# Iridecent Shark



## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

Well, recently one of my 2 iridecent shark's passed away due to an unknown reason. But now his buddy, seem's to be looking for his friend. Like, he's been acting unusually, digging his head in the substrate, swimming up to the top. Live he never does. Im just afraid once he realizes that his friend has disappeared that he's going to become stressed out. These kind of catfish swim in a community and im just afraid he's going to become stressed and stop eating. Any suggestions? or do you think he will be just fine?


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## Guest (Jun 15, 2007)

He may be acting strange for the same reason the other one died. Check your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrates) and you should do a water change to be safe. How long has this tank been set up? Is it cycled? How big is it? How big are the sharks?


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## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

Well the other one started laying on his side, in a corner of the tank, like he was stressed out. He is extremly active.


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## Guest (Jun 15, 2007)

What about everything else I asked? 

Its most likely a water quality problem if you can't see any sure signs of disease.

And FYI, Irridescent sharks get HUGE (3-4 FEET in length) and require enormous tanks.


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## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

Well, I think ill keep him until he get's bigger. He's only a small 2 1/2 inches right now. Plus as soon as he get's to one foot there are other place's I can take him to live.


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## Guest (Jun 15, 2007)

an active 12 inch fish in a 29 gallon? i dont think so.


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## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

pH - 6.5 
kH - 80
GH - 120
NitrIte - 1.0
NitrAte - 10

None of these look to bad, but I want to get Nitrite down? Any idea's how?


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## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

Trust me, Im gonna at least give him a while.  He's got a nice new home waiting for him next year in the form a 120 gallon tank. Or ill just take him to my aunt's heated pond. She has other catfish there.


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## bscman (Mar 23, 2007)

SBDTHUR said:


> Well, I think ill keep him until he get's bigger. He's only a small 2 1/2 inches right now. Plus as soon as he get's to one foot there are other place's I can take him to live.



Unless you already have a HUGE tank for him to live, it's not going to be an easy task finding him a home.

Most hobbyists don't have room for a fish that large. Many pet stores won't take fish back for free, let alone for credit. Releasing it to the wild is a TERRIBLE idea. Keeping him in a small tank will stunt him and eventually lead to his (unhappy and untimely) death.

I know the "Well, he's small now...but I have a lot of time before I need to upgrade" speach well...and it rarely ever turns out like that.
Things like money, jobs, living situations, or even just falling out of the hobby can all lead to a big fish being stuck in a little tank. YOu should never have to say "I'll upgrade later, when he's bigger" because, more often that not, what you're really saying is "I'm not really ready to care for a fish this big...but I'll enjoy him while he's small, as he'll probably die before he gets big anyway"...which is all too true trying to keep a LARGE fish in a LITTLE tank.

Not trying to reprimand you for the way you're raising fish...simply suggesting you start looking for a new home NOW...because if you don't, you might never get one...and the fish will suffer.


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

How long has the tank been setup ?
what's your ammonia level ?

It sounds like its not completely cycled (ie the biofilter isn't keeping up with the fish waste yet).
Could be too many fish too soon, or an overzealous overcleaning of the biofilter, etc

Change water and take some fish out until you have consistantly zero ammonia and nitrite.
Then add no more than 6 one-inch fish in any given month (so that your biofilter can catch up)


Don't buy IR sharks if you can't keep them as adults - they're not easy to find homes for -- unless you know somebody with a 10'x10' tank (a tank the size of most bedrooms) -- then you don't know somebody with a tank that can handle a 3' fish.
Would you say 
"look at my cool rottweiler puppy, I'll give it away when its an unwanted 150lb adult ? " 
how about 
"check out my baby elephant, I'm sure somebody will want to house and feed it when its huge" ?

If you're not equiped to house an adult animal, its irrepsonsible to buy it. Would you put a baby rabbit in a hamster cage ?


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

Really, at a foot long, it's almost impossible to get rid of a fish like that. Pacus, large catfish, plecos, they come up all the time- no one even takes one look at them.


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

SBDTHUR said:


> Trust me, Im gonna at least give him a while.  He's got a nice new home waiting for him next year in the form a 120 gallon tank. (Savin Up!)


a 120g tank won't house an IR shark for a year.


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## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

bscman said:


> Unless you already have a HUGE tank for him to live, it's not going to be an easy task finding him a home.
> 
> Most hobbyists don't have room for a fish that large. Many pet stores won't take fish back for free, let alone for credit. Releasing it to the wild is a TERRIBLE idea. Keeping him in a small tank will stunt him and eventually lead to his (unhappy and untimely) death.
> 
> ...


Well it is a catfish, he can live in a heated pond. and seriously at this small he's got a long time to go.


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## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

redpaulhus said:


> a 120g tank won't house an IR shark for a year.


Hmm? I dont understand, he's not going to be 3-4 feet long, and if he is ill probably just move him to a pond. Or ill just get rid of him.


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## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

You guy's dont understand, I already have a new home for him. I am just keeping him with me until he's of size so he can live with the fish in that place. At his current size he would get eaten in minutes.


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

http://bestfish.com/tour/960lunker.html
Tell that to bubba


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## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

flamingo said:


> http://bestfish.com/tour/960lunker.html
> Tell that to bubba


Haha, the IR is the one at the bottom. But that is a HUGE fish.


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

The one at the bottom is 2 feet, the one in the middle is just an albino form, and its about twice the size.


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## Guest (Jun 15, 2007)

SBDTHUR said:


> Hmm? I dont understand, he's not going to be 3-4 feet long, and if he is ill probably just move him to a pond. Or ill just get rid of him.


Given the proper environment, he could very well get that large. And no, a 120 gallon tank is nowhere near large enough.

Now Im not understanding your story....you will be buying him a 120 gallon tank when he outgrows your tank, but you're also saying that he has a home to go to when he outgrows your tank....Which is it?

And a pond is no little thing. Where will you have a heated pond for him thats big enough?


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## SBDTHUR (Jun 15, 2007)

Scuba Kid said:


> Given the proper environment, he could very well get that large. And no, a 120 gallon tank is nowhere near large enough.
> 
> Now Im not understanding your story....you will be buying him a 120 gallon tank when he outgrows your tank, but you're also saying that he has a home to go to when he outgrows your tank....Which is it?
> 
> And a pond is no little thing. Where will you have a heated pond for him thats big enough?


If you read my other post.. I understand that a 120 is not big enough, it's not going to permenant. And my aunt has a 900 Gallon pond.. If im correct that should be large enough, if not then what should I do.. 


And about the ammonia, how can I lower that? I have a feeling that it's to high because one of my guppies just lost all of his color.


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## Guest (Jun 15, 2007)

Water changes maybe? I think you need to read up on the nitrogen cycle.
And why would it be too high because your guppy lost its color? Ammonia is produced from fish waste and leftover food in the tank.


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## Clerk (Nov 22, 2006)

These catfish also grow very fast, even being kept in a 29 will stunt him very quickly. Due to in the vast variances in this and all over the forum, I am not really sure what you actually have, but if you have a 120, but him in there now.

These catfish will grow to a foot in less then a year. There is no long way to go.


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## bomb- (Jan 30, 2007)

Even if your sharks are 2 inches now, they will grow extremely big very fast. Good luck.

Also, your catfish is probably acting weird because his friend died. I had a pair of Angelfish once, one of them died (got eaten by a Vampire Pleco) and the other one died after. The second one did not get eaten or picked on, did not have any disease, and was not stressed. He just died, possibly because of "loneliness". 

Get him another friend!


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2007)

bomb- said:


> Even if your sharks are 2 inches now, they will grow extremely big very fast. Good luck.
> 
> Also, your catfish is probably acting weird because his friend died. I had a pair of Angelfish once, one of them died (got eaten by a Vampire Pleco) and the other one died after. The second one did not get eaten or picked on, did not have any disease, and was not stressed. He just died, possibly because of "loneliness".
> 
> Get him another friend!


Not good advice. Don't add fish to an already problem tank. He's most likely "acting weird" for the same reason the other one died, probably because of bad water quality i.e. high ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.


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## osiris214 (Jul 28, 2007)

the poster above is right. i'm not sure fish hav the emotions we do. a neon tetra may die if its not in a school but, that's because of stress. id sharks should be able to school so i don't think your aunts 900g will work out.


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