From Aqua Guide, the free encyclopedia
Rainbow Shark
Epalzeorhynchos frenatum
- Temperature
- 20–26 °C
- pH
- 6.5 – 8
- Min. tank size
- 243 L
- Lifespan
- 5-8 years
- Diet
- omnivore
- Care level
- easy
| Scientific classification | |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name: | Epalzeorhynchos frenatum |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Origin: | Southeast Asia (Mekong and Chao Phraya basins) |
| Care Characteristics | |
| Care Level: | easy |
| Diet: | omnivore |
| Max Size: | 15.00 cm |
| Water Type: | freshwater |
| Temp Group: | tropical |
| Temperament: | semi aggressive |
| Min Group: | Can be kept alone |
| Varieties: | Several colour forms, and the albino is the one most people meet. The albino rainbow shark is widely available and has become extremely popular — a pale pink-white body with the red-orange fins retained. Care and temperament are identical to the standard form. An anerythristic mutation exists, lacking the red pigment and showing pale yellowish fins instead. A white-finned form is also traded, possibly a genetic sport, and it is unclear whether it represents something undescribed. Long-finned versions of the albino appear occasionally. All of them are the same species with the same territory requirement, and the colour forms make the male's dark anal fin edge harder to see, which costs you the better sexing marker. The fish it is most confused with is the red tail shark (Epalzeorhynchos bicolor), which has a jet-black body and red only in the tail — and which is critically endangered in the wild, where the rainbow shark is not. The flying fox (E. kalopterus) is the third member of the genus in the trade, slimmer and striped with white-edged red and black fins. None of the three should ever share a tank. |
| Lifespan: | 5-8 years |
Quick Tips
- Bioload:Medium
- Min Tank:243 L
- Substrate:Gravel or sand; driftwood, rocks and caves to claim a territory
- Plant Safe:Plant-safe
- Filtration:Moderate to high
Rainbow Shark (Epalzeorhynchos frenatum) is a species of fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is native to Southeast Asia (Mekong and Chao Phraya basins). The rainbow shark is the red tail shark's near-twin and it comes with the same warning, only slightly softened. It comes from the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins and reaches 150 mm standard length. The body is dark grey-brown rather than jet black, and every fin carries red-orange — which is the quickest way to tell it from a red tail shark, where only the tail is red. It becomes increasingly territorial as it grows, with particularly high levels of aggression toward similar-looking species. Specialists give a figure that puts the problem in perspective: each individual requires a territory with a diameter of at least a metre. Keep it singly in most cases. Cohabitation, even in very large tanks, is unlikely to succeed. Every one on sale comes from commercial farms in Thailand and elsewhere; it has never been bred in private aquaria.
Compatibility
- Temperament
- semi aggressive
- Keep in
- Can be kept alone
- Swims
- bottom
- Fin nipper
- No
- Delicate fins
- No
Species similar to Rainbow Shark
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