Iridescent shark tankmates

Rgreenfield3

Feeder Fish
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Jul 20, 2017
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I have a 10-12" iridescent shark and two 10 inch plecos in a 55 gallon tank. In the next few months I plan on building a 600 gallon tank in my basement and was wondering what some safe tank mates would be for them. I was thinking about buying a fire eel as well, but was also wondering if that would be safe for either fish. The iridescent shark is about 4 years old now and I have a second one that's albino I recently had purchased but he's only about 3" so far. Any info on compatibility would be great as there's nothing out there on them in regards to tankmates. Every site just says to get rid of them and I'm just not willing to part. Anyways sorry for the ramble. Thanks guys.
 

Hendre

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Catfish should work. Nothing huge because those sharks are stunted beyond belief and will eventually outgrow and maybe eat them.
 
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AG458

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Yeah. From what I've read, iridescent sharks get around 40 inches long as an adult; that's pretty big. You're gonna want fish that can keep up with him; if your plecos are common plecos, they get around 24" max? As long as none of the fish can fit in his mouth, you should be fine. Try a catfish that gets over 20"; because the catfish in the pangasius family (like your iridescent shark(s)) don't have large mouths like the pim cats, so they can't swallow tank mates of that size easily. And like Hendre Hendre said, make sure they don't take up too much space. Iridescent sharks should be more mid-tank swimmers; they don't sit at the bottom like most catfish (I'm using my black ear shark as reference; I've been told the iridescent shark and the black ear are very similar). You won't want fish that will interfere with your shark. When you build your 600g and decorate it, make sure there's plenty of swimming space to accommodate your iridescent shark, because they swim almost nonstop. I currently have my black ear in my 60g, and I don't think I'll be able to hold on to him for much longer; I won't be able to purchase/build a tank as large as yours to accommodate him, because they grow even larger than yours (51.2").
 

moe214

Goliath Tigerfish
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DOnt think ID sharks get much over 30" usually in home aquaria but you have two including the pleco. People report their cats to get grown sourts after being stunted then moved to a larger tank. So I'd plan to have three fish at atleast 2' even if they don't get there. ID sharks are active as well. Footprint over height. If you're constricted to the 600g do a 8x4.
 

predator

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Apr 17, 2007
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I have a 10-12" iridescent shark and two 10 inch plecos in a 55 gallon tank. In the next few months I plan on building a 600 gallon tank in my basement and was wondering what some safe tank mates would be for them. I was thinking about buying a fire eel as well, but was also wondering if that would be safe for either fish. The iridescent shark is about 4 years old now and I have a second one that's albino I recently had purchased but he's only about 3" so far. Any info on compatibility would be great as there's nothing out there on them in regards to tankmates. Every site just says to get rid of them and I'm just not willing to part. Anyways sorry for the ramble. Thanks guys.
I have 2 Iridescents in my 220g with 3 tin foils and a black shark
 

thebiggerthebetter

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Our IDS catfish are refuse from farms, hence, there are some that fail to break 1' if ever and some are able to get to 2' and then there are few that can get up to 30"+ after 10-20 years.

Sounds like your IDS is the one with the worst genes. Plenty of those around. Albino are most usually smaller and slower-growing than even the normal colored ones. I have a 2 year old albino that's 7"-8" still. I bought two normal colored ones at the same time and these guys are 24".

Anyhow, fire eel should work in community with IDS and pleco. If you want more ideas of what's compatible with IDS, watch my videos in the first and second links in my signature - one of my 4500 gal tanks has always had 4-5 IDSs with a hundred of various tank mates. Skip videos of ten 240 gal tanks and of the other 4500 gal with RTCs and Co.
 

Rgreenfield3

Feeder Fish
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Jul 20, 2017
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Northwest indiana
Ive did a lot of thinking and planning and I've decided to build 950 gallon aquarium. Back on this subject I've been thinking about some other possible tankmates as well let me know if they would be alright. I'm thinking about getting an tiger oscar, black ghost knife fish, fire eel, retropinnis bichir, tigrinus catfish, and of course my plecos.
 
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