Red Tailed Shark Help

[danlarsen]

Hey, i was thinking about gettin a red tailed shark, but i dont know much about them so i was wondering if some one could help me out? Like what they eat,heating,lighting, tank size, what fish they will live with?
Thanks

 

[mantella]

Hey, i was thinking about gettin a red tailed shark, but i dont know much about them so i was wondering if some one could help me out? Like what they eat,heating,lighting, tank size, what fish they will live with?
Thanks

I don't know a whole lot about them either as I've never kept them, but I have heard that they can be boisterous, like tiger barbs, and very aggressive to their own kind. I wouldn't suggest keeping more than one of them at in a tank and not with any soft-tempered fish. I'm not great at stocking suggestions, but they get 5-6 inches so a good sized tank is advisable (aquahobby advises 200l but I have no idea how accurate that is). I have a feeling one would do great as a centerpiece fish in a Asian biotope tank with plenty of semi-aggressive tankmates like barbs, danios, and gouramis. I have reservations about adding loaches as both sharks and loaches inhabit the lower half of the tank. A school of loaches might work out though.

 

[Gilli]

You have to be careful with these fish. They can be aggressive - some are and some seem to be ok in a community tank. They are all ok while they are small but when they grow some people have problems. so far I have been lucky with mine - the only time he seems mean is at feeding time so I make sure I feed both ends of the tank so the other fish dont get chased off! One sure thing is you can only keep one in a tank unless the tank is HUGE - they are very territorial fish - keep 2 and they will fight!When stressed the colour will drain out of the tail.

You need at least a 30-gallon tank with plenty of plants and caves, and with a lid as they have been known to jump. They will eat just about anything that you put into the tank, and like any other fish they need a varied diet of pellet or flake food and frozen live foods. They prefer a temperature of between 22-26C (72-79F).

 

[star4]

I love RTBS they go great with larger cichlids, not great in a comunity tank though dispite shops saying they are. Once they hit around 4" they turn very aggressive and will harass other fish to death.

 

[raptorrex]

I love RTBS they go great with larger cichlids, not great in a comunity tank though dispite shops saying they are. Once they hit around 4" they turn very aggressive and will harass other fish to death.

well said that member

 

[Electric Warrior]

They seem to get on great with clown loaches for some reason, but you need a very large tank to keep any of them!

 

[danlarsen]

Thanks alot

 

[big_sw2000]

They seem to get on great with clown loaches for some reason, but you need a very large tank to keep any of them!

Im almost certain my Red tailed shark thinks he is a clown loach.
And only aggresive to other fish at feeding time.

Steve

 

[cMECZKOWSKI]

My RTBS is a pain in the butt always chaseing my gold algae eater and black ghost knife fish. But he only chases never really attacks . And he's super active