So, you can feed your fish tropical pellets, fish flakes, frozen food, veggies, and algae wafers. In captivity, Rainbow sharks eat pretty much any of the common fish foods available that reach the bottom of the tank. In the wild environment, the fish fed on insect larvae, decomposing plants, algae, and zooplankton. Diet and Feeding Habits What to Feed Your Rainbow Sharkĭespite their fearsome reputation, Rainbow sharks are omnivores. However, if you want to keep more than one of these sharks, you’ll need a very large tank with at least one meter of territory per fish. In nature, the Rainbow shark is a solitary fish that’s somewhat territorial. Rainbow sharks are not naturally a schooling species and can be belligerent toward their own kind. Good tank mates for Rainbow sharks are Rainbow fish, danios, barbs, gouramis, and guppies. Introducing your shark to your community tank last helps to prevent or reduce territorial behavior. The key to keeping the peace is to provide a large tank with plenty of hiding places and never overstock your fish tank. With that in mind, we recommend avoiding other bottom-dwellers since the sharks will chase and harass them. Rainbow sharks can be kept in community tanks, provided their tank mates prefer to swim in the upper areas of the water column. However, as juveniles, these fish are pretty shy creatures that generally hide away from their tank mates. Mature Rainbow sharks are semi-aggressive, territorial fish that can be intolerant of others invading their space. Rainbow sharks are active bottom-dwellers who spend their time scavenging around the substrate, looking for food scraps and algae to eat. Rainbow sharks have a lifespan of between five and eight years in captivity. Other color variations of this popular freshwater fish include the Albino Rainbow shark, which has orange finnage and a white body. In addition, males are more slim-bodied fish than females, which typically have thicker bodies. Generally, male fish have brighter colors than female Rainbow sharks and have thin black lines on their tail fin. The fish are long and flat-bellied with pointed snouts and characteristic upright dorsal fins, giving them the appearance of a shark, hence their NameName. These are beautiful fish with dark gray bodies and vibrant orange-red fins. Rainbow sharks are large fish, growing to measure around 6 inches in length when mature. Rainbow sharks are one of several species of freshwater aquarium sharks that are extremely popular with aquarists, despite their semi-aggressive nature. During the wet season, the fish migrate to flooded areas, returning to the river once the floods recede. Rainbow sharks are bottom-dwellers inhabiting sandy-bottomed rivers, where they feed on plankton and algae. However, the fish is noted as being of “least concern” on the IUCN Red List.įortunately, most of the specimens for sale in fish stores are bred on commercial farms rather than taken from the wild. Unfortunately, the Rainbow shark’s numbers are decreasing in the wild, largely because of habitat destruction. However, if kept in a very small aquarium (less than 30 gallons) they may become more aggressive towards all of their tank mates.The Rainbow shark (Epalzeorhynchos frenatum) comes from the tropical waters of Chao Phraya, Mekong, Bangfai, and Maeklong basins of Indochina. They generally do not exhibit aggression towards other fish species that are shaped unlike themselves. It is important to provide them with plenty of vegetation and cave or tunnel structures in order to replicate their natural environment.Īlbino Rainbow Sharks can be kept with most commonly available freshwater community fish species, but can be a bit too aggressive for some of the more shy species. A suitably large aquarium for multiple specimens would be a 6 foot long tank like a 125 gallon, which if aqua-scaped correctly could provide plenty of territory for multiple specimens.Īlbino Rainbow Sharks prefer a sandy substrate, but this is not a requirement as they can also do very well with gravel substrates as well. In order to keep multiple Albino Rainbow Sharks or to keep a Albino Rainbow Shark with a similar species like a Red Tail Shark or Bala Shark, a much larger aquarium is required to provide each specimen with enough territory. Single specimens can be kept in aquariums as small as 30 gallons, but do better in aquariums of 55 gallons or more. The larger the aquarium and the more plants, rocky caves and tunnels provided to them, the more their territorial nature can be mitigated. Albino Rainbow Sharks are considered moderately difficult to care for due to their territorial behavior towards those of their own species and similarly shaped species.
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