# Rainbow shark help



## LariM78 (Nov 2, 2010)

Hello all

My tanks seems really stable now, nitrates and nitrites are low and all the fish seem happy. I have 7 tiger barbs, 5 adult mollies and 8 molly fry in a breeding net in my 170l (45g) tank. I've added a little bit of salt (1g/litre) and the tiger barbs seem OK with the salt in the tank - the mollies love it.

When the tank was still new I had put a rainbow shark in and not realizing he was a bottom feeder he died of starvation. I bought some sinking tablets and got another rainbow shark but he died soon after as well. I was not sure if he was eating properly as the tiger barbs would chase the tablet and go crazy on it for a while, he may have died of another cause because he did not look thin. The tiger barbs have seemed to have calmed down quite a lot, they don't nip at the other fish the way they used to (still greedy though). I would like to get another rainbow shark for the tank but I'm concerned firstly that it may not tolerate the salt in the water or it may die of starvation because the barbs eat all the food in sight. Would anyone know of another feeding method for bottom feeders and if a rainbow shark will tolerate salt in the water?

Thanks,
Marc*c/p*


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

LariM78 said:


> Would anyone know of another feeding method for bottom feeders and if a rainbow shark will tolerate salt in the water?


Salt is bad for these guys. Sry. 

They will eat normally such as flakes, bloodworms, brine shrimp. They aren't relegated to the bottom for feeding though. When healthy, they will feed just like the other fishies.


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## sivakv (Aug 6, 2010)

not sure why you need to add salt.


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

A long time ago I kept one in a community tank and never fed him anything special. He would eat the same flakes as the other fish. They're a 'scaleless' fish which don't tolerate salt well, which may explain it, or perhaps he died of other causes. I always liked the rainbow shark a lot. A mollie can tolerate much less than the full dose of salt.. perhaps try salting 1/4 the recommended amount?


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