Rhino Pleco & Red Tail Shark

Question
I have tried silver dollars, blue, gold and pearl gourami, Angel fish, cat fish, some kind of white tetra and gold tetras, and neons,




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Followup To
Question -
Hi,  I have a 6"+ rhino pleco and a 5 inch fat red tail shark living in a 55 gallon tank.  What type of fish can they live with?  The two of them bother any fish I put them with.  Regards, Cathy
Answer -
Hi Cathy;

What fish have you tried so far?

It will give me some idea of their individual personalities....

Chris

Answer
Hi Cathy;

Those previous guys you had in there are all pretty mild, especially when small. Anything else you try would have to be of a large enough size to defend itself and be a little aggressive. Ask your local fish store if they have any larger gouramis or other fish that were brought back after being exceptionally aggressive in a community tank. Basically, you will be trying to buy other people's fish that have similar attitudes to your own.

You could also try some medium sized cichlids. I am not really that experienced with many cichlid varieties, so the best person to ask is Ron Coleman. I know he could give you some tips on a few that are aggressive enough to hold their own, but not aggressive enough to kill your other fish. Here is the link to his profile page;

http://www.allexperts.com/displayExpert.asp?Expert=21527

You might also need to add more hiding places so they have a way to get away from each other sometimes. Rock caves, terra cotta flower pots, driftwood and commercially made decorations all work quite well. Many fish are territorial too. They need room to stake out some property. Your shark is one that does that. They will aggressively defend a whole tank and kill most anything else that enters.

When you introduce the new fish, only get one or two at first. You don't want to overload the biological balance and make any of them sick. Add another one or two in a week or so. This gives the biological system time to adjust. Make a 25% water change that day too and rearrange the decorations when you bring the new fish home so it throws the original fish out of their established territory. They will not be quite as aggressive to the new ones while they are trying to find a place to establish again. Float the new fish bags on top of the tank water for 10 to 20 minutes. Feed the original fish on one end of the tank as you net the new fish into the other end. This distracts them. Hopefully your new ones will have a better chance to get used to the tank a little before they have to fight off the others.

Remember not to add any water from the transport bag to the tank. It is a common mistake. It's full of stress hormones and ammonia and could really mess up your biological balance. Just net the fish from it after acclimating them and throw the water away.

I hope you can find some friends for your "robust" fish very soon......

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins