Alessa

Since I have only 4 fish left in my 28 gallon (a platy and 3 guppies) after the horrible die off I had a month ago... I am already thinking of restocking possibilities...

I know I want hatchets and a gourami.

and i was thinking of a bottom dweller. I really dont want ottos anymore since I barely ever saw them when i had them... and I find the regular cories creepy (cant find panda cories anywhere).

I was thinking of a red tail shark, since I find them very pretty. But the info about them is so different. In the fl website and others it says the minimum tank size is 10 gallons, in others it says 55 gallons...

So... since the info is so different, can I have a red tail shark?

Steen16

You could defintly have one! I have seen them full grown in 25g tanks and they fit well.. I also have o ne in my 25g

Lucy

I like the looks of a red tail shark, pretty cool. I don't know anything about them, so no advice from me. lol

I never liked cories either, I found their shape creepy too lol, until my daughter bought 3 (spotted) cories.
They're adorable with great personality, if I had recognized that before, I might not have gotten my ottos...sshhhhh, I never said that, they might hear. lol

sirdarksol

Fishlore's info on these guys is likely bad. I found a precise copy of that info on a lot of older sites that teach "old school" fishkeeping, where water changes are bad and goldfish live in bowls.

These guys get pretty big (6in), and are members of the carp family, which are pretty big waste-producers. This is probably where the larger tank size suggestion is.
I don't doubt that there are people who keep them in smaller tanks and keep them alive (carp are hardy), but I would have to say that I'm with the suggestion of 50g or larger.

Allie

I had a red tail shark in with my Africans(2006) in an 80g he was the boss of the tank. So much so, he was chasing my female red zebra too the point where she couldn't even peak out of the rocks without him coming after her. I guess he didn't like bright orange too much, lol.
He was super aggressive and was about 4" when I sold him to a friend.

Alessa

Ok... ehem... so... I cant have one?

I must also mention that I will plant the tank heavily, in case the waste is the problem.

Im open for suggestions... no cories, otos, plecos... (yeah, i know hard).

Shawnie

I have one also and they are agressive ...although he can be fine in the 28 gal, id worry about him being territorial..

Alessa

Do they mostly stay at the bottom or they chase everyone everywhere?

The tank would go like this:

Top: 5 Hatchets
Middle: 3 guppies, 1 gourami
Bottom: the RTS (or whatever bottom dweller other than pleco, oto, cory)


As I said... any other suggestions for the bottom, welcome!

Shawnie

mine chases everyone...but once I got him a nice cave, he was fine...as long as no one came near it LOL

pictus catfish are some fun! but normally like to be in pairs or more...and get to 6 inches or so...those were the only bottom dwellers that could put up with my shark ...you could always get a couple of them and not bother with the rts

sirdarksol

I'm not saying you can't have one (others might be, but I'm not).
I'm saying that it might be difficult to keep one, and that it might outgrow the tank.
Basically, you'd just have to watch your water parameters closely.

Alessa

I'll just leave it as a last choice for the bottom of the tank...

any other bottom dwellers? the pictus sounds like fun, but my tank is too little (28g)and I couldnt possibly accomodate 2....

Lucy

How about Khuli Loaches? They're pretty cool.

sirdarksol

I love those little guys. They are, perhaps, my favorite addition to my community tank.

Alessa

do they need a school? how big are they?

Lucy

Here you go:

http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummaga...kuhliloach.htm

Alessa

Ok... Eh... they look "eely"

Lets say that is option 2

do SAE need a school?

Lucy

Alessa

Seriously, no offense but they remind me of the slime eel

Attached Images

Hagfish.jpg (33.9 KB, 9 views)

Lucy

lol, I agree, they are kinda of eely. Someone...I forget who, had a video up of theirs and they were so playful.

Alessa

I love playful fishes.... but I hate wormish, eelish things... it is weird because at work I deal with reptiles and snakes, and I love it! lol.. I guess it is not the shape but the face...

Fish Addict

What about shrimp? You could have a good group of RCS or Amanos... it seems like most of the common bottomfeeders are mainly either one of the species you said, or snake-y so it might be sort of hard to find something good...

Alessa

I want an RTS (insert crazy-crying-spoiled-brat-smilie here)

Like I said, what about the SAE? Shrimp I was already planning on having... crystal red shrimpy!

sirdarksol

Not sure about the SAE's. Sorry.

I think that was Butterfly.

Razimith

You could also try Rainbow sharks which are really similar to red tail sharks they get 6inches in size. I have a 4inch which is the boss and the other two are about 3inches they get along great so far it has been since July. I would not recommend this I got lucky so far the guy at the LFS said they like to be in groups. I have all kinds of fish from neon’s to angel fish with them and all three of my rainbows get along with all of them. I know my 60gal hex is a bit over stocked but I tried to move one of my rainbows to my other tank but it is next to impossible to do. LOL My angels which are the most tame fish I own pretty much dive into the net and peck my arm for food little buggers which makes it impossible to net anything!!! At any rate I have spent about 7hours in the past two weeks and have pretty much come to the conclusion I am just going to leave everybody in there they are happy. I will just do more water changes I guess!!!!!

Alessa

my problem is that my 28 gal might be too little

Red1313

Hmm back to the RTS.

The reason that the Rainbow and the RTS are alot alike is that they're alot alike, including personality. So if you were going to have trouble with an RTS and rainbow wouldn't likely change things.

One thing that you haven't mentioned is the dimensions of your tank. RTS's like a long tank. If your tank is 30" long of over then you might have a shot at keeping him happy. They're more concerned with distance rather then height. Start with a juvi small as you can that way by growing up with other fish in his "territory" he'll assume that for the most part that it's normal. I don't know anything about platy's or guppies but if they're slower swimmers I'd be a bit conserned about them if the RTS decides to be agressive. The guppies specifically. RTS's are fast and if he decides to be agressive then I don't know if they'd be fast enough to get away. However since you said that you had a heavily planted tank then that will allow him to establish his territory and break up lines of site. Make sure that you have a few caves for him to lurk in and he should be mostly content. If you plan on adding any other tank mates then I'd add them before you the get RTS. Also the RTS will eventually become lrgr then the other fish in the tank and you might need to look into rehoming the guppies at least.
All I can say is good luck.

Alessa

ok, i still haven't got a ruller (shame).. but giving it a wild guess, i'd say 30ins by 15? at the bottom.... gotta check...

Red1313

The 30" 'rule' is the most consitant that I've been able to find. If you have that at least he'll have plenty of room to do laps. :P He would love a 55 gal but the 30" length is probably the min. Size i'd go for a full grown red.

eman

I have to admit, my RTS terrorises my Serpaes. To the point that i'm thinking of finding him another home. Their fins are nipped to pieces.

Alessa

Ok, I just got a RTS because my bf basically made me do it. (I do not have 100% jurisdiction in what happens in the tank). I told him about the agressiveness and the fact that they grow big... no power to make him believe that, because at petsmart the tag says: "max 4 inches"

At the end I did not argue anymore and let him do it, because im getting a 55 all for myself in december... since she is a juvenile right now, i'll just take her into the 55 if neccessary.

By the way, its a she, and despite the whole issue and argument she is adorable!