sammy boy

HI, I have a 10 gal tank with 1 rainbow shark and 2 aurlius barbs, they get along great but im worried about the shark. he finds a place to sit and just sits and doesnt move for a LONG time. Is this bad? i dont know what he does at night but i do know my tank doesnt have algae in it so idk what he eats. i was going to buy algae disks, will he eat them. and also i am upgrading my tank to a 29 gal next week sometime so there not so cramped.

TFA101

rainbows are active fish, and should be kept in nothing less than a 29 G (which you are getting. soon i hope). Yours is showing signs of being kept in small housing, as normally, they would be patrolling the tank back and forth, like a shark. They should be given supplementary algae flakes or wafers, as they are omnivores.

mathas

Your shark could be stressed, either because there isn't enough room or objects in the tank for it to establish a territory, or because the water parameters are incorrect.

Your aquarium info says you don't know about the nitrogen cycle... if that is true, you need to read and understand this page.

What are your readings for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates? If you don't know that, you need to get a test kit ASAP, such as API's Freshwater Master Kit.

sammy boy

well also i had a cray fish in my tank and he did attack him but unsucsesfully. the cray managed to get a lil tail fin but only a pice. do you think this is his problem?

mathas

Sorry, but your use of pronouns is a bit confusing... "he did attack him" means the crayfish went after the rainbow shark? Depending on how often this is happening (just because you've only seen it once, doesn't mean that's the only time), it could be a reason for the shark to be acting stressed.

Or the shark could be stressed because it doesn't have sufficient space to swim, or lacks caves/objects to establish a territory, or it could be water chemistry issues.

I'll ask again: what are your readings for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates?

sammy boy

i had just put him in there and he did it but ive taken the cray fish out. yeah he came out of a cave i have and jumped at him. so i took him out. i have a cave and i hollow log type thing but the rainbow doesnt like them. i dont know the levels tommorow im going to go get a test and i mean it looks like alot of space to swim but maybe thats just me.

Lucy

Hi sammy boy, welcome to Fish Lore

It looks like you've gotten good information from mathas and TFA101.

Here's a profile on the rainbow shark:
http://www.fishlore.com/profiles_rainbow_shark.htm

Even though it looks like a lot of room to us, fish have certain needs and if we want to keep them healthy we have to try and give them what's best for their species. In your sharks case, the profile says they do best in a 55g.

The other thing to remember, is it's not just the size of the fish to consider, it's also the bio load they add to the tank.

Good luck.

Jo3olous

your arulius barbs will grow to be near 5''. I'm not sure what your definition of get along great means but a 10 gallon tank is way too small for the swimming area they need, not necessarily their current size. and the fact that you only have a pair might lead to the stronger one eventually killing the weaker one. Also may bother the rainbow shark.
About the rainbow shark, they also love to patrol the tank floor, and if your tanks too small how will they patrol! lack of floor room and territory may lead to stress/aggression towards your barbs, who might not back down either.

Now I'm in no good shape myself, my tank is pretty stocked and my loach will outgrow it in a couple months along with the albino, but I already have the knowledge for the tank I will have to prep in order to keep them happy, just want to make sure you get it too. Getting an earful from more experienced keepers on forums is how i got it!

For what you have right now, you can do right with a 20G long or a 29G at the minimum. I say 20 gallon long because they are 3 feet long and about 14 inches high, the length gives your rainbow shark room to patrol the bottom, and the barbs are mid-dwellers that eat from all parts of the tank yes? Hope this helps and good luck with your fish

sammy boy

my shark became more active the next day i talked to you but now he goes under a reef shelf thing i have and flips upside down to eat then swims backward, upside down, then flips back and swims somemore. is that normal?

TFA101

he's probably just grazing on algae. Perfectly normal

sammy boy

thank you