# Red tail shark tank



## Tankmad (29 May 2019)

Hey! Long time stalker newly registered!

After getting a red tail shark 8 months ago they have become my favourite fish. I have done extensive research to find suitable tankmates and had results that conflicted to what I was reading on groups and forums.
I was reading stories of red tail sharks eating neon tetras and killing off all their tankmates yet for the most part my red tail didn't seem as aggressive in comparison. 
The most recommended tankmate for the RTS was tiger barbs, however the tiger barbs were the only fish I found to bring out the RTS aggression. 
Instead I had success with fish such as rasboras (harlequin and espei), platys, mollies, gobys, kuhlis and even to my surprise molly fry and cherry shrimp/shrimplets.

Now... To the point  
I recently saw a video of about 30 RTS and the were schooling together. I have also heard that they could be kept in groups but I had never seen it before except from lfs tanks where they are young in a small tank highly stocked. 

My question is... What do think the result would be if I put 8-12 red tail sharks in a 6x2x2 planted tank? 
Would this footprint be larger enough? 
Has anyone kept multiple sharks? 
Will they have a hierarchy like tiger barbs? 

Thanks in advance


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## Edvet (29 May 2019)

It seems they are better of solitary https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/epalzeorhynchos-bicolor/


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## Tankmad (29 May 2019)

Yes I know, I'm just questioning the probability of it working?


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## Iain Sutherland (29 May 2019)

Again, best kept singularly, I'm unsure why you would persist in trying to achieve a group when all advise is dont.  Your current shark is young, they turn into total arses as they mature.
Even if it could 'work' id think you would be looking at public aquarium size tanks not a 6ft home tank. There is a German forum with someone who did this in a 450ltr so 6ft, it didnt go too well after 12 months if I remember correctly...
Rainbow sharks have a similar appeal, are more friendly, aren't as big but generally dont tolerate other bottom dwellers... I'm unsure how s group would behave though...

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


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## Tankmad (29 May 2019)

Its a hypothetical scenario, I'm not persisting to put them in a group, Im just interested in the real characteristics of the fish not the ones we're told. I wanted to hear if anyone had heard of successful groups of RTS as I was shocked to see 30+ of them schooling in a video recently. Before that video I have seen tanks with up to 4 RTS but they chased from time to time and didn't swim together


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## sparkyweasel (29 May 2019)

Could you post a link to the vid?


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## Tankmad (29 May 2019)

It's aquarium co, op vid at the fish farm


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## alto (29 May 2019)

It’s a fish farm growing out juvenile RTS for sale (note the size of the pond etc)

Similarly aquarium fish shops often display juvenile RTS in numbers in relatively small tanks and with minimal apparent aggression ... this method is often used with more territorial fish, crowd them enough so that there really is no available territory for individuals to claim. As long as fish are juveniles (it’s common to see juvenile forms of these fish species shoaling in natural waters as well - except there, they can go out and form territories as individual fish mature) it works fairly well with minimal stress/bullying losses

My local shops used to regularly carry juvenile RTS, now it’s the odd shop that brings them in and usually only upon customer request (insistence) - people frequently came in seeking to return/rehome now adult, territorial RTS ... which aquarium shops are seldom able to accommodate 




Tankmad said:


> The most recommended tankmate for the RTS was tiger barbs,



Wouldn’t be on my suggested tankmates list - you don’t mention present tank size, decor

Unless you purchased a mature RTS, at under a year old I’d expect your fish to be fairly polite, give him another year or so before deciding his character 

As for your proposed tank - 6 foot or 6meter? if the latter, you should have no issue keeping a good size group but they likely would NOT shoal
If 180cm x 60cm x 60cm, I’d suggest 2 added as juveniles 
BUT 
also a good chance that one will dominate the other
You could try 5 juveniles and hope to spread aggression, with the right individuals (& suitable decor) it might work longterm


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## sparkyweasel (29 May 2019)

Thanks. Haven't found it yet, got distracted by the other vids on Aquarium CoOp, lol.
I'll keep looking tomorrow, they must look amazing.


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## Tankmad (30 May 2019)

Thanks for the reply. 
im unsure of my RTS age but it's over 4 Inches now. I thought the ones in the vid looked similar size, which is the size I read they become at aggressive at.
ALTO thanks for ur input, I'm not saying you are wrong as what u say is similar to what I researched however I'm just curious to know why they would school, in that situation? Why in instances where there are four or five RTS do they mainly flare up yet not harm each other? And why have people shared stories of their RTS schooling with clown loaches or following mollies around?

My point being could the info on this fish be wrong as it shows strong signs of being capable to live with its own species yet there are little to no recordings of it happening?

P. S. My own RTS is currently in a 75us gallon as is well behaved atm lol. But I am not saying that they can be put together just because mine is well behaved I only stated earlier about tankmates to explain that I had different findings in comparison to what I read. Yes I found tiger barbs on multiple sites claiming them to be a '' 10 out of 10'' tankmate for RTS as well as big fish yet I found more success with small fish.


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## mort (30 May 2019)

4" is near fully grown as they only get about 5" if your lucky. I have one thats 6 years old or so and it's fully grown and remarkably calm but it is in with large fish and nothing that shares it's unique niche. I also completely understand why you would want more as they are stunning little fish.
If you see them in lfs in high numbers then the aggression they show is diffused so much that none are picked on enough to cause damage. Once that group gets below a certain number then you see the beginnings of split fins, pale colours and fighting. That is a known fact and applies to even small juviniles in my past experience of selling them. I tended to only get a couple in at a time as I knew I would have to divide them up anyway when they got to 4 and it's harder to find enough tanks. 
I'm sure you could keep them in groups but it would be a Mexican standoff. You would need enough to dilute the aggression so much, like with mbuna, but it probably wouldn't be the best life for them. I think it's better to treat them like a king rather than try to go against popular belief, especially since they are far from what was the natural wild fish.


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## Tankmad (30 May 2019)

Thanks that was nicely put. I wish we knew more about their behaviour in their habitat. I agree with u completely tho, they deserve that single centerpiece fish king status. On my 75 us gallon tank I'm adjusting the stock in order to have my RTS with just 40 espei rasboras. The schooling of them in the top half of the aquarium looks awesome with the RTS in the bottom half.

I think I confused u when I said 'what if I put them in a tank blu bluh bluh...' it was only a hypothetical question, sadly I think about these fish a lot and I wanted to see if anyone out there new something I didn't lol thanks for your replies, u gave me a lot to think about


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## zozo (30 May 2019)

A girlfriend of mine already has a red tail for over 8 years it had a number of different tankmates over the years and never made a problem with other non related community fish. But as @Edvet says, not only solitary s best regarding other red tails, they are best not combined with anything catfish like sp sharing the same layer territory. Such as Pleco and likely botia etc. It most likely will result in fights and stress while they mature.

The girl from above also didn't lissen and gave the red tail a pleco as tank mate and it was fighting it from day one till she took it out again 2 weeks later. It never improved only got worse..


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## Aqua sobriquet (30 May 2019)

I’ve kept several “Sharks” in the same tank and they’ve been fine. They do like to chase other fish but I never had any fatalities due to it. They are very nice looking fish.


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## Tankmad (30 May 2019)

Aqua sobriquet said:


> I’ve kept several “Sharks” in the same tank and they’ve been fine. They do like to chase other fish but I never had any fatalities due to it. They are very nice looking fish.


What sharks were they?


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## Tankmad (30 May 2019)

zozo said:


> A girlfriend of mine already has a red tail for over 8 years it had a number of different tankmates over the years and never made a problem with other non related community fish.
> 
> How big did this one grow?


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## Aqua sobriquet (30 May 2019)

Tankmad said:


> What sharks were they?



One red tail and a couple of rainbows. They were in with some clown loach among other fish.


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## zozo (30 May 2019)

It's still alive today, it is about 10cm maybe a tad bigger..


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## Tankmad (30 May 2019)

zozo said:


> It's still alive today, it is about 10cm maybe a tad bigger..


Only 10cm at 8 years plus? That seems really small


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## Tankmad (30 May 2019)

Aqua sobriquet said:


> One red tail and a couple of rainbows. They were in with some clown loach among other fish.


What fish is more aggressive in ur opinion the rainbow or red tail?


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## Aqua sobriquet (30 May 2019)

Sorry but I can’t remember it was some years ago.


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## mort (30 May 2019)

10cm is on the upper limit for these. A general max is between 10-12.5cm and that would have been wild caught and who knows what impact the hormones used to spawn them plays on thing.

Rainbow sharks are milder, if only by a bit, but get a little bigger.

Interestingly Marcel mentions the common advise that they can be a problem with plec and bottom feeders but mine has not shown any aggression to my clown loaches, ancistris or synos, so it's definitely down to the individual.


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## Tankmad (30 May 2019)

Oh I was expecting mine to grow 6"+ I heard its not uncommon for them to reach 8-9"..

On seriouslyfish it mentions how they get along with certain loach species and i read stories of them buddying up with clown loaches so that don't surprise me

Has anyone ever heard of them being bred without hormones?


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## sparkyweasel (30 May 2019)

RTBS certainly used to grow to over 6", but now they are mass-produced I think that may no longer be the case. It's happened with lots of species. 7" is quoted in lots of older books, and that used to be the size to aim for in fish shows.
As for behaviour, we spend hours researching how each species is supposed to act, but the pesky fish never seem to read anything, sometimes they don't do what the books and websites say at all.


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## Tankmad (30 May 2019)

Lol... That's a shame about the size, the big ones look stunning.

I've heard of an albino variety but never seen one. Are they not available in the UK? Or is there another reason?


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## sparkyweasel (30 May 2019)

Albino RTBS are not commonly available, though I have seen them in shops. Albino Rainbow Sharks are quite often available. That could be because they still have deep red fins, whereas the albino redtails I've seen had rather washed-out orangy tails and weren't very impressive.

Incidentally Rainbow Sharks is a strange name when they are black and red. They used to be called Red-Finned Black Sharks, then it was Ruby Sharks, both of those names make more sense to me.


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## alto (30 May 2019)

sparkyweasel said:


> RTBS certainly used to grow to over 6"



I’ve seen them this size in large display tanks (shops) but not for a long time 

Perhaps with the domestic breeding they are also more tolerant of conspecifics


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## mort (31 May 2019)

I'd suggest that the large red tails are probably the longer lived ones. Apparently the average lifespan is up to 8 years but they can get more than double that if your lucky. If you consider that most fish grow quickly when young and then slow it does give an extra decade to grow, plus you have to consider how many generations nearer wild populations a 15+ year red tail could be.
I'll let you know how big my current 4" or so one has grown in another ten years.


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