Possible to keep several rainbow sharks?

[colen]

Is it possible to keep several rainbow sharks, or RTBS in the same tank. From what I have read, it's not.

I was wondeirng though if you had enough of them, 10+, would they spread out the aggresion enough for them to live a somewhat peaceful life? (similar to how cichlids spread out the aggresion)

I love everything about these fish but I have never attempted to keep more then one of them at a time. I would like to keep a tank of these if possible. What got me thinking was this local lfs that I frequent, stocks about 20 rainbow sharks in a single tank, and they all appear to be very healthy, none of them are beat up or injured etc.

So what do you think? I have a 55 gallon tank, and about 25% of it is filled with slate rocks, dozens and dozens of caves / hiding spots everywhere. Would it work?

 

[andywg]

In a 55 you might just be able to keep 4 or 5, but it would depend on the footprint of the tank, I would say it is a bit small though. I personally wouldn't think of doing multiple RTBS/Rainbow sharks in anything less than a 72x18x18 tank.

It is possible however to keep multiples together in groups (5+) so that aggression is spread.

 

[inflexion]

*inflexion remembers this info for when he moves out and get a massive tank of his own

 

[Lateral Line]

I believe that keeping so many naturally aggressive, naturally solitary fish together is morally wrong. Fish forced into these totally un-natural setups do not show their natural behaviour, rather they show a stressed atypical behaviour. I suspect their quality of life is poor and their life span seriously reduced.

You only need to look at the colouration of many species in crowded lfs tanks to see the stress levels.

 

[colen]

Thanks for the info everyone, it is greatly appreciated.

I'll just stick to a single because your answers were all exactly what I thought they would be, it might beable to be done, but not a wise idea... still had to ask

Thanks again,
Colen.

 

[@ombomb]

I don't even think it would be possible in a tank of that size. My RTBS coveres every inch or every level of my 50G on a daily basis and uses one of a number of caves, when it feels like it, whoever may be in there at the time. Maybe if they were young, but as soon as one of the fish reached maturity, all hell would break loose.