can a rainbow shark do well in a 20 gallon tank?

rudelou55

rudelou55

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Apr 24, 2006
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i have an empty 20 gallon tank and i was wondering if a rainbow shark would do well in a tank that size and if so what other fish could i put in there? if the tank is too small what other colorful and active fish would do well in that tank?
 
rainbow will get too big for a 20.

tetras of any kind will go well in a 20 gallon, as long as you get them in groups of 6 or more (up to probably 10 individuals max for the tank)

you could probably house a pair of dwarf gouramis in a 20 as well, which are colorful and interesting fish.

non-annual killifish would also do well in a 20 since they need very little water to be happy.

whatever you do DO NOT get a regular pleco for algea control. they willl get far too large for that tank. (wasn't sure if you knew this already or not ;) ) otocinclus or snails or shrimp may be your best bet for algae if it's a problem.

some barbs may do well in a 20. be careful with what you mix barbs with though since a lot of thme can be real nippy.

hope that helps.
 
What happens if you don't get your tetras in groups of at least 6?

Mark
 
they won't be very happy. tetras are schooling fish and will be stressed out (which leads to health problems) if they are kept in very small numbers. remember that these fish are usually found in schools of more than 50 up into the hundreds in the wild.

basically for them to bea healthy and happy they should be kept in groups of at least 5-6, and prefereably more than that.
 
tetras are fine in groups of 6. that is the least recomended for a school is 6
its not practical to keep groups of several dozen within fishtanks limits
i have 6 lemon tetras in a 26 gallon for almost 5 yrs now, they spawn every other month and are in excellent health and the colors are vivid yellow.
true i would skip the rainbow shark for a 20 gallon, some dont have the best personalities either, they can be very aggressive, but ive had some that were passive, it all depends on "who" you get.
you can have a nice small peaceful community in a 20 gallon, just stay away from any fish that grows over 2"
:)
 
True...in the wild. In a 20 gallon tank I seldom see any schooling behavior. There simply isn't enough water volume to swim in and no large predators around, usually, to trigger schooling behavior. I've kept several species of tetra over the years and have often kept a smaller number of a given species than the mythical 6 with no ill effects or undue stress. I think sometimes we tend to overplay the wild aspects against what we duplicate in the glass box. The two seldom coincide apart from the basic notions of good diet, clean homes and healthy inhabitants. Just my opinion.

Mark
 
Skip the rainbow shark unless you have a larger tank. In my larger tank, the rainbow shark does well and is relatively docile. Only chasing fish around now and then. Read my fish day from hell post on what happens when you put the shark with uncompatible fish in a smaller tank. 20 gallons is too little for this fish remember they grow to about 6 inches and get meaner as they grow.
 
not to change the subject but my red tailed black shark is insane. hes only 4" and he was kept with tough cichlids twice his size and he would beat the heck out of them all the time. my oscar could have swallowed him whole but he would swim away in fear instead
i dont have a small tank, he was kept in a 220 gallon with central american aggressive cichlids. i had to take him out since he was beating my green terror up so bad and i couldnt take it anymore. hes now in a 55 gallon all by himself, and hes not happy hes almost going into depression. im not sure what to do with him. i thought about giving him feeder goldfish to molest but i dunno thats just cruel lol
so sometimes a larger tank doesnt really help. whats large to us isnt so large to a fish and his territory
with overly aggressive fish the best space would be a 10 foot by 10 foot tank, but not very practical to us :o
 
wesleydnunder said:
True...in the wild. In a 20 gallon tank I seldom see any schooling behavior. There simply isn't enough water volume to swim in and no large predators around, usually, to trigger schooling behavior. I've kept several species of tetra over the years and have often kept a smaller number of a given species than the mythical 6 with no ill effects or undue stress. I think sometimes we tend to overplay the wild aspects against what we duplicate in the glass box. The two seldom coincide apart from the basic notions of good diet, clean homes and healthy inhabitants. Just my opinion.

Mark
Click to expand...
Other side of the coin:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69261&highlight=large+schooling

Just for a read.

Roan
 
Thanks Roan. I missed that thread back in feb. It's the volume of water I was mostly talking about. In the 20s in which I kept tetras there seemed to be much more dispersal of the group than in a larger water volume. Even in my 55, which houses 7 serpaes, they tend to wander around the tank alone more than they school. In my 125 I have a school of neons, 15 at the last count, and a school of 10 rasbora hets. There the schooling behavior is much more prevalant. I'm not talking about all schoolies, either. I've kept marble hatchets that stuck together with only three in the tank, a 20 gal. I've noticed that I get tighter schooling behavior if there is a fish in the tank large enough to be seen as a predator by the schoolies. In my discus tank the neons and rasboras school in much tighter formations when Dowich is prowling around. Again, JMO.

Mark
 
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