i have a 30gallon aquarium /w 9 tiger barbs and a red tailed shark. i've had the shark for about a week now and the entire time that i've had him he has chased the barbs around all day without stopping except to eat.the barbs are ok for now but they're are starting to show signs of stress.i am perfectly happy with taking the shark back to my lfs but my mom loves the fish dearly and doesn't want me to.is there anything i can do to stop him from being so aggressive?
Mean Red Tailed Shark
- Thread starter Smerf
- Start date
halfbloodprincess
Fish Herder
That's just what they do. I have a red tailed shark and he used to be really aggressive. But now he is an adult (six inches) and he isnt aggressive anymore. But he mainly stopped when my female betta died. He mainly bullyed her and her buddys the gouramis. But he also would bully my tetras too.
I would suggest either get him his own tank (40 gal or larger), or just wait and see what happens. I love my red tailed shark too, they are easy to get attached to!!!
I would suggest either get him his own tank (40 gal or larger), or just wait and see what happens. I love my red tailed shark too, they are easy to get attached to!!!
Tokis-Phoenix
^_^
RTBS vary a great deal in personality, they technically fall under the category of semi-agressive fish, however some RTBS grow to be relatively peaceful fish while others grow to be very agressive.
There are certain things you can do though to help cut down on its agressiveness/territorialness;
a. Does you tank have any caves/hiding spaces? RTBS spend a great deal on their time staking out a territory, defending it and generally snoozing in it. They love caves- a stack/pile of driftwood/bodwood/mopani wood stacked into a cave like structure with at least 2 entrances to it is ideal for RTBS, they will spend a lot of time in such caves.
In theory, the more of these caves you give the RTBS, the less inclined it will become to rigourously defend one particular area of the tank.
b. A 3ft long 30gallon tank is the minimum advised size tank for an RTBS, however, these really are one of these fish which will benefet more and more from a longer and wider tank (the height of the tank is not too important for them). From my personal experiences of keeping RTBS, when i first adopted my one years ago off a friend, my RTBS was very agressive towards every fish in the tank at the start. It originally came from a 2.5ft long tank, but when i moved it into one of my 5ft long tanks i noticed that it did become a lot less agressive.
c. Adding decor to break up the viewpoint from one end of the tank to the other can help a great deal as well so the shark cannot see all fish in the tank from one end to the other.
There are certain things you can do though to help cut down on its agressiveness/territorialness;
a. Does you tank have any caves/hiding spaces? RTBS spend a great deal on their time staking out a territory, defending it and generally snoozing in it. They love caves- a stack/pile of driftwood/bodwood/mopani wood stacked into a cave like structure with at least 2 entrances to it is ideal for RTBS, they will spend a lot of time in such caves.
In theory, the more of these caves you give the RTBS, the less inclined it will become to rigourously defend one particular area of the tank.
b. A 3ft long 30gallon tank is the minimum advised size tank for an RTBS, however, these really are one of these fish which will benefet more and more from a longer and wider tank (the height of the tank is not too important for them). From my personal experiences of keeping RTBS, when i first adopted my one years ago off a friend, my RTBS was very agressive towards every fish in the tank at the start. It originally came from a 2.5ft long tank, but when i moved it into one of my 5ft long tanks i noticed that it did become a lot less agressive.
c. Adding decor to break up the viewpoint from one end of the tank to the other can help a great deal as well so the shark cannot see all fish in the tank from one end to the other.
halfbloodprincess
Fish Herder
I have a fairly large castle in my tank, and my red tailed shark has made his home in it with my two yoyo loaches and pleco. He mainly sleeps in there all day long and comes out at night. He is a year old and has grown to be a peaceful fish, but it really depends on the certain fish you have.
I did add a few more caves and plants in the aquarium a few days ago and since then the shark has turned in to the sweetest little fish,doesn't chase the barbs hardly at all anymore 
its funny what adding a few more decorations can do.
its funny what adding a few more decorations can do.
Tokis-Phoenix
^_^
I did add a few more caves and plants in the aquarium a few days ago and since then the shark has turned in to the sweetest little fish,doesn't chase the barbs hardly at all anymore
Glad to hear its chilled out a lot more now with some more decor in the tank
.Id say for future reference, keep your shark with cichlids, really they make better cichlid tankmates than they do with anything else because just like cichlids their personalities vary, some are nasty as hell and need to be with other agresive fish.
halfbloodprincess
Fish Herder
I am very glad to hear your shark has turned out to be a sweetie!
Depends on if its a redtail shark or a rainbow shark. Even though most sources list them both at a max length of 5-6 inches, Ive never had a rainbow shark even get anywhere close to that, its pretty accurate for the redtail though.
blue_betta
Fish Herder
i have 4 RTBS in my tank. i didn't know what would happen exactly because RTBS usualy dont get along with eachother. at first the larger one dominated the other 3, and those 3 grayed out untill their tails were almost colorless, but after a while it seems like they are getting along.
i often see my RTBS actualy schooling and swiming around with eachother and chillin next to eachohter in some driftwood caves i made.
i think u should just give him some time to get used to ur fish. but at the same time all fish are different in personality, so maybe i was just lucky.
also try to plant more plants and make more caves and hiding places for the tiger barbs.
when i kept the dominant RTBS with 5 tigers the tigers were also chased and harasssed during food time. but they were alright because they had plenty of dense plants to hide in.
i often see my RTBS actualy schooling and swiming around with eachother and chillin next to eachohter in some driftwood caves i made.
i think u should just give him some time to get used to ur fish. but at the same time all fish are different in personality, so maybe i was just lucky.
also try to plant more plants and make more caves and hiding places for the tiger barbs.
when i kept the dominant RTBS with 5 tigers the tigers were also chased and harasssed during food time. but they were alright because they had plenty of dense plants to hide in.
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