Red1313

Yes yes, everyone is going to say that my red needs a bigger tank. To clear that up off the start I've got a ten gal that is getting ready for him as we speak. However I've got a few questions for everyone who I hope are willing to offer me some advice.
For the last week-ish (maybe two I don't remeber when I first noticed this) Red has been very anti-social. When I fisrt go him he'd come and and swim around and was quite happy to check everything out. I've started to notice now however that he's refusing to come out of his cave if the lights in his tank are on and even when they aren't I don't see him leaving his cave very often. Any idea's about why he would be doing this and what I can do in his new tank to try to prevent him from doing this there?

TFA101

Red Tail's Are very territorial fish and will become even more-so as they age. He is simply defending his territory from any intruders. Red tails will be very active and interesting fish given the right accomodations (20-29 gallons at the very least), but they are restricted to movement in anything under 20 gallons. This fish is quite capable of reaching 5" at the least and 7.5" at the most for some specimens. I might want to find him a bigger home if I were you. Sorry to be so negative about it, but these guys can get big, and it's just not the best thing for him to be housed in a small aquarium.

Redtail_Shark14

redtail sharks are my fave but they are very aggressive towards other types of sharks and there own kind and do need at least a 20G or more o and threr "cave creatures" they like to stay in cave like places. my redtail killed my rainbow shark i think...i never saw him again.

zambize

1313 -

Your tank is only 19 days old and that's not a very mature tank. Even if you've taken very good care to cycle it perfectly, it is extremely difficult to maintain quality levels in a 2.5 gallon tank. I suspect poor water quality or water quality that fluctuates too much.

I would consider a tank much larger than 10 or 20 gallons, really. Your shark can easily reach 6", very quickly, and if you imagine something 6" swimming around in a tank, he'd need at least 5 times his length to be comfortable. My 37 gallon is 30 inches wide, which would be 5 times his length. Experts suggest nothing smaller than 55 gallons, and I agree. My little fella (1.25") will be getting a 55 gallon in a few months.

SHARK14
I'm sure your RTBS ate your Rainbow shark. They are notorious, brutal enemies. Why did you put them together?

Zambize

Red1313

Thanks everyone and I know that my red needs a larger tank however being a university student I only have room for a 10 at the moment. I promise he'll get a larger one as soon as I've got room (or cash) to get one. However thanks for the advice everyone and for the record he'll have his new home entirely to himself and as of last night he's only 2 inches-ish so for now he'll have plenty of room.