Rainbow Shark
Epalzeorhynchos frenatum
Photo: Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
One shark per tank, and not with other similarly shaped bottom fish. They own the lower third of a 55.
One shark per tank. Owns the lower third.
Territorial toward its own species and similarly shaped bottom dwellers.
In the tank
- Picks some algae and leftover food on the bottom.
- Water
- freshwater
- Temperament
- Aggressive
- Swims
- Bottom
- Adult size
- 6 in
- Minimum tank
- 55 gal
- Group
- Can be kept singly
- Temperature
- 72–79°F
- pH
- 6.5–7.5
- Diet
- Sinking pellets and algae wafers.
- Beginner
- Not a first fish
How to keep them
- 55 gallons. One specimen.
- Not with other similarly shaped bottom fish.
Tankmates
Fast midwater fish that stay out of the basement.
Avoid
Other sharks, red-tail sharks, and small bottom-dwellers.
Check tankmates · Stocking calculator
Same group
Corydoras Catfish
Corydoras spp.
The correct bottom crew for a community.
Sift sand so leftover food and mulm do not sit and rot.
Bristlenose Pleco
Ancistrus spp.
The pleco that actually fits in a home tank — and eats algae.
Rasp green algae and biofilm off glass, wood, and hardscape.
Common Pleco
Hypostomus plecostomus
Sold as an algae eater. Becomes an 18-inch waste factory.
Juveniles do eat algae.
Kuhli Loach
Pangio kuhlii
Nocturnal sand noodles. They work leftover food after lights-out.
Pick food that hit the sand overnight.
Otocinclus
Otocinclus spp.
Tiny algae grazer for a mature planted tank.
Best small fish for soft green algae on leaves and glass.
Clown Loach
Chromobotia macracanthus
Snail-eater that outgrows the tank it was sold for.
Will hunt pest bladder snails.