Rainbow Shark

The Rainbow Shark is a freshwater fish of the cyprinidae family. Rainbow Sharks come in two different varieties: The Epalzeorhynchos frenatum which is gray with orange fins and the Epalzeorhynchos munense or the Albino Rainbow Shark, which is white with orange fins. The E. frenatum was once called Labeo frenatus; the name has since been corrected but some people still use the old name to describe the Rainbow Shark.

Physical Description:

Rainbow Sharks are long and slender with their mouths turned down-ward for bottom feeding, and two pairs of barbels for feeling their way along surfaces. These fish will grow to an average mature size of about 6 inches and can live for up to 6 years if well cared for. The E. frenatum has a greenish-black coloration with bright orange fins. There is a black line that starts at the snout and ends just past the gill plate and a caudal spot on the caudal peduncle. The E. munense is the Albino Rainbow shark which lacks the black pigments coloring the body, eyes, stripe and caudal spot. The albino has red eyes, a white body and the same orange fins. Although there is no black caudal spot on the Albino Rainbow Shark there is still a distinct discoloration where that spot would otherwise be.

Behavior:

Rainbow Sharks have a very aggressive nature and are known to be very territorial. These fish do not do well in a species tank because Rainbow Sharks do not like to share territories with their own kind. That is the main reason why breeding is not commonly successful in the average home aquarium. Rainbow Sharks should never be in a community aquarium smaller fish. Fish of equal or larger size would be able to survive in the same tank as the Rainbow Shark while a smaller fish would either be picked on or chased until it was no longer living. Even though the Rainbow Shark is surrounded by larger fish it will still attempt to dominate unless one of the other fish proves he is stronger than the little shark. The Rainbow Shark’s aggravating behavior does not mix well with many different species but they will live in relative peace with gouramis, pleacos and loaches.

Habitat:

Rainbow Sharks are native to areas throughout Southeast Asia, in Thailand and Indonesia. They live in the sandy bottoms of rivers such as Mekong and Chao Pharaya.

Water:

A Rainbow Shark with thrive at optimal temperatures between 72 to 82°F. Although this fish is not all that finicky in terms of pH conditions, the optimal pH range is from 6.5 to 7.5. Rainbow Sharks prefer moderate to hard water. The water should always be clean and flowing with a good filtration system and plenty of oxygen.

In the Aquarium:

There is a minimum requirement of 30 gallons for an aquarium featuring the Rainbow Shark, although 55 gallons or more would be much better. This is a very active species that has the potential to be very aggressive if adequate hiding places are not provided. This fish is not recommended for beginning aquarists because of their temperament. Rainbow Sharks tend to not get along with other Rainbow Sharks or many other community species. When raising one of these sharks, be sure there are plenty of caves and plants for the other fish to seek refuge in. It is a good idea to have plenty of free swimming space in the upper half of the aquarium to accommodate these hyperactive fish.

Food:

The Rainbow Shark is considered to be herbivorous but it will definitely eat a variety of foods. They would more accurately be described as omnivorous because they eat anything that is fed to them in the aquarium. They will accept a variety of flake and pellet foods but are much happier receiving live or frozen brine shrimp or a good old algae wafer. They will also accept lettuce and spinach, tubiflex worms, and crustaceans as a part of their diet. Rainbow Sharks are surface nibblers, mainly at the bottom of the aquarium. Their mouths are turned down-ward just for that reason. They like to pick algae off of surfaces inside the aquarium.

Sexing:

The Male Rainbow Sharks are generally slimmer than females with brighter colors in both their tails and bodies. The male’s tail will also have a black outline on his anal fin, unless he is an Albino Rainbow Shark.

Breeding:

Rainbow Sharks are egg layers and are bred in Southeast Asia. Rarely are they bred in the home aquarium. Since Rainbow Sharks do not get along with one another it is hard to keep them together long enough for them to reproduce.

Picture

Sources

The Rainbow Shark

has been viewed times since June 30, 2009.

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michael on: February 17, 2009, 11:43 pm wrote

My rainbow shark likes to hide. He's not really aggressive and he will not eat flakes for some reason.

Kristy on: February 25, 2009, 12:42 am wrote

I have a rainbow shark in with a betta, dalmatian molly and two glass fish and the shark seems to be protecting the glass fish when the betta gets it in his mind to chase them around. The shark is by far the most docile fish of all.

Aniken on: May 7, 2009, 1:16 pm wrote

My rainbow is quite aggressive, should I get another so he wont bully the rest of my fish?

Answer by admin: You should put him into some bigger aquarium instead. If your aquarium is big enough, use plants in order to separate him from other fish. When an aggressive fish cannot see other fish, they won't fight. And if they find each other, they will likely act peacefully in general, even though they'll still fight a little. Plants are very good for the purpose of lowering aggression between fish.

Christopher on: May 21, 2009, 1:43 pm wrote

I just bought four Rainbow Sharks at the local aquarium, I also have five Angel fish (one of them is larger than the others), one Golden Gourami, one Bronze Catfish, two Black Sail Fins, two Congo Tetras and five Black Widows and they all seem to be pretty peaceful in the same tank.

It has got quite a few plants, well lit (with a few surface plants, for cover) and a few artifical logs, for the fish to hide in.

Had a Red Tail Black shark too and it also seemed to get along with the other fish. I think it is pretty hard to rate a fish's temperment, except perhaps Piranha (wouldn't get one of those or any Electrogenic fish either).

I think the nature of the fish depends on where you buy them from because I bought some Blue Gouramis at another aquarium and they became very nervous around me and the other fish, eventually one of them died and then it's friends died as well. But my Golden Gourami has been very peaceful and is not afraid of me at all.

It makes me think that fish are a lot like us, how we have all got different natures too.

My neighbour also said that fish are romantic, I thought at first that this didn't make sense, but I once bought some angel fish at a garage sale and one of them (the female) was blind and when she died, the other fish stopped eating and it died as well.

This is all from personal experience.

Joe on: May 25, 2009, 7:24 am wrote

I have 2 rainbow sharks in with my 4 Bala Sharks, they are getting along very well, even the 2 rainbow's seem to leave each other alone for the most part. I think key is having plenty of room and some good dark hiding places for the rainbows to hang out in.

Nic on: June 4, 2009, 6:21 pm wrote

I have only just bought my Rainbow Shark in last few days... I keep it with a school of Rummynose and Cardinal tetra plus a couple of Serpae's. I also have 2 quite large Angelfish, a Bristlenose Catfish and 2 Blue Ram's... and a Keyhole Cichlid. These are all in a new 2ft tank and all get along brilliantly. All my fish love Mysis Shrimp and Bloodworms and enjoy the occaisonal pellet mix. Hope that helps.

Nic

jon on: June 11, 2009, 2:00 am wrote

I have a 60 gallon tank. Keep 3 rainbows, 3 balas, 4 clown loaches, 2 gouramis, 2 plecos, and a few really fast glofish at the top.... So far the only aggression I see is the rainbows with each other. Although initially the bala and gouramis chased the glofish, they stopped after realising they are too fast....

I would suggest if you're going to buy smaller fish get ones that are fast enough to evade. If I had to do it over again I would buy only 1 or 2 rainbows..... Very territorial. BTW, I love when the clown loaches dig into the gravel and pick out pellets.

Kels on: June 15, 2009, 8:05 am wrote

I have an albino rainbow shark who is extremely aggressive when in a bigger space. It would much rather swim around in the little 5 gallon isolation tank than be in it's larger 30 gallon. When placed in the 30gal, he gets extremely upset and is very violent towards the other fish. However, when moved into the 5gal (even with other fish), he's very docile and is even somewhat playfully.

I'm not sure why this is, though I'm uncertain of what to do about him. I simply can't put him back in the 30gal without him being a danger to himself and the other fish. Currently, he's in the 5gal with two mollies, and he's never been happier, even if he's quite obviously restricted by the space.

Kelcey on: July 26, 2009, 11:57 am wrote

Hi, I have an Albino Rainbow Shark right now. It is smaller, but they usually grow to 6" and are supposed to be in a minimum of 50 gallons for their tank but it would be better if it was even larger than 50 gallons. I actually have two Albino Rainbow Sharks, a baby Tiger shark but when it gets huge we are taking it to the ocean, I have some tiger fish and two catfish. They all have their own little hide outs. The Albino Rainbow Sharks love rocks, driftwood, plants, and their own little hideouts, they hate sharing especially with the same breed. They fight mostly with the same breed which also makes it extremely difficult to breed. Tiger Fish are very, very fast swimmers they like the tropical food mixes or flakes. The difference between male and female tiger fish is that the females are usually more robust or bigger in fatness than the male. The males are usually slimmer. If you have many fishes or even just one or a couple you should most definitely get a filterization system, otherwise known as a filter so your fishes don't get diseases as easy. If you get new props or scenery, you should clean those props thoroughly and put some salt to the water in which you are cleaning the props in so it helps fight off the germs of when people touched the little toys and props.

Katie on: July 27, 2009, 12:16 pm wrote

Hi, I have multiple fish in the same large tank along with my two rainbow sharks; Butch who is grey with orange fins and Whitey, a smaller albino rainbow shark. Butch normally chases Whitey around, and now Whitey only comes out at night. Should I put Butch in a different tank or should I put Whitey in a different tank? Butch is basically dominant of the sharks but my much larger goldfish is dominant in the tank. I don't know if Butch and Whitey are having a rivalry over territory or not.

Answer: As long as they don;t fight all the time, it's OK to keep them together in one aquarium. They will fight, because this is how they behave in home aquariums. Your fish tank would have to be very big if you wanted to avoid this. Of course, you may separate them, but this should be the last option.

Erika on: August 3, 2009, 9:20 am wrote

Hello, I have 2 rainbow sharks and 2 albino rainbow sharks in a large tank with my gouramis, tiger barbs, upside down catfish, and a couple others and my rainbow sharks are about 2 years old now and are pretty friendly with the other ones! I'm so proud of them their about 6 inches long and very beautiful!

Summer O-DG. on: August 8, 2009, 2:22 pm wrote

Hello, I have 3 rainbow sharks, 2 albino rainbows sharks 3-4" long, and 6 neon rosy barbs in my 55g tank, they pretty much like each other. I think it would be best for them if they had plenty of room to swim and the tank should have plants and caves to lower their aggression.

I was wondering if I can add a blood parrot into my tank, I know it's a hybrid fish and many people boycott those petstore who sell them. I just can't resist their beauty, but I'm not sure if they are compatible with my neon rosy barbs and rainbow sharks.

Help!

Answer: These fish should be OK, however I would recommend bigger aquarium for keeping these species together.

MILL on: August 26, 2009, 4:37 am wrote

Hi, I bought a rainbow shark yesterday along with 4 tiger barbs and put them into my 50gal tank with 3 fully grown gouramis. The rainbow shark spends most of it's time in the cave occasionally coming out to feed. When he's out the tiger barbs inspect it's cave and when he's done he has to come and chase them away. Other than that everyone is getting along fine and I'm going back to the store today for a few more fish.

Taryn on: December 30, 2009, 3:08 pm wrote

My boyfriend has had his rainbow shark in a 10 gallon with a cory for 2 years, then 6 months ago we put him in a 20L gallon with the same cory, a mini crab, and mollys. It's 4 inches now. I'm thinking of getting a baby albino to put in a 10 gallon for 6 months with my guppys and ottos.

Ivan on: January 4, 2010, 5:04 am wrote

My rainbow shark is very friendly and will not attack both of my redtail sharks, can somone tell me why isn't the shark aggressive?

Answer: Your fish may simply feel very comfortable and doesn't feel stressed by other fish. If fish live in correct conditions, aggression usually doesn't reach levels that can be seen in fish kept in smaller or inappropriate aquariums.

Missers on: January 18, 2010, 6:21 pm wrote

I have two albino corys, four loaches, one silver shark, one gold gourami, two sword tail fish, three mollys and one albino rainbow shark. They all seem to get along fine and they are doing well.

Tracy K on: January 21, 2010, 12:37 am wrote

Will sharks protect other fish? I have a red-tail, 4 barbs and two otocinclus. One of the otos got sick (real pale, stripe even faded away) and I thought he was gonna die. The last fish that died (which incidentally was replaced by the red-tail) was finished off by the barbs pecking at it.

I noticed one day that the barbs were pestering the failing oto, and Charlie (the red-tail) had been chasing them off (which he does anyway.) Then I saw him hovering over the sickly oto in a manner that suggested protection. I saw him do this a number of times, one time even like he was stroking or petting the oto. I then watched as the oto swam over the top of the shark moving the mouth gently over the shark's skin.

Whatever the relationship between the two, the oto has actually recovered (this is a first for the tank) and is now a healthy little guy. It will be interesting to see if the shark now has a protector relationship with the otos on a regular basis, but I was wondering if this is common...

Thanks.

Answer: In my experience this is not common behaviour.

Niall on: February 20, 2010, 3:13 am wrote

I have 7 neon tetra, 4 platys, 1 tiny baby molly, 2 Balas, 1 rainbow shark, 6 lack neon tetra and 5 zebra danio and a leopard danio.

Evey one of them is fine except a rainbow, he chases the other fish. He is about 2 & 1/2 inches and the balas are about 3 i/2 and 4 and they get chased too. The light is not that bright, lots of plants and a cave for the rainbow. Am feeding them flakes, little balls and sometimes blood worms which they love. The rainbow only comes out of his cave to chase and I think he feeds at night.

richard on: March 23, 2010, 5:45 am wrote

Hi, I've kept all sorts of fish for years, but really love the sharks the most. For some reason all my sharks died at the same time about 6 months ago. And all my other fish were fine. They're all peaceful fish; gouramis and pleco, aroumed catfish. I have a well matured tank with pH level of around 6 - 6.5, temp 25. There's about 600 liters of water, very large tank. Very good filtration, and aeration. Nitrates and nitrites and ammonia levels are low. I bought a whole load of sharks yesterday, 12 in total and I've come home from work to find them all dead again. They lasted 1 day, absolutely clueless. Can't understand why they keep dying. Can anyone help with this problem because I'm out of ideas.

Marcus on: April 26, 2010, 5:03 am wrote

I have 2 rainbow sharks. I keep them with all aggressive fish; 2 wolf fish, 2 red devils, 2 flowerhorns, and 2 jack dempseys. Oh, and 2 crayfish in a 55 gallon for now. They get along great. They all chase each other and have fun.

Leanne on: May 4, 2010, 3:25 pm wrote

My rainbow shark actually lives just fine with 7 neon tetras. He doesn't get along with our sword tail, but he hangs out in the same cave as our two yoyo loaches. I am not sure what makes the difference with the sword tail. Maybe it is that he is orange and thus looks too much like our albino shark for the shark's liking? Or, maybe it's because he's aggressive enough to fight back. Our loaches are as tough as the shark but in a playful way, so maybe that makes him OK with them. He's never even bothered to notice the tetras. Anyway, I do think having to live with the loaches has taught our shark some humility, but as for the littler fish, he just doesn't seem interested. Maybe we are just lucky.

Fish kipper on: June 5, 2010, 6:24 pm wrote

My rainbow shark is with my 2 angelfish and 1 rainbow and 1 gourami with another albino shark. Today I saw my rainbow sharks kissing each other and dancing. My rainbow shark is light colored and the other one is dark colored, are they mates?

Answer: So-called "kissing" is just aggression, it's a sign of territorial behaviour.

ColbyJS on: July 8, 2010, 3:29 am wrote

Bought a Rainbow about a month ago, got him in a relatively small tank, planning for an upgrade when he gets too big. I've got him in with Black Skirt Tetras, he chases them sometimes when they get near his cave or when they're scavenging 'his' food from the bottom. Other than that he ignores them and the chases last for no more than half a second. I think the Black Skirts chase each other around more than ol' Sharky does. :D

jaason on: July 16, 2010, 2:26 pm wrote

My rainbows protect my goldfish from my gourami (they like to bite tails).

Fritz Lachoff on: July 21, 2010, 6:52 am wrote

Bumming out today, my rainbow shark passed after 6 years with him. He was pretty much full grown when I got him and he stayed in a 10 gallon tank for all of this time. I guess it doesn't matter what species of pet you have, whether it is fish, birds, dog or cat, it hurts when you lose one after being used to having them around.

john on: July 29, 2010, 4:48 pm wrote

I have a rainbow shark. When I first got it a week ago it was very energic and swimming around a lot, now it just stays in its little cave and floats sideways with its head pointing at an upward angle. It also does not eat, any idea what the deal is with it? Is it something serious I need to be worried about?

Answer: Yes, something is wrong. Have you performed water tests? Firstly you need to ensure that the water fits fish' requirements. pH and hardness levels, along with temperature. Don't forget that very bright light isn't welcome too. Oxygen levels are very important too.

Try to feed your rainbow shark other foods too. It's also possible that the fish is ill, however diagnosis would be hard without pictures or without knowing anything about symptoms.

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