Red Tail Shark with guppies and Ram?

[faysalals1]

I have a 25 gallon aquarium heavily planted with lots of hiding spots, and I have 10 guppies, and 2 german rams. 

Is it possible to add a red tail shark with them too?

Below is a video of my aquarium I just took, but all the fish are sleeping:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LKVN79JJPg

 

[Pepere]

They can grow to 4-6 inches long.

 

Most care guides recommend at least a 55 gallon tank for a Red Tail Shark.

Edited April 5 by Pepere

[johnnyxxl]

On 4/5/2024 at 2:56 AM, faysalals1 said:

I have a 25 gallon aquarium heavily planted with lots of hiding spots, and I have 10 guppies, and 2 german rams. 

Is it possible to add a red tail shark with them too?

Below is a video of my aquarium I just took, but all the fish are sleeping:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LKVN79JJPg

 

Is this until the big tank is ready for fish?  They get big and need lots of space.

[Tony s]

the other thing to think about. they start off okay as community fish. then they can become complete jerks. they can get very territorial and mean

[T. Payne]

I would not recommend a red tail shark with those species or in that size aquarium.

[Tlindsey]

On 4/5/2024 at 12:11 PM, Tony s said:

the other thing to think about. they start off okay as community fish. then they can become complete jerks. they can get very territorial and mean

Accurate from my experience. 

[knee]

I think @nabokovfan87 has a red tail shark. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/4/2024 at 11:56 PM, faysalals1 said:

I have a 25 gallon aquarium heavily planted with lots of hiding spots, and I have 10 guppies, and 2 german rams. 

Is it possible to add a red tail shark with them too?

First off, the biggest distinction here is do you mean rainbow shark or a proper RTBS? 
(A Red-Tailed black shark and Rainbow shark are cousins, alongside SAEs, but they all have very different temperaments.  A RTBS has the bright orange fin on a black body, while a rainbow shark will have all of the fins as colored and is much calmer in terms of temperament.)

Alright so I want to start with the following video from consolidated fish farms.  They are a breeder / wholesaler in florida and they have the single best, most accurate video about rainbow/RTBS out there.  I would suggest that as a general rule avoid RTBS unless it is a fish you are certain you prefer the look on over the rainbow shark.
 

The biggest piece of advice is that you *MUST* have the care requirements front and center because of how this fish behaves.  They are nocturnal, which means they will spend all day generally hiding and they are out during the night, dusk, and dawn.  Siamese Algae Eaters are much more active, but also are from the same family.  they are a beautiful, unique cypranidae fish, but they are much more forgiving. 

SAE = 3 foot tank, you can have multiple
Rainbow Shark, 4 foot tank, 1 only
RTBS = 4 foot tank minimum, 1 only.

As far as the question itself about what they can be kept with.  I have not found a fish apart from other Cypranidae fish (SAE, Rainbow shark) that my sharkminnow will not tolerate.  Yes she has had some "issues" with other fish, but over time they do understand where her area is and then that leads to the aggression being tamed.  Mine is nearing 10, or over 10, years old and she is a wonderful, amazing fish.  She is pushing every dimension of 6" long and she has a tank dedicated for herself.  You can see her behavior in my tank that I have setup exclusively for her.  This is a tank with a piece of wood that is "her cave" and her territory.  They absolutely must have a place to run and hide into and that keeps them from going crazy on anything an everything in the tank. 

Water parameters are going to be the other critical issue that you run into.  A lot of cypranidae fish want cooler (low-mid 70's) water and will want higher flow and oxygenation.  They do extremely well with other cypranidae fish which include danio, rasbora, minnows, and barbs.

I hope this helps.  Please feel free to ask questions and I will respond when I get time to check back in.  Thank you @knee for the heads up!

This is her territory on the tank. She absolutely loves it.  Raises corydoras fry for me (keeps the adults away) and she has been with a variety of different species of fish.

 

T

[faysalals1]

On 4/6/2024 at 2:27 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

First off, the biggest distinction here is do you mean rainbow shark or a proper RTBS? 
(A Red-Tailed black shark and Rainbow shark are cousins, alongside SAEs, but they all have very different temperaments.  A RTBS has the bright orange fin on a black body, while a rainbow shark will have all of the fins as colored and is much calmer in terms of temperament.)

Alright so I want to start with the following video from consolidated fish farms.  They are a breeder / wholesaler in florida and they have the single best, most accurate video about rainbow/RTBS out there.  I would suggest that as a general rule avoid RTBS unless it is a fish you are certain you prefer the look on over the rainbow shark.
 

The biggest piece of advice is that you *MUST* have the care requirements front and center because of how this fish behaves.  They are nocturnal, which means they will spend all day generally hiding and they are out during the night, dusk, and dawn.  Siamese Algae Eaters are much more active, but also are from the same family.  they are a beautiful, unique cypranidae fish, but they are much more forgiving. 

SAE = 3 foot tank, you can have multiple
Rainbow Shark, 4 foot tank, 1 only
RTBS = 4 foot tank minimum, 1 only.

As far as the question itself about what they can be kept with.  I have not found a fish apart from other Cypranidae fish (SAE, Rainbow shark) that my sharkminnow will not tolerate.  Yes she has had some "issues" with other fish, but over time they do understand where her area is and then that leads to the aggression being tamed.  Mine is nearing 10, or over 10, years old and she is a wonderful, amazing fish.  She is pushing every dimension of 6" long and she has a tank dedicated for herself.  You can see her behavior in my tank that I have setup exclusively for her.  This is a tank with a piece of wood that is "her cave" and her territory.  They absolutely must have a place to run and hide into and that keeps them from going crazy on anything an everything in the tank. 

Water parameters are going to be the other critical issue that you run into.  A lot of cypranidae fish want cooler (low-mid 70's) water and will want higher flow and oxygenation.  They do extremely well with other cypranidae fish which include danio, rasbora, minnows, and barbs.

I hope this helps.  Please feel free to ask questions and I will respond when I get time to check back in.  Thank you @knee for the heads up!

Thank you so much for all the info, this really helps!

Im getting him today so ill update on how things work out 🙂

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/6/2024 at 12:31 PM, faysalals1 said:

Im getting him today so ill update on how things work out 🙂

I would wait until you have a 4 foot tank.

[faysalals1]

On 4/6/2024 at 2:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I would wait until you have a 4 foot tank.

So I was reading online and they said 25 gallon is okay, so I already ordered him online 2 weeks ago.

Im sad I did not make sure first, but I will get another tank soon

[nabokovfan87]

They need "room" to swim.  It's not healthy for them to have a short tank.  So please try to make that a priority if you can.  The new 60 breeders are really beautiful.

[faysalals1]

On 4/6/2024 at 3:02 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

They need "room" to swim.  It's not healthy for them to have a short tank.  So please try to make that a priority if you can.  The new 60 breeders are really beautiful.

I will buy a new tank in 3 weeks when I get money for sure

[faysalals1]

On 4/6/2024 at 3:02 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

They need "room" to swim.  It's not healthy for them to have a short tank.  So please try to make that a priority if you can.  The new 60 breeders are really beautiful.

Good news, I just got it and its 1.5 inches, so its a baby. I was worried I would get a big one and he wont be able to adjust till I get a new tank.

But his color is a faded black and red, is this normal because hes a baby? or is it because hes stressed?

And one last question, how fast do they grow? I was hoping to have a bit bigger fish

Edited April 6 by faysalals1

[AtomicSunfish]

Growing up, I had a rainbow shark in a 29-gal tank for many years. He grew to about 5 inches in length (they can get bigger), and he lived for quite a few years - I think something like 7 years. This was despite all my mistakes as a little boy at the time, so they are quite hardy. He got along well with other dissimilar, non-competing fish in the tank: tetras, rasboras, guppies, platies, gouramis, and angelfish. However, he would kill any other rainbow or red tail shark we tried to introduce (again, novice mistakes at the time). So, what they say is true: only one per tank.

These days, both rainbow and red tail sharks are recommend 55 gallons at a minimum. Rainbows grow to 6 inches, and red tails grow to 8 inches (and they are most impressive at that size). Rainbows are more omnivorous and can eat some algae; red tails are more predatory.

The little guy you have there will darken as it a) gets more comfortable in its new territory, and b) gets better nutrition.

A note on rainbow sharks with guppies. Once, in another 29-gallon set up, I had a smaller rainbow shark with guppies, one of which was a fairly large female. The rainbow and the guppy were close to the same size, and did not like each other. I was surprised at both the rainbow wanting to be aggressive to the female guppy, and the guppy’s ability to fight back. The two of them would spin each other round and round for a few minutes at a time, several times a day, and this went on for a few days. Nobody ever really got hurt, not even a split fin, but I was surprised at that level of aggression coming from both of them in that situation.

Edited April 7 by AtomicSunfish

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/6/2024 at 2:37 PM, faysalals1 said:

But his color is a faded black and red, is this normal because hes a baby? or is it because hes stressed?

Absolutely due to stress yes.  When they have the energy they will darken up.
 

On 4/6/2024 at 2:37 PM, faysalals1 said:

And one last question, how fast do they grow? I was hoping to have a bit bigger fish

The video above mentions a lot of details like this.  You will end up with a big fish.  They swim incredibly fast when they want to.  So that's why space is of concern.  Keep an eye out for jumping, especially if there is noise around the tank.

 

On 4/6/2024 at 1:18 PM, faysalals1 said:

I will buy a new tank in 3 weeks when I get money for sure

The fun part of having one is making all the decor for them to swim around, swim through.  Enjoy it!