# Redtail Shark vs. Rainbow Shark



## joeb9261

Which shark do you think is better? Make sure you comment a reason why you think that. Which ever shark gets the most votes is the shark I'm choosing for my tank.


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## jaybourne074

I had a red tail shark for many years in my tank. Make sure no small fish in the tank if selected.


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## Brian757

Red Tail Black Sharks are very territorial. You would have to make some caves and hideouts for it to call it's own. I wouldn't add any other bottom dwellers if your thinking of keeping one. It would openly go after a similar looking fish, and others that venture into it's territory. The same can be said for the Rainbow Shark, however it's not as aggressive as the Red Tailed Black Shark.

I would personally go with the Rainbow Shark. It has more red on it. Almost all of its fins if not all are red vs the red tail which obviously only has that red tail. If you plan on holding a semi-aggressive territory, you should be fine with either one. Good luck!!


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## navigator black

They are both nasty barbs. 

Rainbows get to 7 inches and lose their colours early. They chase everything and are territorial.

Red tails are a bit smaller (6 inches on average), but will give you trouble for twice the lifespan. They too lose colour with age. 

Neither are sharks or act the least bit sharklike - all they have going for them in that way is their dorsal shape. They beat up smaller tankmates, limit the other species you can keep in their tank and lose their looks long before they lose their lives.


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## Brian757

One last thing. NEVER keep either one with a larger or smaller fish of same species. The larger will attack the smaller until it dies, or jumps out of your tank. And dont mix Rainbow, Red-Tailed, Bala, or Black sharks together. They will attack one another. Adding tank ornaments might suppress these incidents. Also, each fish has its own personality. But a commonality is that they are aggressive.


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## jbrown5217

I prefer the way red tails look, but like everyone has said it is an aggressive species of barb.


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## coralbandit

sorry not to choose one of your two choices as ; both will have some aggresion issues,and will lose color(name implies color is best part of fish) as they age.I love "roseline sharks" ; denison barb.Most "shark" type fish are barbs; most barbs have aggression issues.The denison barb is peaceful(fry survive in my DT),nibbles on algae and (best of all) get more beautiful with age.They are not aggressive towards each other as I have 3 different sizes(ranging from 6" to 1 1/2").They school wonderfully and in short time have become one of my favorites(right up there with discus).Possibly these are not available in your area(although they seem to be showing up at petsmarts) or you didn't notice them as they are not as colorful during their youth.Thought I'd shout out another choice that seemed in line with your options.Strongly consider any choice of a fish that may become aggressive , especially if your looking for "community tank".No community needs a bully.


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## graybot

I love my red tail. He is definitely aggressive, but he does well in my 65g with 2 angelfish pairs, Bolivian rams and a few apistogrammas. If keeping with any bottom dwellers it is vital to heavily plant the tank an provide multiple caves with clear borders and boundaries breaking line of sight between sides of the tank. They will chase just about anything smaller than them, but they seem to give up once they lose sight of what they're chasing. 

Very attractive fish.. I love the rich black color and stockiness of their bodies. The rainbow shark isn't as vibrant and tends to be skinnier. Not as interesting to me.


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## jshiloh13

I prefer the rainbow shark because they're supposed to be less aggressive. I keep mine with 3 cory cats and 4 kullie loaches in a 55 gallon tank and dont have a problem, other than him chasing the corys out of his cave. Then again he is not Full grown yet, so I really dont know what they are like as adults. But he is my favorite fish in my tank.


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