Red Tail Botia

Subject: Red Tail Botia Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:20 am

What do you guys know about this fish and is it a good idea to put it with my other social community fish(Listed at the bottom)? Reason being is that its been isolated for so long and I divided my 55gal tank between my community and my rtb

6 x Zebra Danio (Danio rerio)
2 x Sailfin Molly (Poecilia latipinna)
2 x Balloon Molly (Poecilia latipinna hybrid)
8 x Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
3 x Swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii)

Subject: Re: Red Tail Botia Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:45 pm

i think that botia is best with bigger ish than you have. I keep a pair of them in my cichlid tank and they do just fine. botias ar better in a small group, at least 3 or 4. Ine never kept one with any realy community fish, so i cant say for sure, but i think its best to keep them apart.

Subject: Re: Red Tail Botia Tue Mar 09, 2010 9:57 pm

Not a good choice at all for your setup, or stock. They do well in groups of four or more and should be housed with larger more robust species. They do well in a community setup but the other fish should be larger. Botia can reach 10-12 inches and to have a nice sized group you would need a pretty large tank...They can also get aggressive with each other and other tank mates. If you just have one I would consider trading it or getting more for your new 100g to put with some larger species....a 100g would still be kinda small tho for a nice group.

Subject: Re: Red Tail Botia Wed Mar 10, 2010 2:12 am

Well everything seems pretty good. All the fish are swimming lively and seem to be getting along. But ya I will do that. Also what do you think of this? Is my filtration good? Do I have to add anything? Anything good or bad?

55gal
Emperor 280
Penguin 200

8 x Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
15 x Zebra Danio (Danio rerio)
6 x Swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii)
2 x Sailfin Molly (Poecilia latipinna)
2 x Balloon Molly (Poecilia latipinna hybrid)
3 x Platy (Xiphophorus maculatus)
2 x Dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia)
1x Red tail botia

Subject: Re: Red Tail Botia Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:11 am

I will second what the others have said about the red tail botia. Very true about the group thing, especially with this particular botia. I almost never saw mine when I kept it singly, they are very good at hiding.

In response to your last question...your mollies are actually a brackish water fish, and will do much better for you in those conditions. There is also a good chance that your swordtails and platies are going to interbreed. You seem to have a lot of upper and mid-level swimming fish....if you were to trade in the red tail botia, I would consider a small school of some type of corydoras cat (a group of at least 6)

Subject: Re: Red Tail Botia Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:36 am

It seems like your fish are multiplying Wink

I would hold off on adding more fish to that tank. I agree that the RTB would be better off with others in a larger tank.

Subject: Re: Red Tail Botia Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:18 pm

Ya my fish are multiply as we speak xP but ya. Its been 3 days since I took off the divider from my community and the rtb and no fish had died. So I thought it was a good thing, but then I was watching my fish for a good 2hrs and notice my 2 guppoes out of 8 and 1 ballon molly out of 2 had nipped fins. Can this be the cause of the rtb or the other fish of aggerssion? Well I seprated them agian just to be safe. Also if I have 2 gaint danio with the other 10 zebra danio will they swim in a group and also will he big ones nipp fins?

Subject: Re: Red Tail Botia Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:25 pm

thats more than likely the rtb thats nipping finns. You were told that they are an agressive fish, too much so for your set up. It would be in your best intrest to trade that fish to a lfs for something else. thats just going to keep happening if they go back together again. your poor community fish dont really atand a chance against the rtb, and there are many other loches that would be better off in your tank

Subject: Re: Red Tail Botia Thu Mar 11, 2010 12:04 am

Well Im leave it in the divivider till I get my 100gal tank

Subject: Re: Red Tail Botia Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:26 am

i think that for the safety of your little fish thats for the best. I keep a pair of rtb in my african cichlid tank and they hold their own if that gves you any iea of hw tough they can be.

Subject: Re: Red Tail Botia Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:53 am

Wow thanks for the info. I guess I should put it in with my 100gal tank and probly buy somemore.

» red tail sternela
» SPECIES PROFILE:PSEUDOCRENILABRUS NICHOLSI (BLOOD TAIL)
» Species Profile: Red Tail Catfish (Phractocephelus hemioliopterus)

Red Tail Botia

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* Aquarium Volume Calculator
* Fahrenheit - Centigrade Conversion
* Carbonate Hardness Unit Conversion
* Liquid measurements