Don't Have to be Big to be a Monster

[benzjamin13]

I've always loved the coloration of this fish. First time I've ever owned one, I ended up giving back to the pet shop after a couple of weeks. Way too aggressive for a 10g tank (beginner mistake). I decided to give one another try after seeing Chicxulub got one. This time, it's in a Planted 40B and has plenty of space. We'll see how it does in the long run, but the aggression definitely isn't as bad as the first one I had many years ago.

 

[celebrist]

Size matters for sure, more space =less aggression. This is Scarlett, my 5" er she is pretty mellow in the 450 but does occasionally show the 8-10" balas who is boss. It never amounts to more than a few minutes of chasing then back to chill mode

 

[J. H.]

My mother ha one she found in a fish tank in an abandoned house (long story) for 8 years. It grew to over 9". It's name was Bubba.

 

[krichardson]

My mother ha one she found in a fish tank in an abandoned house (long story) for 8 years. It grew to over 9". It's name was Bubba.

I'd like to hear that abandoned house story someday.

 

[J. H.]

I'd like to hear that abandoned house story someday.

According to my mother, the house next door to her parent's was to be knocked down, and she was told she could take anything, went into the basement, and there, in a 20g covered in dust with 3 inches of water on the bottom, was Bubba, the red tailed shark.
According to my father, My grandfather (mother's father) told him that he got bored of taking care of his fish one day, and moved the tank into the basement of the empty house next door, where he could forget about it. I believe my father. My grandfather was a strange man, my grandmother didn't care, and both my mother and aunt had been out of the house for a couple of years.

 

[Chicxulub]

I love these guys! No matter what I have in my tank or what the theme is, I ALWAYS have one. Here's my current specimen. He's a tyrant, and (attempts) to rule the tank with an iron fist lmao. My arowana and juruense don't even seem to realize that he exists, but he sure tries to pick a fight with them!

 

[celebrist]

I even had one in a mbuna tank. Held its own but lack of teeth and I think hard high ph water ground him down

 

[BIG-G]

I have three albino in a 75 planted tank. They get along most of the time just a few scuffles nothing to serious though. They love to share zucchini with my plecos.
Great little monster fish

 

[David R]

Nice! That's the species that first caught my eye and got me interested in aquariums when I was a kid of around 7-8. I haven't kept one for decades, the local LFS used to have four of them in a 220g tank that seemed to get on ok, wonder if a larger group of them could work together in a big enough tank?

 

[Pred-Finatic]

Betta.macrostoma (Brunei beauty/peacock mouth brooding betta).