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

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