jibendra

i was wondering if it would be allright to put 2 (if possible even more) red tail sharks on a 65 gallon ( 22"wide, 28"long, 24"tall) planted aquarium. I just love red tails, and i dont mind if I cannot add any other fish in the tank if 2 or more rts are fine for my aquarium.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore if I havnt already welcomed you !!!
IMO , 2 rts in a 2 foot long/wide tank isnt enough space as they wont have enough area to call their own...1 would work great tho!

gmen4life

from what i have read they like 36 inches of swimming room at a minimum and could only be one thwy are territorial

aquarist48

Welcome to Fish Lore jibendra. I sadly have to agree with only having one. I have one in my 155g and would not consider a 2nd because of territory rights . I love them but I won't risk it.

jibendra

thanks for the help so far
ok then, if put in 1 rts what other fishes can i stock my aquarium with.

Shawnie

a beautiful pair of angels

aquarist48

Some Silver Dollars would be a nice addition to the angels and the red tail shark .

Shawnie

im not sure about silvers...mine like the horizontal swimming ..but ive never had a tall tank (although I want one badly!!) and cant say for sure

aquarist48

My Silvers tend to hover around in only a fraction of my tank. Now at mating time there is a lot of chasing going on from one end to the other but for the most part they are pretty subdued. Now that doesn't mean all of them are lol

bolivianbaby

Jack Dempsey. Big fish, compatible with RTS, and very curious.

Peffico

My pictus catfish seem to be doing great with my rts. I highly recommend them.

aquarist48

My Rainbow Shark (similar to the Red Tail Shark) is buddies with my Cory Cat. They get along great and I was very surprised.
Ken

Shawnie

normally id agree but taller tanks dont have the horizontal footprint that a dempsey would need...

bolivianbaby

Good point. I need to make sure I pay attention to footprints in the future.
Thank you, Shawnie

jibendra

again, thank you all for the help so far............it looks like i'll have to do with only one red tail and i was wondering if i could add goldfish with the red tail.

Shawnie

I would say no on the goldie as they like much cooler temps than a tropical rts ...

Red1313

The general rules for RTS tank-mates are this:
Too big to bother (clown loaches)
Too fast to catch (Rainbows)
Mean enough to hold their ground. (Convicts)

These are just general guidelines too keep in mind when looking at fish to add.
My RTS will one day (soon as I'm home to do it) be sharing a tank with tiger barbs and a paradise fish. Though I did look to cons and rainbows as well. But I'm just putting that out there to give you some idea.

Also by adding the RTS last after everyone else has settled in will help limit aggression. Designing your tank with limited lines of sight will also help.