Red tailed black shark

[vmong]

hi i have the RTBS and have noticed that its nto always jet black i know taht this may be due to the health but how can i adjust it??? i have never used any chemicals not even for water changes but i am going to now as people have mentioned a compound in the water that is always there and unlike chlorine it dont evaporate away. what things are that keeps the stress levels down and god for water qulity??? is there a water conditioner that will make the fish's colour more vibrant? my RTBS sometimes seems grey and at nights he goes grey and in day he is black? the taile looks peach sometimes but red at others? whats the problem

what i gotta do now? im going to buy some water conditioner later and put it in ad hopefully my fav fish will be back to normal!!!

 

[ryan]

They will vary from deep black in colour to a more greyish black. Its nothing to be worried about, it may be caused by stress, lighting etc.

 

[Pleco-Heaven]

Yeah don't worry!! Hey mine is special, I've heard they get tips on there dorsal fins, but mine has tips on every fin except for pectoral (side ones) and tail.

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

get him some good hiding spots, i have a rainbow shark and when its gets a little darker in the tank room its hard to see him, all i see its red fins moving around, oh i have pitch black stones

 

[vmong]

yeah thanks fo rthe advice, i ahev bought some water conditions that seem to have done the trick, i added it in and a few minutes after it loooked beautiful but as it goes to night it goes back to the horrible greyey colour, i keep thinking waht am i doing wrong???
i mean i love the fihs but it doesnt look stuinning as i wasnt it to be. ive even noticed that it swims in all reigions of the tank and it tries to go up the filter nozzel, i have a fluval 3 and it tries to go through the blue bit at the top, my other RTBS was perfect but i was stupid and thermally or chemically killed it i really liked that one it was jet black!!!

 

[digital_run]

I have my tank lights on a timer and when they go on from a long night of darknesss my RTB is a sickly pale grey....but he darkens up in a matter of minutes...Just make sure your water quality is ok and theres plenty of spots for him to hide and he should be ok .....

 

[blakwidoe]

mine turn grey too I think its a stress thing

 

[Earthgirl]

I have two red tailed sharks in a 72 gallon, and it seems that they still chase eachother. One of mine is always black with bright red, and the dostile one is not as black and hardly any red. How many do you have and do they pick on oneanother?

 

[Ruby Shark]

I have two red tailed sharks in a 72 gallon, and it seems that they still chase eachother. One of mine is always black with bright red, and the dostile one is not as black and hardly any red. How many do you have and do they pick on oneanother?

Hi Earthgirl,

It is recommended that RTB sharks should not be kept together as they do not tolerate the same species. Eventually the more dominant one(the brighter one in your tank) will stress the less dominant until it gets sick and/or dies.


People have successfully kept two of these beautiful sharks together but it's with a large tank, at least two adequate hiding places, and in my opinion luck.

 

[Earthgirl]

oh, I know that you should not keep two RTS together now, after I read what you all said about not having them together. The loser at the pet store never told me though and I never researched enough. My tank is desighned that there are two distinct areas for fish to hang out with plants everywhere...
I can't give one away because the only one I could is my mom who can't even keep angels or aquatic frogs in hers.

 

[Loach Man]

Quite a few fish colors just change at random like my opaline groumies colors are like constanty changing from darker to lighter and stuff.

 

[vmong]

well i have seemed to done the trick i hope, i bought the stress coat and i also got one of these carbon filters, as my tank had a log init and it had tannins the carbin filter hasnt changed the water much but the RTBS is looking stunning now, i feel good inside when i see HER swimming!!!

i found out a good way to tell the sexes apart
males: are generally darker on the "belly" and their white tip on the fin is more rounded
females: are generally lighter with a silver/grey belly and their dorsal fins are generally more pointy

 

[Loach Man]

Well good for you (man I need a avatar )