I bought 2 rainbow sharks about a month ago along with 2 bala sharks 5 tiger barbs and a sucker fish. The two rainbow sharks got along fine until about a week ago when the bigger one attacked the smaller one and killed it. Now he is swimming around more that before and is picking on my bala sharks. All of my fish live in a clean well circulated 30 gal. tank.
What can I do?
I don't want to get rid of him, but if he kills more of my fish I kind of have to.
2007-10-30 16:41:53 · 4 answers · asked by nightmare_380 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
What's happened is the rainbow is maturing. These are territorial fish, and while they may get along with tankmates when they're younger, as they mature and set up a territory, they are aggressive in defending it. A 30 gallon tank is territory for one fish.
The other rainbow became his "rival" since it was the same species (they'll also go after red-tailed sharks because they look similar to rainbows) and without a way to get out of the territory of the first, it was killed.
The balas are too small for a 30 gallon. They can get to 14 inches long (each) and should be kept in a group of at least 3. They tend to be "speedsters" and are very active, so they should have a tank even larger than would be indicated by just their adult size - something on the order of a 100+ gallon.
You will really need to find another home for the balas, regardless of what happens with the rainbow. Once they're out of the tank, it may or may not get along with the other tankmates. If you don't have a lot of cover (hiding places) in the tank, adding some may help. The rainbow will choose a cave or plant for his hiding place, and fish that are out of it's sight will be more likely to be left alone.
2007-10-30 17:06:41 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
30 gallon is way too small for bala sharks and rainbows are aggresive toward the same species and similar looking fish so best thing is to separate them
2007-10-30 16:45:53 · answer #2 · answered by dAmIAnOO 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
way too many sharks in a 30 gallon tank. u seem surprised by this.....seperate them. either that or accept the death of the others.
2007-10-30 16:51:31 · answer #3 · answered by evanlah 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seperate.
2007-10-30 16:58:59 · answer #4 · answered by tiffy-xo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋