guppies and neon, but not often. Soooo my actual question is: does the shark cause stress on all the other fish in the tank? Is that un healthy? Thanks for taking the time to read all that!
 

Slappy*McFish

Global Moderator
Staff member
Feb 18, 2002
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Raleigh, NC
Frequent nipping and chasing can definitely cause stress, injury and even death. Since the shark only does this occasionally and the other fish seem to behave otherwise normal, I wouldn't worry about it right now. If this aggression increases in frequency, then I'd consider rehoming the shark.
 

Alonergan11

AC Members
Aug 7, 2014
50
0
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From your description he seems to be doing fairly well and not being very aggressive, but I would keep watch on the behavior of the shark and the other fish. If the fish don't swim anywhere near it, I might suspect it's causing them stress
 
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