iridescent shark?

[myfishisawhat?]

Joined this in hopes of getting some help. I recently purchased what I thought were 4 glofish. I had a 5 gallon tank and wanted an easy fish to take care of so I just went to the local Walmart to get the fish. When I was putting the fish into the tank I noticed one was different. I've been told it is an iridescent shark. It's been living peacefully in the 5 gallon with 2 glofish for 2 months and has grown maybe half an inch. I've been feeding it sinking algae wafers which it eats but doesn't seem too interested in. Should I be feeding it something else and when should i move it to a larger tank?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Welcome to MFK!

It's an iridescent shark all right Algae wafers are good for it but perhaps the reluctance is due to the texture / hardness. Perhaps pre-soaking the wafers would help. Most usually iridescent shark (IDS for short) are very unfussy, will learn to accept ~ any foods, dry, frozen, etc. When young, this fish will consume more fleshy foods compared to when older. This is not a black or white issue but more or less. It'll take whatever. Eventually. It may even eat the glofish tankmates, once they fit in its mouth, albeit this is highly unlikely.

I'd move it to a larger tank when nothing can hurt it there. If you are simply asking about an upgrade, I'd move it once its body length exceeds 1/4-1/3 of the current tank's width and 1/8-1/6th of the tanks length.

It has a potential to grow quickly to over 2'. If you know now you won't be able to house it for life (a few decades), I'd suggest returning it or finding it the right forever home.

Sounds like you thought you were buying a hamster but got a bear. Or a Chihuahua but got a Mastino neapolitano. Different scale... but think about this analogy. It's not a big stretch in terms of the commitment scale and financial burden.

Please, read up earnestly on it, perhaps starting from here http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=172

 

[myfishisawhat?]

Welcome to MFK!

It's an iridescent shark all right Algae wafers are good for it but perhaps the reluctance is due to the texture / hardness. Perhaps pre-soaking the wafers would help. Most usually iridescent shark (IDS for short) are very unfussy, will learn to accept ~ any foods, dry, frozen, etc. When young, this fish will consume more fleshy foods compared to when older. This is not a black or white issue but more or less. It'll take whatever. Eventually. It may even eat the glofish tankmates, once they fit in its mouth, albeit this is highly unlikely.

I'd move it to a larger tank when nothing can hurt it there. If you are simply asking about an upgrade, I'd move it once its body length exceeds 1/4-1/3 of the current tank's width and 1/8-1/6th of the tanks length.

It has a potential to grow quickly to over 2'. If you know now you won't be able to house it for life (a few decades), I'd suggest returning it or finding it the right forever home.

Sounds like you thought you were buying a hamster but got a bear. Or a Chihuahua but got a Mastino neapolitano. Different scale... but think about this analogy. It's not a big stretch in terms of the commitment scale and financial burden.

Please, read up earnestly on it, perhaps starting from here http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=172

Thanks! I'm looking into find a new home for it, definitely don't want to take it back to the store for it to sit in a crowded 5 gallon until some college kid decides to buy a bunch for their dorm room. I was planning on eventually upgrading my tank to a 40 for some baby cichlids the next time a relative has them but maybe I will upgrade sooner if I find a decent priced tank

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

IMHO taking it back to the store is a better option.
1. They made a mistake.
2. You cannot save fish by buying them. Quite the opposite. Demand / sales bring about offer. Economics 101.
3. The store MAY start thinking about what they sell and how to label it right. The more monster fish are returned, the more probable will be some kind of effect on the store.

 

[aquaman45]

IMHO taking it back to the store is a better option.
1. They made a mistake.
2. You cannot save fish by buying them. Quite the opposite. Demand / sales bring about offer. Economics 101.
3. The store MAY start thinking about what they sell and how to label it right. The more monster fish are returned, the more probable will be some kind of effect on the store.

Absolutely right this! They either know what they are selling but simply don't care or don't have the necessary knowledge to sell such fish, either way they should be made accountable.

 

[Ihsnshaik]

A local LFS near me told me they don't have red devils because they get too big. Couple tanks over they got pacus...I was like hmm okay. Two weeks later they got in red devils and I know for a fact that guy thats working there has been there for a few years since I go in mainly to just check out the fish or buy some fish food.

Walmart will sell anything to you. They have blood parrots that actually look nice at my walmart with oscars. Half the oscars are dead in there and literally are so thin I can't look at them for so long. My wife keeps on telling me don't save these fish they'll get more then.

 

[Chicxulub]

Thanks! I'm looking into find a new home for it, definitely don't want to take it back to the store for it to sit in a crowded 5 gallon until some college kid decides to buy a bunch for their dorm room. I was planning on eventually upgrading my tank to a 40 for some baby cichlids the next time a relative has them but maybe I will upgrade sooner if I find a decent priced tank

First and foremost, I agree that taking it back is the best course of action. This is a species of fish that is grossly unsuited to life in a fish tank, and will likely die regardless of if you keep it or take it back. These are available solely because they're a commonly farmed food fish in Asia, so there's lots available and they're cheap.

If by some chance you decide to keep this fish, it will literally need a swimming g pool when it gets larger. Assuming clean water and proper nutrition, this fish could easily see 4' in length and 65 pounds or so.

There's no such thing as a fish "growing to its tank". The only reason that they stop growing is because the water becomes so polluted that it poisons them and stunts their growth.

This five dollar fish could easily end up costing tens of thousands of dollars to care for properly. He'll outgrow a 40b in six months at the longest.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

All agreeable. Just for a good balance, I thought I'd mention that the majority of the farm-raised food fish that make it into the ornamental trade appear to be the culls, dinks, runts, etc., that is underperformers of various degree of severity. They are weeded out during the farming processes and then sent to the aquarium trade sales.

That is particularly applied to IDS and is part of the reason why we are met with so many reports of poorly growing IDSs. The other part is the sub par husbandry, which when done right is highly demanding as Rob indicated above.

Hence, we are usually met with two kinds of IDS, some that grow quickly attaining ~1.5' in one year easily and reaching ~2.5' in 3-5 years and some that grow slowly (~1' in a few years).

I think this is the answer to the long-standing question asked in this thread: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/id-sharks-theories.505668/