What Fish Should I Put in With My Rainbow Shark?

Rainbow sharks are freshwater creatures originally from Thailand. Though small in size, they can be aggressive so you should be careful about what fish, if any, share a tank with a rainbow shark. Rainbows are territorial, so they need caves and places to hide in their tanks. If they feel like other fish are invading their space, they will chase them. However, fish that also enjoy planted aquariums, require similar water temperature, typically live in schools and are of a peaceful temperament usually live will with rainbow sharks.

  1. Rummies

    • The True Rummynose Tetra (or Banded Rummy-Nose Tetra) is originally from South America. It has a reddish face and shiny black tail. They need a variety of food and can eat daphnia, brine shrimp, micro pellet food and flakes.

    Penguin Tetras

    • Penguin Tetras are from South America. They are golden with a black stripe that starts near the head and extends to the bottom part of the tail fin. They can eat daphnia, brine shrimp, micro pellet food or flakes.

    Zebra Danios

    • The Zebra Danio is native to Eastern India. It is silver or gold with five zebra-like blue or purple stripes. They eat a variety of flake and frozen foods.

    Cherry Barbs

    • Cherry Barbs have a sliverish black body with a golden stripe. The male cherry barbs turn bright red during spawning. They eat a variety of foods with meat and vegetables, like flakes, brine shrimp and bloodworms.

    Black Neon Tetra

    • The Black Neon Tetra is a small black fish with neon yellow-green stripes and an orange stripe above its eyes. These fish do best in schools of five or more and eat daphnia, bloodworms, micro pellet food and flakes.

    Spawning

    • If any of the fish breeds you house with your rainbow shark start to spawn and you want the baby fish to survive, you should remove all of the fish and the shark from the tank while the eggs hatch and young fish start to grow. If you leave the fish in the tank, they will eat the eggs.