# Tank mate for my baby shark



## ur2high (May 10, 2010)

I have one black shark (Labeo chrysophekadion) hes around 2-3 in. right now, i have a 40 gallon tank, i know he will eventually grow out of the tank, and if i move out before then ill get a bigger tank, but as for now im looking for a good tank mate for him, if i can get a bottomfeeder like him thatd be great so i can just keep buyin algea chips and shrimp pellets for them to eat. I just started looking into a tank mate for him and i like the pictus catfish, so my questions are:

does this catfish eat algea chips and shrimp pellets?

should these 2 fish get along if i buy one the same size?

should i look at getting a different tank mate? im new to this so any pointers on new fish is greatly apprectiated.i also do like some of the goldfish that are bigger and have long tails and stuff like the ryukin, so if these work too, just let me know

thanks in advance!

peace


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

you may already know this but the black shark is actually a type of catfish as there is no true ALL freshwater shark. but i dont think you need to worry about it outgrowing a 40 gallon im not sure but i think they only reach 7-8 inches i could be wrong but i know the red tails only get that big. Also the pictus catfish could make a good tank mate we have kept the together successfully at work with no problems. However i dont think the pictus will be to interested in the algae as much as it will be shrimp pellets, flakes, and frozen foods. If you are looking for a good bottom feeder a cory cat would be a great choice they spend almost their entire day scavenging the bottom for left over food and keep a tank nice and clean and they dont get very big depending on what species you get. i have seen them range in size from around 1-4 inches as adults. also anyone who reads this i was just reading up on pictus and it says maximum size 6 inches but i just saw one at a pet store last week that was 12+ inches and almost as thick as a pop can has anyone else seen one of this size before?


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## Guest (May 22, 2010)

a black shark gets up to 18inchs and more. so yea am sure the40gl is a stop over for this fish cos they sure grow fast.


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## ur2high (May 10, 2010)

Revolution1221 said:


> you may already know this but the black shark is actually a type of catfish as there is no true ALL freshwater shark. but i dont think you need to worry about it outgrowing a 40 gallon im not sure but i think they only reach 7-8 inches i could be wrong but i know the red tails only get that big. Also the pictus catfish could make a good tank mate we have kept the together successfully at work with no problems. However i dont think the pictus will be to interested in the algae as much as it will be shrimp pellets, flakes, and frozen foods. If you are looking for a good bottom feeder a cory cat would be a great choice they spend almost their entire day scavenging the bottom for left over food and keep a tank nice and clean and they dont get very big depending on what species you get. i have seen them range in size from around 1-4 inches as adults. also anyone who reads this i was just reading up on pictus and it says maximum size 6 inches but i just saw one at a pet store last week that was 12+ inches and almost as thick as a pop can has anyone else seen one of this size before?


So i didnt know the shark was a type of catfish, but i do know they get around a foot long, one of the pet stores has one that they raised. im eithe rplanning on selling him or buying a bigger tank once he gets that big if that happens, ive heard a lot of them have stunt growths and dont make it that big.im not too picky on what type of fish to get, should i stick with only bottom feeders or catfish? or could i put any non agressive fish in there, i just cant decide which type of fish i want extram wether its a pictus, or a ryukin, or something else, ive also looked at clown loaches...would these work with the shark? and do you happen to know if they are expensive?


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

I think the biggest pictus catfish I have seen in the store was about 8 inches. Most I have seen were about 6 inches though. It is a catfish and catfish can grow big and live a very long time so I wouldn't be surprised if you saw one bigger than the average.


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

I highly advise you don't get a Ryukin.
Clown loaches will also get very big (12+ inches) and, when compared to other freshwater fish, are somewhat more expensive. Also they much prefer that you have more than one, at least two, three or more the merrier. 
I dont think you have to stick with bottom feeders at all. Take a look at rainbowfish, giant danios, gouramis, or barbs. Rainbowfish will get large as well thought but if your looking to upgrade it wont be a problem.


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

depends on your rainbow. Most stay pretty small at around 4". These are active fish though and I wouldn't keep any of the larger bows in anything below a 55. Their are a number of smaller rainbows. You have praecox and threadfins which are suited for smaller tanks. Other small dwarf rainbows that make up the blue-eyes. Things like gertrudaes, signifers, and furcata reach about 2" as adults and do great in smaller tanks. Rainbow fish are expensive though and a number of these species, especially the blue-eyes you will not find in chains.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

yeah i just realised i was thinking about the rainbow sharks not redtails and blacks i remember now how big they get and was comming on to edit my post lol sorry about that.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

if u do decide to get rid of him and try something else dont just jump in to it take your time look at tanks other people have and what species you like. check out some show tanks especially.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Hmmmm....

Okay, first thing, don't add any goldfish to this tank.

Next:

Black sharks can reach 4 feet long! They never do this in a tank, of course, needing to be kept in a pond. They are extinct in the wild, living now only on fishfarms, so treat it with care.
They are not catfish. 
They're fairly friendly, but as they grow their appetites grow as well, and they have been known to suck on other fish. This is one reason to avoid goldfish, since they are such easy targets.
Rainbows are good, being showy and fast.

There are indeed true freshwater sharks. You'll never see one in a store or be able to afford one, though, most likely. Look up Golden Hammerhead for one example, a tiny 2-foot miniature hammerhead from the amazon which is bright yellow. Awesome.

Pictus cats rarely get much over 6 inches, but they can certainly reach 8. I've never heard of one any bigger, but not much surprises me anymore. They aren't keen on algae wafers, but suck up the shrimp pellets.


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## Guest (May 23, 2010)

i agree with TOS. i was at a resort last night for some party and these guys had a few tanks. nicely done up for mbuna setup in one and with bichardis in the 2nd and a community tank as the 3rd (where i gleamed out some amazing neon purple guppy) and a pond. the pond had just one fish. a MASSIVE black 'shark'. and i mean massive. am 5'6 and this damn thing was nearly 2/3rds my body length.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

TheOldSalt said:


> Hmmmm....
> 
> Okay, first thing, don't add any goldfish to this tank.
> 
> ...


Yeah i forgot again i was thinking of the rainbows being cats i remember now blacks are a type of carp along with the balla sharks just different family of them or something. Next time i go to that pet store im going to have to see if they still have that pictus and get a picture of it im thinking it was over 10 inches guarenteed it was just massive my jaw dropped open when i saw it they had it in a huge tank. Its a few hours drive tho so dont know when ill be making the trip again but thats gotta be the most amazing pet store i have ever seen they have a lot of tanks that are around 300-600 gallons with 2 indoor ponds around 3,000 gallons with super expensive koi well not compared to what you can find on the internet but what you can find in any petstore. They had a tank with 5 pacu's all around 15 lbs. they have around 30,000 accumulative gallons and an entire big room with all custom tanks they had like a 300 gallon bow front was one that stuck out in my eyes the most lol just beautiful!


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Hey can you take some pics or give a website or something on that pet store? Im very interested, you make it sounds too awesome for me to not know about it lol. Where is it?


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

Tallonebball said:


> Hey can you take some pics or give a website or something on that pet store? Im very interested, you make it sounds too awesome for me to not know about it lol. Where is it?


the website doesn't do it justice although its about one of the best websites ive seen for a lfs its located in minneapolis, MN http://aqualandmn.com/home/ its litteraly the size of petsmart but nothing but fish and fish tanks for sale.


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## Guest (May 23, 2010)

there is another species of sharks known to live in the river Ganges in india as well.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

Eluviet said:


> there is another species of sharks known to live in the river Ganges in india as well.


thats my fault there ive done avid research into "true" freshwater sharks and never had any luck must not have looked good enough tho.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

NICE store. Can anybody say, ROAD TRIP! WHOO!

Once upon a time I drove hundreds of miles a day, all over this continent, and I used to visit every store I could find. There are some real doozies out there too. Too bad that so vastly many more are so LAME. 

You know what we need? We need a big box chain of really good fish-only stores to help counteract all the damage that Petsmart & Petco are doing.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

TheOldSalt said:


> NICE store. Can anybody say, ROAD TRIP! WHOO!
> 
> Once upon a time I drove hundreds of miles a day, all over this continent, and I used to visit every store I could find. There are some real doozies out there too. Too bad that so vastly many more are so LAME.
> 
> You know what we need? We need a big box chain of really good fish-only stores to help counteract all the damage that Petsmart & Petco are doing.


agreed but u know what happens to them they get greedy and sell out and it just becomes another chain store who only care about the lowest prices which translates to the cheapest quality fish and sometimes wild caught. i wonder if petco or petsmart started small but idk they are like the walmart of pet stores


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

yeah.. too true. Too true. Still, it would be nice if someone like me could pull off a feat like that and make it work.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

TheOldSalt said:


> yeah.. too true. Too true. Still, it would be nice if someone like me could pull off a feat like that and make it work.


hell yeah it would "Awesome fish for everyone and real knowledge to back it" being a non-conformist i hate selling out! problem is even if you wanted to and did start something like that then you get all the corporate junkies i.e. cfo's chairmen of the board, and majority share holders who then control the company and they sell out regardless of you wanting them to or not even when YOU own the company... its a messed up world we live in dude!


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Call me up when your ready to make this happen TOS lol but seriously.. call me


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## ur2high (May 10, 2010)

Thanks for all the replies and tips guys, for some reason i didnt get any emails about this but anyway, so i went fish browsing today, and ive been looking at what yall told me to check out, i do like the sailfin pleco, i was told that if i get one the same size as my shark theyll get along fine, the eat the same things, and it keeps the tank clean. Second i was looking at baby oscars roughly like 2 inches in size, both the fish i was today that i liked were around 4 dollars, same price as my shark, and pretty close to the same size. Now i know oscars are aggressive, if i raise these 2 together would this be a problem? i know my tank will be too small a long itme from now, and ive only debated right now about an oscar, im leaning more towards the pleco, i think im going to get a fish tomorrow after work, ill get advice from the people at the pet store here, but i like yalls advice too...if either of these are a bad idea let me know.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

the pleco is armored so it can take hits from the shark question is how much will it be able to handle as the shark gets bigger and more aggressive/territorial also oscars love to bite sides and the sharks being soft and scaleless (i believe) the oscar could do some real damage except oscars are sluggish and the sharks are fast so i have no idea how it could play out best advice it to seek out someone who has had experience with this.


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## ur2high (May 10, 2010)

Revolution1221 said:


> the pleco is armored so it can take hits from the shark question is how much will it be able to handle as the shark gets bigger and more aggressive/territorial also oscars love to bite sides and the sharks being soft and scaleless (i believe) the oscar could do some real damage except oscars are sluggish and the sharks are fast so i have no idea how it could play out best advice it to seek out someone who has had experience with this.


Ok, so these could be issues, but might not be.. I was told that black sharks will only be aggressive to other black sharks, i know at the pet store i get all my stuff from they have a 14-16 inch shark, with 2-16-18 inch oscars and they dont seem to bother each other, i had 2 oscars previously but i had no luck with them, i didn tbuy them from the same pet store, one had popeye within a week, and the other wouldnt eat,they were around 6 inches each, i just want all my fish to get along, ill see what others say on here, and what the pet store suggests too, they might not have all of the fish that have been suggested on here. so ill see what all happens on here before i get off tomorrow, and what the pet store suggests, hopefully i can get one tomorrow so this guy can have a friend.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

ur2high said:


> Ok, so these could be issues, but might not be.. I was told that black sharks will only be aggressive to other black sharks, i know at the pet store i get all my stuff from they have a 14-16 inch shark, with 2-16-18 inch oscars and they dont seem to bother each other, i had 2 oscars previously but i had no luck with them, i didn tbuy them from the same pet store, one had popeye within a week, and the other wouldnt eat,they were around 6 inches each, i just want all my fish to get along, ill see what others say on here, and what the pet store suggests too, they might not have all of the fish that have been suggested on here. so ill see what all happens on here before i get off tomorrow, and what the pet store suggests, hopefully i can get one tomorrow so this guy can have a friend.


yeah i cant really give you a definite answer as i have no experience with them nor have i really learned much about them other than the last few days this post has been up. so someone with experience would be a better resource and if your lfs is nice and they are keeping fish like that successfully their advice may be good but again i cannot give a definite answer.


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## ur2high (May 10, 2010)

Revolution1221 said:


> yeah i cant really give you a definite answer as i have no experience with them nor have i really learned much about them other than the last few days this post has been up. so someone with experience would be a better resource and if your lfs is nice and they are keeping fish like that successfully their advice may be good but again i cannot give a definite answer.


Yeah theyve helped me out alot, its where me tank came from, i didnt buy it from there but my dad did and he gave it to me, the shark i bought there over 2 weeks ago has been great, i love watching him swim around, i cant wait to watch him continue to grow, i just would like to get a friend for him, i just dont want one to end up hurting the other


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Again, a big shark has a big hunger, but if you keep it well fed, it won't munch on it's tankmates so much.


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## ur2high (May 10, 2010)

I ended up getting a pleco, they have them together at the pet store, they said there shouldnt be an issue with them getting along. I take it this take a little bit of time, theyre both just hiding from each other, the pleco is a tiny but smaller than the shark up to a half an inch smaller, so im glad i got them close to the same size


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