ABiondi

I am new to the fish keeping, and I've tried to read up as much as i could. I already found out i need a bigger or second tank so that is on the way. I also found out the hard way that multiple rainbow shark is a bad thing.My tank includes: 2 rainbow (one albino), one red tail (very young), 3 Mollie (pregnant dalmatian, 2 marble), 1 Bala Shark (didn't know their adult size, he's leaving soon), 1 young pleco, and a crazy fiddler crab. i won't embarrass myself by indulging how big the tank is.. lets leave it at too small. The reg. rainbow (male), has established dominance and half the tank. He really doesn't hurt the other sharks as much as he chases them away from where he doesn't want them. The albino is the odd one.. She is newer to the tank because i hoped 3 would be better than 2, at first she was swimming around fine but after the rainbow showed who's boss she hides in the corner. The weird part is she does it vertically, tail up, nose down. I thought she was sick, but when the rainbow is not around she comes out a grabs some food and maybe a lap around the tank. If the rainbow comes out she seems to turn her belly toward him to "hide" , he typically leaves her alone. She is a little bigger than him so i'm not TOO worried while i wait for the other tank, but the upside down behavior is odd, is it not? She also swims backwards a lot, but physically looks fine and acts normal when he's not around.. is this normal submissive behavior? or could it be this bladder infection thing? Any feed back would be appreciated..

Thanks,
AB

PS - the male rainbow leaves the Mollies alone, even the tiny one, but he has murdered a young pleco. He is a fun fish and i hope the bigger tank will allow me to keep the albino with him, but the small red tail is taking a bit of a beating and will have to stay in the small tank.

lolagurl

well first thing, i think it would help if you said the size of your tank. dont worry no one is going to jump down your throat. Your new to this, and we have all experienced in the beginning too much fish for tank. if you say the size it may help us to understand why he is acting this way. due to lack of room, or if it is scarred, etc. i know it would help if you said the size of the tank. Though i am unfortunetly no expert on red tails or any shark species, I am very glad though your researching and getting more room. Many people dont, and let what happens happen.

ABiondi

It is a 20 gal, but with less fish now. One Mollie is gone and another dead pleco. Though this surely wasn't a good sign, it did open up a little space. I moved some rock around and now the Albino has claimed her own little corner and is a bit more active. The small red tail is ok as long as he stays higher in the water when the other sharks are around. The rainbow is still king of the tank (besides the fiddler who don't take nothing from no one) . . but he has lightened up a bit. I've also begun 10% water changes every few days to try and slow the cycle. The albino occasionally still goes vertical but not constantly as before so i'm hopeful. Although i have another quick coming problem... One mollie is about to pop and i don't have the second tank. Will babies survival in a "bowl" is a small lizard tank with no filter, heater, nothing.. would cycling the water with tank water frequently be enough?

Thanks Again for any Posts,
AB