booboo7336

Thinking about putting some irredescent sharks (pardon my spelling) to a bow 29 gallon, had some as kids. WHat fish can go in with them?

joe

i dont think your tank is big enough for irredescent sharks. they can get up to like 25-30in. If you get a bigger tank then they go with big community fish. hope that helps but i'm not 100% sure on how big they get.

Butterfly

Here is a link to some good information on Irridescent Sharks
http://www.aquariacentral.com/articles/isharks.shtml
I'm with Joe I don't think your tank is large enough. The responsible fishkeeper takes into consideration the adult size of their fish when they buy and house(tank?) them.
Carol

Puppypower

Don't fish only grow to the size that the tank allows them ?

Are Iridescent Sharks also called blue sharks ?

Gozer_1

I have 3 iridescent sharks. They are beautiful fish. I love them. So much in fact that I'm planning for a 400+ gallon aquarium. That is what you should plan for to keep successful, healthy Ir Sharks. Yes they will stay smaller in smaller tanks, but will likely live short lives, and have problamatic health issues. Their size, while stunted, will still be to big for their environment. If you plan on having the space, I'd suggest them to any moderately experienced keeper. If space is not available I'd suggest the equally fun, but much better sized, Bala Sharks.

BettaBuddy ~ Miley

iridescent sharks need a 300 gallon minimum because they grow to around four feet. Miley

Stradius011

That's true but it'll stunt their growth and they can grow deformed or can die if their aquarium is too small.

BettaBuddy ~ Miley

Go here and read about them - http://www.fishlore.com/profile-iridescentshark.htm - this should help and your sharks will be around 4 feet when full grown. your tank is way too small. Miley

Stradius011

You could get Red-tailed or Rainbow Sharks instead? Semi-aggressive fishes get along with those sharks except for other sharks

BettaBuddy ~ Miley

I agree. Miley

Gina423

I have two irredescent sharks and I love them, however, they have eaten fish that were smaller than them even though the guy from the fish store SWORE they wouldn't...well they did. If you have tiny fish like neons, I would NOT suggest irredescent sharks at all.

fishyfishyfishy

4 feet? Are you serious? I have two iridescent sharks, and they're maybe 7 inches long. We got them when they were little, mabe 2 inches long, and that was over a year ago.

Gina423

They generally only get that big in ponds, not home aquariums. However, they will get much bigger than 7 inches. I bought two sharks that I thought were so tiny and cute (around 4 inches) and within 6 months they were about a foot. They also hog all the food from the other fish, and will eat smaller fish (like neons). I had to give mine away. I do not recommend them.

Gozer_1

I have had mine for 3 yrs and they are about 7 and 9 in long. They grew fast for awhile but have slowed. They have 150 gals of space which is quickly becoming to small to share with my Oscar and Tin foil Barbs. Oops, I didn't do my homework. My strong advice is NO Irr Sharks unless you plan for enormous fish. They may not actually get enormous, but you should plan on it just in case. I have read many peoples post on many forums about these fish and it seems that some grow huge and some just don't. Plan for the worst so when the best happens it feels even better.

Fish Kid

Last year in April i got 2 of those. The tank they were in was about 1 gallon it held about 5 of them and the tank was labbeles "Medium Bala Sharks" so i got 2. A bit over a year is over and they are very healthy in the only tank I have which is a 10gallon. Just yesterday I got 1 barb green tiger 1 barb rosy longfin 1 rainbow shark and 1 babr odessa so I went on the web looking for more info. on them cause the rainbow shark was attacking the green tiger and the rosy longfin was attacking the odessa. So today I read all this info. on these beutiful creatures and I know im screwed. The Sharks swim good eat normaly and havnt done any thing unusual. In September for my birthday im aloud to get a 30 gallon tank with a stand and my parents said I cant get any thing bigger. What should I do I want the fish and I want them to be healthy(Which they are at the moment)

susitna-flower

Even if they WERE Bala sharks 10 gal is way to small.....  I would suggest you sit down with your parents, AFTER you do your homework on the fish you already have.....Find out the expected size of all of them.  Point out to your parents that now that you are doing research on what the fish need, and that a minimum of 1"per gallon of EXPECTED adult size is the minimum ....That you don't want to be inhumane to the fish, and request that they reconsider the size of aquarium.    If you could compromise and pick just the ones you for sure want to keep you could get by with a 55-75 gal tank.

One other thing to show them is that the larger tanks are easier to care for.  The chemistry of the tank is easier to keep stable, which will cause less stress on the fish.

As for what you should do about your fish.  The fin nipping is part of the problem with having a small overcrowded tank, and trying to cram many different fish together, when the ones you have chosen are schooling fish.  If you don't take some of the fish back, they will develop fin rot, and you could loose them.    I would get rid of your sharks, and try to concentrate on only one barb species, have several of them 4-6 is a suggested number,  but this may be to many for your tank depending on what kind you settle on, this should cut down on the squabbles, and then a clean up crew like 1 cory cats would be good.  A 10 gallon tank can only accommodate 10"s of fish.  Some barbs get 2"-4".  The bala shark is actually in the same species as the barb, and can get as large as 12-14".  They need a really large tank.

I know you don't want to hear this but until you get a larger tank, you need to use restraint not to  buy any more fish, and if you do, only after you get rid of several you already have.  Try to decide what you are going to do fairly soon, because the fish store MAY take some back you just purchased, but not if they get their fins  damaged.

Best of Luck!

Fish in the Frozen North

                                       

Fish Kid

thx but wut about the 2 sharks i got a year ago i went back to the shop i got those from and they dont even have them for sale any more

Gozer_1

I think you have your hands full with those 2 sharks. You should take back everything you can. Some LFS's will buy or take back some fish. Since my last post, my irr sharks have grown 2 inches. They are almost 4 years old now. I think they are going to be 12 inches or so max. It may be that they just slowly grow through out they're lives though. In such a case these fish could still get huge. It may just take awhile.

susitna-flower

All the sites that talk about iridescent shark state they grow as large as 4 FEET !! that is not 12" max! Fish stores should not sell such fish to people who are not equipped to keep them. If you are not prepared to get a bigger tank, call different stores and tell them what you have, and that you want to find them a home. Even if they don't have any in stock, doesn't mean they wouldn't take them. You never know till you try!

Fish in the Frozen North

Gozer_1

The 4 foot thing is only ever really gonna happen in the wild. I have seen 4 foot Ir sharks yes, but it is VERY unlikely that a home aquarist will ever get them even close to this. The 4 footers I saw were at a city aquarium. They had over 1500Gals. I have read a lot of different things about these guys and the average owners say theirs only ever got to be around 12-25 inches. THESE ARE STILL FREAKIN HUGE FISH, but no where near 4 feet. What you do have to consider and plan for, however, is the possibility of larger size. As I said earlier, "plan for the worst". Plan to have a 400+ Gal. tank. It doesn't mean you will need it, but you might, so plan ahead. There are those owners who say theirs were tank busters. So, when it comes down to it, their final size is gonna be different for each fish. Of my 2, one has grown 1 inch in 7 months and is 10 inches now, but the other has actually grown very little. I did some measuring last night and the small one has grown maybe a half inch. He's about 7.5 inches now. So I was a little off on my earlier estimate of 2 inches each. I stated in an earlier post that they were running out of room in the 150, but it is not because of the Ir sharks, it's the Tin Foils. Right now each fish in the 150 has about 30 Gals. each of space. At the end of the year I hope to have a second 150 just for the Irs. I think in my case I'll have enough room for them. I'm not saying this is the case for all Ir sharks. You never know till they start to grow. Like I said these Irs are almost 4 years old and have always had a fair amount of room and I'm very good to my fish.

I would very much agree that these fish should not ever be sold. They should be a special order fish for experts only. I started my fish hobby 4 years ago...with Ir Sharks. I learned an important first lesson. Don't buy them. I vowed to do whatever it takes to care for these guys and it is gonna cost me. A LOT!!!! So, yes you should try to find a new home for them. You should also tell the store you bought them from, what these fish can be. I saw some at my LFS once and I talked with the owner and she just hadn't realized. The people she got them from suggested them to her because they sell well. That is terrible. They sell well because they're cute, but can be kind of touchy when they are young so people just keep buying them, killing them, then buying more. Or they are "getting rid" of them because they are too big and then buying more small ones. They are really cute fish.

Anyway, enough rambling on for now. I just wanted to clarify what I was getting at with the "12in max" comment. I actually meant 18 anyway. The only way I can see much more than 20in is if they just steadily grow over the years. Like I said though, they have slowed considerely after about 3 years. I just don't see them getting much bigger that 18".

susitna-flower

I was really addressing my post to Fish Kid and Booboo7336, both of which are thinking of iridescent sharks for tanks around 30 gal, much to small for these fish.

It is nice to see a person who bought IR 's and has dedicated the time and $ to take care of them right!

Fish in the Frozen North

Gozer_1

Yeah I just thought I'd share my experience with these guys. I thought it kind of demonstrated a broader spectrum of why these fish should probably be left in the wild. The range of growth is too unpredictable. Heck what if mine hit another growth spurt lol. I'll be building a Heated pool in my back yard.

On a final note I still have to say that mine are 2 of my favorites ever. They have a real "happy puppy" kind of way. They wiggle a lot you could say, and as is with a lot of larger fish they love to come say hi to people watching. They are known for recognizing their owner\feeder.