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I have just discovered that my dear Colin, sole surviving inhabitant of my hand-me-down tank (handed down from college student to college student) is in fact a red-finned shark. He's in a 10 gallon tank with a tiger barb and a pleco. Does anybody have ideas on how big he'll get and how best I can care for him?

sorry I think that there too aggressive & big 4 that tank... a little big...

& what type of pleco is it?
& I think Tiger barbs need to be kept in schools...

btw welcome to fish profiles

pinkspore,
Honestly none of them are likely to be appropriate for that small of a tank. Depending on the type of pleco it could possibly reach over a foot. Granted it won't happen if the fish has been stunted which has probably happened as well.

Personally I think you'd do best if you could trade them in @ your local fish store )LFS) and got more appropriate fish for the tank. RTBS are really quite active, I wouldn't keep them in anything smaller than a 30 gallon . Plecos depending on which kind need large tanks as well. Tiger barbs are schooling and active, really need larger tanks (do we catch a theme here ).

Yes there are plenty of cool options for 10 gallon tanks, stick around we'll help you out .

^_^[hr width='40%']"Put your soul in the water,
And join me for a swim tonight"

I'm sure that you weren't expecting to have anyone tell you that you needed to get rid of all your fish, but I may be able to provide you with some further explanations of why and maybe some nice alternatives...

And don't feel bad about people telling you this, we're not picking on you, I started out with a Red-Tailed Black Shark, a Rainbow Shark, and a Silver-Tipped Shark all in a 10 gallon tank before I came here...

1)Your red-finned shark, determine if it looks like [link=#1]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/rainbow.xml" style="COLOR: #00C000[/link] or [link=#2]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/redtail.xml" style="COLOR: #00C000[/link]. I'm expecting that it is #1 (Rainbow Shark), but due to the similarities between the species, I wanted to let you see the Red-Tailed Black Shark (RTS) too...

2)Both of those pages contained some information regarding those two species, but I think I can sum most of it up fairly quickly by saying that they each get in excess of 6" in length and are extremely territorial. The tank you currently have them in is approximately 18" long and 12" tall and 12" deep (front to back). This is the equivalent of you being forever encased in a 15' by 10' by 10' room. Those dimensions are most likely smaller than your bedroom. You can see how that might hinder your ability to move around all that much...

Their territorial nature is also famous. They require a cave in which to have a "base", and are notorious for chasing smaller fish as they grow. Again, because of the size of a 10-gallon tank, there's not much room for them to swim, so they're never satisfied with the territory that they achieve...

ALTERNATIVE: A good alternative to these fish are [link=Harlequin Rasboras]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/harlequin.xml" style="COLOR: #00C000[/link]. These are a little schooling fish (which will be described below) that have the same vibrant red and black colors of these shark species. They are active little fish that work VERY well in a 10 gallon tank...

3)Tiger Barbs are a schooling fish that gets approximately 3-4" long full-grown. By schooling, that means that without being in groups of 6 or larger, they have a tendency to get very stressed very easily. Being a stressed fish is a lot like being a stressed human. You're more susceptible to disease, you look a little pale, and you never really feel all that good. Unfortunately, that tank's still a little small for a school of fish that get that large...

ALTERNATIVE: MANY different types of schooling fish are available that stay small. As with any social creature, the more of their friends that they have around, the happier they are, so I would recommend stocking 6-8 in a 10-gallon tank for best results (depending on their specific max sizes). I recommend you go [link=here]http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/" style="COLOR: #00C000[/link] and type into the Search area the names (one at a time ) Pencilfish and Tetra. MOST of the species that are returned by the searches would be okay for a 10-gallon, but I recommend checking pack in this (or another) thread first, before you actually purchase any (just to make sure). Just click on the link to their respective profiles and you'll see all kinds of information about them...

4)A Plecostomus is a tough fish that is commonly sold to anyone who wants "a suckerfish". I'm sure yours is only a couple inches long, but they have a tendency to get rather large. There's a pic of one I recently saw in an Ohio fish store at the bottom of the page. The tank he is located in is 3 times the size of your tank (30 gal), and he measures out around 15-16" long. At full size, he'll be as big as your tank...literally. Unfortunately, he would probably never grow that big in that tank, he'll instead have his growth stunted. To stunt his growth means that, basically, his inside grows more while his outside doesn't. This would definitely qualify as one of those things that can stress a fish (as mentioned above), and it would be like confining yourself as a little kid into a room that is 5.5' tall, 4' wide, and 4' deep (about the equivalent of a tiny jail cell)...

ALTERNATIVE: [link=This fish]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/otto.xml" style="COLOR: #00C000[/link] is commonly called an Otocinclus or Otto. While it looks rather large in its profile picture, you need to realize that the turquoise thing is just a common piece of gravel. These only get about 1-1.5" long normally. They eat almost every type of algae and they eat like little vacuum cleaners. They are the perfect algae eater for a 10-gallon tank...

That's a little more as to why we recommend the fish you have get moved to a new home. I actually don't recommend you returning them to the store...I recommend you buy a 40 gallon+ tank so that they can get a new home instead... In the long run, it is your tank and your choice to make, but in my personal experience, my fish seem far happier now that they have much larger areas to themselves...

Big Ol' Pleco:




iltat attached this image:


PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

Oh yes, I'm well aware the tank is too small, the barb needs pals, and the pleco will get huge, don't worry. In June we're all (me, my dog, my 5 aquariums, my newt and my salamanders) moving back to my parents' house, and various things are going into my new 50 gallon tank, so everything will be remedied.

The barb is lonely because my tank is a barb deathtrap. No matter how many i get, all but 1 die. Once 3 little ones ganged up and ate a big one. I don't think I'm keeping barbs anymore, and i will probably tank Alfonze back.

Colin, my shark, is largely the reason for the new larger tank. This tank was orinigally set up 3 years ago by some friends who got their doctorates and moved cross country. I honestly think they just chose pretty fish, as I do a whole lot of research before bringing home any animal. I have been trying to identify Colin for quite some time now, and finally got decent pictures so he could be properly identified and cared for.

Thanks for the advice!

The problem you're having with the tigerbarbs is understandable seeing as they're in a small tank. Unlike with tetras who generally freak out and pull a deer in the headlights, barbs...and sometiems danios turn bully.
They'll pick on the smaller or weaker ones, and if the school isnt large or balanced enough some of the smaller weaker will recieve more than their share of being picked on.

^_^


[hr width='40%']"Put your soul in the water,
And join me for a swim tonight"