Your help is required. We have a couple of Red Tailed Sharks. One is getting bigger and the other appears to be shrinking. It wasn't large to begin with and their is no shortage of food. The other shark seems to leave it alone and we have no apparent disease in the tank. Any ideas?
Shrinking Red Tail Shark
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kitties1
Fish Fanatic
when you say "shrinking" do you mean deteriorating like the fins rotting or he is just getting smaller in size?
i had 2 rainbow shraks (like red tails except with red fins and tails) in the same tank. one appeared to be getting larger while the other stayed small. then i moved the smaller one to my 30 gallon cause i thought he was being bullied by the female, either not eating or stressed. once i moved h im he doubled in size, he is now full grown and the master of the community tank. since he has left though the female looks as though she has shrunk. she is with three gouramis. and it is not merely the lack of another shark to compare her with, she has actually gotten smaller. byut then again, i have also noticed that she is no longer the dominant tank mate, the male dwarf gourami has taken over and she yields to him. again, no agression, just dominance. maybe this is the issue?
do you see them chasing each other?
does the small one hide out a lot?
does the larger one "defend" a specific territory?
also, last question i promise, do you have any caves or shelters for them to hang out in. red tails and rainbows like to hang out in caves and rock shelters. usually they stake out a territory and defend it. if one has such a territory and the other doesn't this may stress the "homeless" fish and cause it not to grow properly. i ended up separating my sharks despite having two hideouts because the female had staked a claim on both and the poor male hung out behind the heater all day.
i had 2 rainbow shraks (like red tails except with red fins and tails) in the same tank. one appeared to be getting larger while the other stayed small. then i moved the smaller one to my 30 gallon cause i thought he was being bullied by the female, either not eating or stressed. once i moved h im he doubled in size, he is now full grown and the master of the community tank. since he has left though the female looks as though she has shrunk. she is with three gouramis. and it is not merely the lack of another shark to compare her with, she has actually gotten smaller. byut then again, i have also noticed that she is no longer the dominant tank mate, the male dwarf gourami has taken over and she yields to him. again, no agression, just dominance. maybe this is the issue?
do you see them chasing each other?
does the small one hide out a lot?
does the larger one "defend" a specific territory?
also, last question i promise, do you have any caves or shelters for them to hang out in. red tails and rainbows like to hang out in caves and rock shelters. usually they stake out a territory and defend it. if one has such a territory and the other doesn't this may stress the "homeless" fish and cause it not to grow properly. i ended up separating my sharks despite having two hideouts because the female had staked a claim on both and the poor male hung out behind the heater all day.
kitties1
Fish Fanatic
BTW that is supposed to be "2 rainbow sharks" not SHRAKS 
astroboy
Fishaholic
the dominant one will grow considerably larger than the other one.
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