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May 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Shark questions....its stressing me out
Dear all..
New here and am looking to add a shark to my community tank i am building...
However, i have been reading and reading and reading again about sharks... i'm still confused.
Basically i'm after either a red tail or rainbow/ruby shark... i know they are similar but every site i have been on says something different..
ie, some say the red tail gets bigger, some say the ruby does, some people say its ok to have them in community tanks others say not....
so which if either grows smaller? I saw a rainbow/ruby in my LFS and he was about 8inches but all the others he was with were about 2 inch....
My tank will be big enough as its 60 gall and i have done all the cycling etc etc | 
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May 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Welcome to Fishlore! I'm not an expert on freshwater sharks but I believe that the Rainbow Shark grows the larger of the two. As for keeping them with other fish, that really depends on what other fish you're keeping, and how large your tank is? | |
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May 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Hi Nick
I have a a 60 gall tank and so far have 3 fancy guppies and tetras 3 cardinals and 4 neons... not sure if a shark will be compatible with them.. again some say yes others say no | |
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May 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I personally would say, yes, it should be ok. 60 gals is a pretty big tank, which means the shark should be able to establish territory that the other fish will learn not to go into. Also Sharks tend to stay around the bottom of the tank, whereas your other fish will tend to stay in the middle to top areas. In saying this however, all fish are different and you can never be sure of what any particular fish will do. If you do decide to get a Shark I would get it last of all, as this way it will be entering other fishes territory and not the other way round, and will likely be less aggressive. | |
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May 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Yeah thats what i was thinking, getting the shark last as it wont have established anything.... i'm leaning toward the red tail, mainly for size and also prefer the coloring...just need to get some sort of confirmation about size...i dont want it to eat the neons or anything lol... | |
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May 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I think they top out round about 6 inches in size, as for eating Neons, I'm really not sure about that. There are many knowledgable people on this Forum and someone who knows more about Sharks will see the post and be able to give you a more definate answer  | |
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May 15th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Good morning. Good advice above about adding the Red Tail or Red Finned shark last. I too think it will be fine in your 60g tank. With the research you've done you've probably read that you should only have one per tank. Too, make sure there are no escape routes for the shark to get out of, including heater holes etc. They are great jumpers. Good luck and keep us posted | |
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May 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Cheers mate, i am pretty much sold on the red tailed...there are some really nice juveniles in my LFS at about 1.5" and they look cute....
am i right in thinking that the females are the ones with the white tip on the fin and also a greyish underbelly?
any difference in size for male/female? | |
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May 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Sticky, I love my RTS. I've read the same thing about the grey belly and white tips being a female; if that's true, then I have a female. She's in my community tank and doesnt bother anyone except the CAE, which may be leaving soon anyway. She only chases him from time to time, nothing serious. She swims all over the tank and is lots of fun to watch. I dont think one would bother your others. Their mouths are pretty small so I dont think it would eat your neons. Add one, you'll love it! | |
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May 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| i have 3 rainbow sharks and none of them try and bother my other fish so im sure a rainbow shark would do fine and rainbw sharks are the bigger ones of the 3 | |
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May 15th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| my rainbows and rts are the same size, temperament, and attitude LOL
I dont see a difference other than color, in any of them..they are both territorial and like their own area...mine are about 5 inches each...in a 60 gal, you could have one or the other as long as you dont have a ton of bottom feeders....although mine go all over the tank, even to eat, they do conquer the bottom most..they like cave like decorations..or something they can go inside of.... | |
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May 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Thanks all, im going for the rts, just want to add a couple more types of community fish first, but will keep the shark as the sole bottom feeder, how long does it take the rts to grow full size? And do they grow to the size of the tank? | |
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May 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| My RTS is about a year old, he's three inches, and lives at the bottom, he's unfortunately a little too big now. (I was told that he wouldn't grow when I bought him. And that a Cory Cat would get to a foot long.)
Good luck, they're awsome fishies! | 
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May 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ABCDemily  My RTS is about a year old, he's three inches, and lives at the bottom, he's unfortunately a little too big now. (I was told that he wouldn't grow when I bought him. And that a Cory Cat would get to a foot long.)
Good luck, they're awsome fishies! | Doesnt a cory cat grow to only 2" ? hmmm i'm still debating a shark.. i dont want it to grow too quick as they are kinda cute when they are small..
plus my other half is chewing my ear off..something along the lines of
"if he eats all my fancy guppies i will feed it to the cat" ...lol | |
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September 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| i have a rainbow shark in my 55G community and he fits in nicely | |
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September 25th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Swifterz i have a rainbow shark in my 55G community and he fits in nicely | Hi Swifterz, please be sure to check the dates before replying. This thread is pretty old. I'm sure the OP has their stock worked out by now.
Thanks! | |
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