Rainbow shark compatibilty

mattskims

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Jan 29, 2005
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I have a 30G (36"x12"x16" deep) tank with a 1 rainbow shark and 2 pakistan loaches. they all get along fine. I was wondering if adding a flying fox would cause problems. I know they dont get along with each other well, but what about other species?

Thanks
 
Im answering this Q off my primitive knowledge of redtalied sharks, almost the same but only the tail fin is red. They both have identical personalities. Everything i read about them tell me, highly aggressive. my book tells me keep them in a tank with lots of space and fish with similar size, these sharks are known to chase other fish away from food and starving them to death. I have never dealt with flying fox's but from the pics I see, they seem mighty small. My educated guess would be this is a risky situation. They might be small enough and as long as your tank is big enough to hide and live pretty peacefully in a rocky,planted setup. but if the tank isnt that big and there arent alot of nooks and crannies, i see a big problem. I had 3 or 4 redtailed sharks in my day and they were always aggressive nibbling and pecking at my other fish.


EDIT: I forgot about your dimensions, 1 flying fox in a 30 gallon, sounds ok, as long you have the rocks and plants to break up the tank up and seperate them if hes gets bullish. provide hiding places.
 
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I just purchased a rainbow shark and I was worried it was going to chase the other fish away but it is the other way around I think that one I got is a little wiener it runs away from the pleco and the Krib... shes great though found her own little spot under a plant and is doing fine I was thinking of getting a red-tail shark but not any time soon.
 
BobDole, you cannot put two sharks in the same tank even if they are a different species. They will still fight constantly. A flying Fox would not pose a threat to your Rainbow Matt but they can be a little aggressive just the same. Keep in mind that your 30g is going to be barely adequate for an adult Rainbow, they can push 10".
 
I have 1 rainbow shark in my mixed community tank, the tank is 50g and there's fish as small as neon tetras in there. From my observations the shark tends to chase fish away from its teratory (i.e. a piece of wood or plant or similar). Once the intruding fish has moved out of range the shark then goes back on the defensive. I've never seen m,y shark activly chase a fish continuosly they tend to give up the chase after a couple of inches. I do know though that mixing shark species is a big no no and sharks are far more aggressive towards other sharks than they are towards say a tera or a swordtail or something.

The thing is though each shark tends to have its own personality, whats right for one shark may not be right for another, it can be a case of cross your fingers and hope if your fealling bravce enough.

Just for the record though aparently rainbow sharks become more aggressive as they get older, so a youngster may be more tolerant at the beginning than in may end up being in later life. Certianly the more space you can give your shark the happier it will be and possibly just that bit less aggressive (maybe).
 
DO NOT mix the Rainbow Shark with a Flying Fox. They are both related and will fight eachother non stop. If you can't keep two Rainbow Sharks together, then a related species will not do well (at least in the case of sharks).
 
While it is true that they are distantly related (different genus) they are not incompatible in the way that Rainbows and Red Tails are (same genus). Most of the aggression between Rainbows and Red Tails stems from the fact that they look so similar, which is not the case with the Flying Fox.
 
I have a false siamensis, a tri-color and 2 rainbow sharks in my tank. There is no aggression at all between them. The rainbow sharks are quite seclusive, usually swimming through my driftwood. When they are out and about there are no problems whatsoever.
 
Karnaaj said:
BobDole, you cannot put two sharks in the same tank even if they are a different species. They will still fight constantly. A flying Fox would not pose a threat to your Rainbow Matt but they can be a little aggressive just the same. Keep in mind that your 30g is going to be barely adequate for an adult Rainbow, they can push 10".

True the two sharks would fight, however 30 gallons is fine as a Rainbow shark only gets to be about 5" or 12 cm.
 
MikefromNH said:
I have a false siamensis, a tri-color and 2 rainbow sharks in my tank. There is no aggression at all between them. The rainbow sharks are quite seclusive, usually swimming through my driftwood. When they are out and about there are no problems whatsoever.

Im pretty shocked that your 2 sharks arent fighting at all, thats very unlickly...
 
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