# Rainbow sharks and tankmates



## cuticom

Sigh, I'm having a horrible time trying to find a tankmate for kelvin my little 3" rainbow shark. he was living with dwarf gouramis and a Molly but the gouramis didnt too weel in the tank so they moved to my planted 20g and Marino the Molly continually beat Kelvin up so Marino was moved to the planted tank as well.

So Kelvin's all by himself and so far hasnt come out of his cave since his tankmates left which was two days ago. I know rainbow sharks are nocturnal but i still wanna see Kelvin sometimes LOL and obviously without other fish to chase him out of his acve now and then he just stays there.

The Tanks a 23-25g, unplanted decorated with just Kelvins cave right now, as I ditched all the ugly plastic plants, does anyone of stocking ideas? Please note I live in outback Australia so the more exotic or rare varieties arent available to me.

The only required fish is Kelvin as he's my absolutely fave fish, when he grows up he'll probably get a 3 or 4 foot tank, but theres at least a few months till then. Oh and understocked is better the overstocked as with my life right now sometimes i dont manage to clean the tank out exactly every 7 days

Emma


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## girth vader

Rainbows/Redtails are PITA fish to almost all tankmates. They continuously harrass others. You could try a school 10-12 of Tiger Barbs as they can defend themselves well and will nip back until it stops. Aso by having a small school they will nip at each and leave it alone (unless it's bothering them). As you are aware he will need a larger tank and the barbs would also like a larger tank as well as they are very active fish.
So maybe your best bet is to hold off on getting the barbs until you have a 3-4 footer and then have them all in there together and just use your tank as a growout tank for now. Rainbows are generally slow growers so you will not be hurried into a new tank purchase in the near future, unless you have the $ for one now 

Cheers.


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## cuticom

Lol currently no money for a larger one I'm only 15. No thats not right, I do have enough money for a larger tank but it's not the one I want. Plus I dont have enough for the stand as well.

What about Danios? I've heard they do ok and the long finned ones are pretty


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## girth vader

personally I would just wait. he wont mind being alone for awhile. but yes the danios would be fast enough, but the long fins would get nipped by your rainbow.


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## Giddy012

Hi, 
I have an Albino Rainbow Shark with my Male Betta, 4 Pot Bellied Mollies, 2 Blue Dwarf Gouramis, and 2 soon to be 4 Panda Cories. I have to say that the Betta and the Cories get along the best with my shark, they are quick enough to get out of his way if need be, and quiet and docile enough to not go after him. Which I think makes him feel not so theatened, I have acually never seen him go after either of them or vise versa. I would co with the cories, they are active and fun to watch, but they do not do well by themselves, 4-6 is a good number for them. However you might want to check into other types of cories, since sharks get a bit bigger I know I will eventually be splitting mine up since Panda Cories only get to be about an inch.


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## Gourami Swami

What is a rainbow shark? is it this?


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## AquaGirl

That's not a rainbow shark. Rainbow sharks are like red-tailed sharks except that all their fins are red instead of just the tail/caudal fin.


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## cuticom

Waiting isnt really an option as because he stays in his cave all the time I cant get him to eat, usually he eats what the other fish drop, but since theres no other fish there and he refuses to eat algae wafers... I tried just putting flakes in there as normal but he didnt even see em. 

What about a couple of female Bettas? I'd be pretty edgy about adding a male in as their fins are so long and the tanks got a really strong filter current.

So some ideas (Only want to do one of em)
A few female Bettas
4-6 Cories
Try and find normal danios 4-6
A small school of tiger Barbs about 6
Or maybe just a single female Betta

Hmm Lol thats all I can think of right now, who else has got ideas or opinions on any of those?


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## cuticom

Well Mum's decided to stop by a really good aquarium shop and pick up some clown loaches for her tank, so if I want anything I gotta work it out by tonight. Getting fish from cossroads is way better then the other dingy pet stores, plus they have a much bigger range, only problem is ther almost 2 and a half hours away. LOl so what fish do u guys think?

Edit just thought I'd add a pic of Kelvins tank, I redid it to add heaps of caves to hopefully reduce aggression









Edit again- I found another intersting fish, the blind cave fish, will go do some more research LOL


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## cuticom

Hmm gotta say I really like the look of blind cave fish, I know I'm weird but hey when i was 7 I spent two years begging my parents to get me a bearded dragon LOL.

The blind cave tetra is a fin nipper thats agressive in its own right, so kelvin cant beat em up
They max out at 4"
They look really cool
Are very active fish and live all over the tank

Hmm sounds like a good fish


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## cuticom

Well, I've decided to definately go for the blind cave tetras, their such cool fish, so I think I'll get about 4 of em, and then Kelvin shud be happy


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## Gourami Swami

DUde... clown loaches and rianbow sharks both get to a foot long.


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## DavidB86

I've always had itleast one rainbow shark in my tank(s) for the past five years or so. 

They look like this:









The other picture posted was one of a Indecresent Shark, which can grow up to three feet long. I made the mistake of buying two of these one time from petsmart, because I did no prior research on the fish, and the tag said "can grow up to 8 inches long", which is rubbish. 

Rainbow sharks grow up to about 6" long (no more then that) and are highly territorial from my experience. I've always housed them with community fish, and they generally leave everything except its own kind alone. I've had no fatalities from stress or bites. 

Clown loaches are even more nocturnal then rainbow sharks imo. You rarely ever see them if you have alot of structures they can hide in. They are also veryyyyyy susceptible to ich, which was the main cause of death for mine.


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## cuticom

Lol sorry, should've explained better. Mum has her own tank, (not this one) in which she had a recent die off after some idiot sold us faulty medicine. The Only surviver was a single 8" clkown loach, so shes getting him some buddies. Kelvin does not live in this tank.

Kelvin lives in a 23g by himself which is way to small for clown loaches.

Well in the end the trip to the shop was cancelled so I ahve some more time to decide but I gotta say I really really like the blind acve tetras LOL


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## girth vader

DavidB86 said:


> I've always had itleast one rainbow shark in my tank(s) for the past five years or so.
> 
> They look like this:
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> Rainbow sharks grow up to about 6" long (no more then that) and are highly territorial from my experience.


They get bigger then 6", not as big as Emperors or Balas, but they do get bigger then 6". I have had buddies with them in a comm tank with no prblems either, but I have had probs and sounds like this guys will be a PITA as well.
As far as the CL, if they have a group in the tank they will freely swim, play and happily eat with lights on or off.


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## AquaGirl

Cuticom, how big is your mom's aquarium. You should give 2 clown loaches at least 55 gallon of aquarium space.


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## TigerBarb12

Gourami Swami said:


> What is a rainbow shark? is it this?




no, this is an iridescent shark, a rainbow shark has red on it.


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## Gourami Swami

Well duh I know its an irredescant shark, but I though for a moment that "rainbow" shark was just a re-named ID shark by petsmart.


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## cuticom

I honestly have no idea the size of Mums tank, but am just gonna leave her to her own thing, as right now she's liable to bite my head off if I ask whats for dinner let alone if i ask if her tanks big enough for her fish. Me and Mum arent the best of buddies and its infinitely easier to let her make her own decisions regarding her pets and let me keep my own pets seperate.

Well back on topic does any one have another ideas for fish?
Current stocking ideas are
1. 3-4 female Bettas
2. 4 Blind Cave Tetras
3. 6 Danios
4. 4-6 Corys
5. A single Female Betta
6. A single keyhole cichlid


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## cuticom

So cool! LOl I finally got Kelvin to come up and eat it took quite a few flakes and two algae wafers but he finally came up to the surface and ate some food LOL, I guess he was getting kinda hungry. I'm very happy LOl, was getting worried he would stop eating altogether


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## Gourami Swami

How big is the tank in feet would you say? 4 ft is the minimum. 

And I cant help you stock a tank i dont know the size of.


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## Giddy012

I would probable stay away from so many female Bettas, just because you said you live pretty far away from the fishstore, and females don't always get along (usually do but not always). The corys are fun, but it looks like your tank may have some sharp peices in it, and corys are easilly injured on sharp or even rough objects. I would go with the Danio's there are some really cool looking ones out there, and they would be nice and active in your 29gal.


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## cuticom

Gourami Swami my tank is 23 gallons, about 24" long. I dunno where you got 4 feet from. My faimly has 5 fish tanks, 4 are mine, 1 is my Mums, Mums one is the one for the clown loaches, the tank Kelvins in is a pretty standard 20g Tall with a bit extra added to the top, as the guy I got it from had had it custom made for angelfish.

Well I just added 5 baby snails into the tank that came on one of my plants and everytime Kelvin sees em on the glass he has to knock em down and play chasys, poor snails


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## Gourami Swami

I got 4 ft because that is the minimum size tank you should keep a clown loach in. 55 gallons. an 8" fish in a 20 high is horrible... hesprobly stunted. No offence but you should seriously find him a better home.


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## Giddy012

Swarmi, he's not talking about Loaches (those are in his Mom's tank which he has stated he has no control over), he's trying to find fish that will get along with his 3" Rainbow Shark.


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## cuticom

Sigh, the clown locahes have NOTHING to do with what I am asking they are NOT my fish and they are not in MY 23g as I've repeated over and over they live in my Mum's tank. Hmm just wait maybe you thought Kelvin was a clown loach? Kelvins a juvenile rainbow shark, he'll only get to about 6" and waaay before that he'll be upgraded to a three or four foot tank

The Tank I am asking questions about is a 23g tank that currently houses a single 3" Rainbow shark and I am looking for tank mates that'll live with him now, and can be moved along with the shark whne I upgrade my sharks tank

Another Q what about a couple of mystery snails, I quite like am and have never got em as I seem to always have overly nippy fish. Would they live with a rainbow shark?


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## AquaGirl

I don't know for sure but I heard that rainbow sharks will eat snails.


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## cuticom

Just went through the net and I didnt find anything about sharks and snails being incompatible. Most sites just said if the fish isn't big enough to crush its shell, then it wont hurt it. They also said that sometimes nippy fish will take a chunk out of the tentacle but mystery snails have amazing regeneration abilities and after the first time will learn to sense the differnces in water movement and tuck back into its shell.

Edit- oops sorry am switching back and forth between forums and a science assignment didnt mean to give you a report LOL


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## girth vader

cuticom said:


> So cool! LOl I finally got Kelvin to come up and eat it took quite a few flakes and two algae wafers but he finally came up to the surface and ate some food LOL, I guess he was getting kinda hungry. I'm very happy LOl, was getting worried he would stop eating altogether


 glad to hear. As long as they're healthy they will always come for food eventually. as I said in my prior post. just hold off on more fish and let him grow out of that one and then plan for stocking a 36" or 48". Who knows, maybe he likes the peace and quiet


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## cuticom

Hmm well I think I agve him a wee bit too much LOL, a single algae wafer makes his tummy really really round and fat LOL, Hmm shall see if I can break them in half.


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## cuticom

Well I picked up some goldfish slow sinking crumbles to supplement Kelvins diet today and two very large happy mystery snails. Jonathon and Granny Smith LOL, so once they finish acclimatising I'll see how Kelvin goes


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## armychica33

*needing advice etc*

Ok, so I started off with a 5 gallon octogonal that was given to me free. I now have a 55 gallon. I "had" 2 dania, 3 glowfish, 2 tiger barbs, and 1 pleco. I just added a bala shark about 3 days ago. From what I was told, the bala should be fine with my other fish. This morning I woke up to a dead dania, and just now my daughter found one of my barbs dead. Do you think it is the rainbow shark? I read some of your posts, or do you think it is the bala shark. I haven't seen the bala act aggressively towards any of the fish, but as you all said my rainbow shark does chase them quite a bit. Thanks for any help. Oh and I am thinking of getting 2-4 mature barbs, and 2 clown loches. Which I am guessing by a post I read that the 55 is good for the loaches.


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## wkhorsecrazy

cuticom said:


> Sigh, I'm having a horrible time trying to find a tankmate for kelvin my little 3" rainbow shark. he was living with dwarf gouramis and a Molly but the gouramis didnt too weel in the tank so they moved to my planted 20g and Marino the Molly continually beat Kelvin up so Marino was moved to the planted tank as well.
> 
> So Kelvin's all by himself and so far hasnt come out of his cave since his tankmates left which was two days ago. I know rainbow sharks are nocturnal but i still wanna see Kelvin sometimes LOL and obviously without other fish to chase him out of his acve now and then he just stays there.
> 
> The Tanks a 23-25g, unplanted decorated with just Kelvins cave right now, as I ditched all the ugly plastic plants, does anyone of stocking ideas? Please note I live in outback Australia so the more exotic or rare varieties arent available to me.
> 
> The only required fish is Kelvin as he's my absolutely fave fish, when he grows up he'll probably get a 3 or 4 foot tank, but theres at least a few months till then. Oh and understocked is better the overstocked as with my life right now sometimes i dont manage to clean the tank out exactly every 7 days
> 
> Emma


The Rainbow Shark I have really like the two Cory fish I have, which are very peaceful and fun to watch.


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## dodo5588

i want to kno if i can put 3 tiger barbs 3 green barbs and 1-2 rainbow sharks in a 30 gal tank.


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## Ghost Knife

dodo5588 said:


> i want to kno if i can put 3 tiger barbs 3 green barbs and 1-2 rainbow sharks in a 30 gal tank.


No, that's too small of a tank. You would need at least a 55 gallon tank.


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## dodo5588

i have a tank with 1 comet goldfish 1 rainbow shark and 1 bala shark and 3 ivory mystery snails is this ok they are in a 30gal tank with lots of hiding places my bala shark is not eating he eats and spits all his food out is this normal? help


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## Ghost Knife

dodo5588 said:


> i have a tank with 1 comet goldfish 1 rainbow shark and 1 bala shark and 3 ivory mystery snails is this ok they are in a 30gal tank with lots of hiding places my bala shark is not eating he eats and spits all his food out is this normal? help


Ok you definitely have some problems here. Goldfish are coldwater fish rather than tropical so it needs to be moved. I hate to tell you but 30 gallon is way too small for a Bala Shark as they need a minimum of a 75 gallon tank. The Rainbow Shark and snails will probably be ok in there though.


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## jp1016

Balas get HUGE. So bala in 30 gallon=trouble


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