Red Finned Shark Is Shy

Hey y'all. Does anyone know if it's normal for my rfs to be so shy? He spends all day hiding

 

How many hiding places does he have around?

 

How many hiding places does he have around?

2

 

Ok, plants or caves?

 

Ok, plants or caves?

Caves, there is also 4 plants. 2 real 2 fake, but can't really hide in them

 

Ok cool
So what other tank mates does he have and what is the size of the current tank hes in?

 

Ok cool
So what other tank mates does he have and what is the size of the current tank hes in?

He has 2 mollies a pleco a loach and a snail. He is unfortunately in a 20 gallon for now. But everyone is a baby and under 2 inches

 

Oh what species of loach is it and pleco , some species of pleco could be a little pushy with other bottome dwellers

 

Oh what species of loach is it and pleco , some species of pleco could be a little pushy with other bottome dwellers

Its a weather loach and I'm not sure what kind of pleco. I know hes not a common pleco and not that it means anything but the girl that sold him to me said he won't get very big

 

Yayy dojo loachs my favorite I currently have 2
Forget that I got off topic, so weather/dojo loachs are peaceful so I don't see him doing anything wrong , and could you please send a pic of the pleco

 

Yayy dojo loachs my favorite I currently have 2
Forget that I got off topic, so weather/dojo loachs are peaceful so I don't see him doing anything wrong , and could you please send a pic of the pleco

I loooove my loach. I want 50 lol hopefully this is a good enough pic (excuse my rude snail)

 

Can you show us a picture of your entire tank? The reason he's hiding all the time might have something to do with the layout.

 

Lol yeah loachs are really friendly but they do get quite large my biggest is 5 inchs and my smallest is 3 inchs,
Ok ok sorry again so that is a bristlenose pleco which I knew it was going to be that or a rubberlip pleco because those 2 species are commonly sold, how long have you bad the red finned shark

 

Can you show us a picture of your entire tank? The reason he's hiding all the time might have something to do with the layout.

Lol yeah loachs are really friendly but they do get quite large my biggest is 5 inchs and my smallest is 3 inchs,
Ok ok sorry again so that is a bristlenose pleco which I knew it was going to be that or a rubberlip pleco because those 2 species are commonly sold, how long have you bad the red finned shark

Ive had him close to a month

 

Wow sweet tank looks clear, it does look a little open in the middle though and I'm guessing that's where the most light shines at

 

Wow sweet tank looks clear, it does look a little open in the middle though and I'm guessing that's where the most light shines at

Its LED lighting so maybe?

 

Thanks for the picture. I suspect the reason he is hiding all the time is because he feels very exposed in that tank. If you give him more hiding places, he will feel more comfortable coming out. Instead of just 2 caves, give him a little network of hiding places at the bottom of the tank. You can accomplish this with more plants he can hide under, and driftwood he can hide under, and piles of rocks with gaps he can swim in between, clay pots, or even more plastic caves. He'll feel more comfortable and less exposed if he can quickly swim back into a hiding spot, so he'll come out more often.

I will say this tank is too small for these fish full grown. Except for the mollies maybe and the snails. I do hope you already have a tank in the works for these fish when they grow.

 

This is my example of how my tank has hiding spots all around both sides and middle

 

Thanks for the picture. I suspect the reason he is hiding all the time is because he feels very exposed in that tank. If you give him more hiding places, he will feel more comfortable coming out. Instead of just 2 caves, give him a little network of hiding places at the bottom of the tank. You can accomplish this with more plants he can hide under, and driftwood he can hide under, and piles of rocks with gaps he can swim in between, clay pots, or even more plastic caves. He'll feel more comfortable and less exposed if he can quickly swim back into a hiding spot, so he'll come out more often.

I will say this tank is too small for these fish full grown. Except for the mollies maybe and the snails. I do hope you already have a tank in the works for these fish when they grow.

I plan on getting a 55 asap. I'm in the middle of cycling a 10 right now for my daughter to get her (and me lol) a betta and some shrimp then the 55 will be my next project. I've asked this before and could never get an answer, how fast does he grow and how soon would I need the bigger tank? And some driftwood would be awesome. I also wanted to get at least one big shell, for a hiding spot and also to help with my gh

 

I know this may not really be a question question but can you send a pic of your dojo I love to see dojo loachs of all kinds

 

I know this may not really be a question question but can you send a pic of your dojo I love to see dojo loachs of all kinds

I know this may not really be a question question but can you send a pic of your dojo I love to see dojo loachs of all kinds

 

Silly dojos they are , its more silly to watch them with another one

 

Silly dojos they are , its more silly to watch them with another one

I definitely plan on getting more of these cuties

 

The shark will reach 4 inches or so within it's first year, which is small adult, then growth will slow, it will continue to grow from then on much slower, and could reach 7, 8, 9 inches after several years. In general it's not a good idea to keep other bottom dwellers with a red tailed shark, due to their territorial nature.

I don't know how fast weather loaches grow, but they can reach about 10 inches.

I don't know if anyone has told you this, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but weather loaches are a shoaling fish, and do best in groups. They also, like I said, reach 1o inches. A shoal of fish is going to be 6 or more of the same species. Can you imagine how large of a tank you would need to house 6 fish that are 10 inches each? I don't think a 55 gallon would be big enough.
*EDIT*: No, It wouldn't. That's 60 inches of fish.

You say these fish are all under 2 inches long, but unfortunately we don't know exactly how old they are. They could be four months old already, and reach maturity in just 6-8 more months. They might be only a month old. Most likely these fish range in age.

I think you might have to return your loach if your endgame here is a 55 gallon tank with your shark. I know you love that loach, but please don't let your desire to keep the loach cloud your judgement regarding what is best for the loach. If you can get a 100 gallon tank or more, then a proper shoal of weather loaches would be totally fine.

 

The shark will reach 4 inches or so within it's first year, which is small adult, then growth will slow, it will continue to grow from then on much slower, and could reach 7, 8, 9 inches after several years. In general it's not a good idea to keep other bottom dwellers with a red tailed shark, due to their territorial nature.

I don't know how fast weather loaches grow, but they can reach about 10 inches.

I don't know if anyone has told you this, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but weather loaches are a shoaling fish, and do best in groups. They also, like I said, reach 1o inches. A shoal of fish is going to be 6 or more of the same species. Can you imagine how large of a tank you would need to house 6 fish that are 10 inches each? I don't think a 55 gallon would be big enough.
*EDIT*: No, It wouldn't. That's 60 inches of fish.

You say these fish are all under 2 inches long, but unfortunately we don't know exactly how old they are. They could be four months old already, and reach maturity in just 6-8 more months. They might be only a month old. Most likely these fish range in age.

I think you might have to return your loach if your endgame here is a 55 gallon tank with your shark. I know you love that loach, but please don't let your desire to keep the loach cloud your judgement regarding what is best for the loach. If you can get a 100 gallon tank or more, then a proper shoal of weather loaches would be totally fine.

Well that is a bummer. But I definitely don't want him to go back to petco... Maybe a local aquarium will take him... Sad day

 

I know the thought of sending him back to Petco is cringe, but it's the only way you're going to get your money back, and it's the best chance he has at being rehomed. A local fish store or local aquarium might take him... but they won't pay for it. A fish store might give you store credit. Maybe.

 

I know the thought of sending him back to Petco is cringe, but it's the only way you're going to get your money back, and it's the best chance he has at being rehomed. A local fish store or local aquarium might take him... but they won't pay for it. A fish store might give you store credit. Maybe.

I'm not worried about the money at all

I wish I could have 100 gallon aquarium but I'm only allowed up to 55 in my apt

 

You can still have some really cool fish in a 55 gallon tank though. Maybe a good substitute for the loach would be a bichir. You can keep those singly. They need 50 gallons or more, so a 55 would do.

 

Idk maybe. I know the main reason for the 55 is my shark so whatever else I get would be for him. So species that he would be happy with

 

Consider angelfish, Gourami (not dwarfs), maybe a medium sized schooling fish like danios or barbs. Other cool types of mollies, like maybe swordtails.

 

My original plan was angelfish but I didn't know if they would be OK with my shark sense they can be aggressive

 

The shark is semI aggressive, so it needs to be kept with other semI aggressive fish. Otherwise peaceful fish will be outcompeted for food. Angelfish are a good match for a Red Tailed Shark. I've seen it done several times.

 

The shark is semI aggressive, so it needs to be kept with other semI aggressive fish. Otherwise peaceful fish will be outcompeted for food. Angelfish are a good match for a Red Tailed Shark. I've seen it done several times.

Could I have more sharks? I've herd they do better alone?

 

You can only have 1 shark. Only 1 fish with shark in it's name, really. Unless you have more than 5 of the same kind. But then, we run into you needing a massive tank, again.

 

So I moved some stuff around, y'all think this will work for now?

 

I think it'll help. The center of the tank doesn't look like as exposed as it did before.

 

I think it'll help. The center of the tank doesn't look like as exposed as it did before.

I also took the bag of crushed coral out of the filter and put it in the corner of the tank. I hope that won't hurt anything but it was a pain in the in the filter cus it kept stopping my biowheel

 

The shark will reach 4 inches or so within it's first year, which is small adult, then growth will slow, it will continue to grow from then on much slower, and could reach 7, 8, 9 inches after several years. In general it's not a good idea to keep other bottom dwellers with a red tailed shark, due to their territorial nature.

I don't know how fast weather loaches grow, but they can reach about 10 inches.

I don't know if anyone has told you this, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but weather loaches are a shoaling fish, and do best in groups. They also, like I said, reach 1o inches. A shoal of fish is going to be 6 or more of the same species. Can you imagine how large of a tank you would need to house 6 fish that are 10 inches each? I don't think a 55 gallon would be big enough.
*EDIT*: No, It wouldn't. That's 60 inches of fish.

You say these fish are all under 2 inches long, but unfortunately we don't know exactly how old they are. They could be four months old already, and reach maturity in just 6-8 more months. They might be only a month old. Most likely these fish range in age.

I think you might have to return your loach if your endgame here is a 55 gallon tank with your shark. I know you love that loach, but please don't let your desire to keep the loach cloud your judgement regarding what is best for the loach. If you can get a 100 gallon tank or more, then a proper shoal of weather loaches would be totally fine.

Dojo loaches are not schooling. Lots of loaches are schooling (think kuhlis and clown loaches) but dojos are not. They are social like goldfish, platies, honey gouramis and such so you shouldn't just have one but a pair is fine.

They need a 48" tank minimum so a 55 is ok for 2 or 3. Unfortunately though they do need much cooler water than angelfish so you'd have to choose between the loaches or angels.

 

Dojo loaches are not schooling. Lots of loaches are schooling (think kuhlis and clown loaches) but dojos are not. They are social like goldfish, platies, honey gouramis and such so you shouldn't just have one but a pair is fine.

Could I have a pair in a 55?

 

Could I have a pair in a 55?

Yes