Red Tail Black Shark

[Jamie24]

When doing some research about this fish all I ever read on internet sites was it needs x amount of room in the tank, it'll get massive, it's aggressive, territorial, don't put it with this fish that fish and everything that sounded bad about a fish was said about this shark.

Upon looking through the fish/tank pics on this forum it seems people are keeping the shark quite regularly with tetras and other community fish in a tank much smaller than the one I have so can anybody tell me the truth and set the record straight about this fish ??? If indeed it's not suitable is there any shark that is suitable for a community tank with let's say oto's, Cherry Barbs, jumbo tetra's, dwarf plec's ect ect.

 

[Tizer]

tank size?

 

[Jamie24]

Mine.. Aqua One 620T, 62x39x72, 130lts.

 

[Tizer]

I cant think of any suitable

With the RTBS reaching 6 inches when adult, a tank thats only 4 times its body lenght really isnt suitable. Sharks are all fast fish and need their space, battering themselves on the glass every second as they swim back and forth in a small tank isnt ideal

If you can point out / link some of the aquariums you have found with these guys in, im sure someone would have made comment to the owner regarding its habitat.

The thing is, you can probably get away with a small tank for a year while they are juvies, but it soon becomes impossible to tell if they are starting to suffer from deformaties and as soon as they mature, they get all territorial and agressive.

 

[Mybbygotsauz]

Yeah me neither, not for your dimensions

 

[Jamie24]

I cant think of any suitable

No problem at all, just people on this forum seem to be keeping them in 60-90 litre community tanks which is against everything I've read so was just wondering what the real score was with this fish.

 

[Tizer]

The real score is, these people are obviously more interested in themselves than they are the fish but thats not exactly uncommon in the fish keeping world.

 

[creeker]

I cant think of any suitable

No problem at all, just people on this forum seem to be keeping them in 60-90 litre community tanks which is against everything I've read so was just wondering what the real score was with this fish.

Most of those people are posting because of problems they're having with the shark's aggression. In my early days in this hobby, I tried keeping RTBS in 20 gallon rectangular tanks and it generally started out good and ended really bad. Your tank has too much vertical space. You need much more horizontal space for the shark's territory. You have to look at your tank as if it's a 15 gallon, because that is how much surface area/floor space there is.

 

[raptorrex]

I cant think of any suitable

No problem at all, just people on this forum seem to be keeping them in 60-90 litre community tanks which is against everything I've read so was just wondering what the real score was with this fish.

The real score is, these people are obviously more interested in themselves than they are the fish but thats not exactly uncommon in the fish keeping world.

+1 for Tizer here!

the problem, i think, is down to people not asking, until, after, they have bought the fish.

I found i was unsuccessful keeping one in a 50ukg tank. though it took 4 years for the realisation to dawn.

misinformation, is a problem too.

It'll get massive

lol, 6 inches?

 

[Tizer]

Actually there is one in temporary holding in my local M'head store, i swear its closer to 8 inches. It looks grumpy too

 

[raptorrex]

Actually there is one in temporary holding in my local M'head store, i swear its closer to 8 inches. It looks grumpy too

that is exceedingly uncommon.

 

[Tizer]

Actually there is one in temporary holding in my local M'head store, i swear its closer to 8 inches. It looks grumpy too

that is exceedingly uncommon.

yeah, he looks very old too and well fed! Might go there today and try for a pic

 

[BigbruiserAl]

the problem, i think, is down to people not asking, until, after, they have bought the fish.

Or people asking and ignoring the advise

 

[Vin Swords]

I have a 7 inch rtbs. Lives peacefully with fully grown discus , angels and syno cats. But it indeed killed off group of SAEs..
( I could not catch the sae in heavily planted tank. Rtbs killed them front of my very eyes. )

 

[Geoff-]

I have a juvenile in an AR620 (same footprint just not as tall, 25G), and at the moment it is fine. He is small enough in proportion to the tank and gets great exercise chasing my serpae tetras around. He leaves the other fish well enough alone - I have 2 juvenile SAEs as well and he ignores them completely. This may be because they're all juveniles but for now it is working well and the shark is popular with visitors!

I have plans to upgrade my tank size in the future, to cater for the requirements as adults.