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Red Tail Shark are omnivorous scavengers. And although they prefer vegetable matter they do appreciate a meaty protein snack as part of their diet.
You can feed your Red Tail Shark with a combination of dried, frozen, flake and pellet foods. Good quality plant based flake and pellet foods should form the basis of their diet. In addition to these foods you can treat your Red Tail Shark to blanched vegetables, a little fruit and even live protein foods. Just remember that vegetation/vegetables should form the bulk of their diet.
As you can see, a varied diet is the best one for your Red Tail Shark. Particularly one that is packed with vegetation/vegetable based foods.
It’s not difficult to feed your Red Tail Shark a varied and healthy diet. In fact you can keep it simple.
Keep reading for some easy-care feeding tips and useful information.
What Should I Feed My Red Tail Shark?
Red Tail Shark (Epalzeorhynchos Bicolor) are also known as Red Tailed Black Shark and Redtail Sharkminnow. But which name you choose to call them by doesn’t make any difference when it comes to meal times.
In their native environment of the freshwaters of Thailand/South Asia Red Tail Shark eat whatever lives or falls into the water. And although they are predominantly vegetation eating fish they also eat small insects and crustaceans.
So, in the home aquarium you need to give them a varied diet. A combination of vegetation/vegetables alongside some meaty protein will help to keep them healthy.
The Red Tail Shark grows to an average of 6 inches (15.2 cm). But they have been known to grow to around 8 inches (20.3 cm) in length. This fish also has a good appetite. But it’s important not to overfeed them. Just feed them well.
Let’s take a look at which foods you can feed to your Red Tail Shark
Flake/Granular/Pellet Food For Your Red Tail Shark
Flake, granular and/or pellets foods are the easiest way to provide the basis of your Red Tails Shark’s diet. Good quality food in these forms contain both vegetable matter, protein and added nutrients. They’re the easiest and least messy way to provide your fish with a complete and nutrition filled diet.
If you’re new to the fish keeping hobby these types of foods are a great way to start. And even when you become more experienced in the hobby they’re still a good basic food source for your fish/shrimp/snails.
The Red Tail Shark prefers to feed on/near the bottom of the tank although it will feed a little higher up if it needs to. So another point in favour of flake, granular and pellet foods for Red Tail Shark, is that these foods slowly sink to the bottom of the tank allowing your fish to feed where it’s most comfortable for them.
Feeding Vegetables To Your Red Tail Shark
Red Tail Shark love their vegetables and even a little fruit. And giving them a vegetable/fruit treat is easy to do. Which is good news for both you and your fish.
Vegetables are also good for the digestive system of your Red Tail Shark. So it’s worth giving them a regular treat from the list below.
Some of the vegetables and fruit you can offer to your Red Tail Shark include:
- Shelled Peas
- Courgette (Zucchini)
- Cucumber
- Spinach
- Fruit eg Apple/Pear/Grapes
There are lots of other vegetables you can offer to your Red Tail Shark so it’s worth experimenting a little. Why not try some Kale, Savoy Cabbage or Lettuce? You’ll soon get to know what they like and what they don’t. And even if your Red Tail Shark don’t like them you might find that their tankmates do.
Tip: You need to soften the vegetables and harder fruits (e.g. apple/pear) before offering them to your Red Tail Shark. You can soften them by either steaming, simmering or microwaving them. Then leave them to go cold before adding them to the tank.
Remove any uneaten vegetables/fruit from the tank after a few hours to avoid the risk of polluting the tank with rotting leftovers.
The Easy Way To Feed Insects To Your Red Tail Shark
Although the Red Tail Shark primarily eats vegetation it does eat protein in the form of insects and their larvae, and also small crustaceans. Which means to keep them well fed in your aquarium you need to make sure they get ‘meaty’ protein as well as vegetation/vegetables.
Fortunately, feeding your fish protein foods is easy. Live, freeze-dried, dried and frozen protein foods for your Red Tail Shark are available to buy at Pet Stores, Aquatic Dealers and Online.
Here’s Some Of The Protein Foods You Can Offer To Your Red Tail Shark
- Brine Shrimp
- Tubifex Worms
- Blood Worms
- Daphnia
- Krill
You can also offer Micro Worms, Banana Worms and Mosquito Larvae. Just like offering them different vegetables/fruit you’ll soon get to know which protein foods your Red Tail Shark prefer.
Tip: If you go for dried insects/worms it helps to rehydrate them before adding them to the tank. Soak them in a little tank water for about 20 minutes or so before feeding them to your fish. When rehydrated they will be easier for your fish to eat. They sink into the aquarium water more quickly too.
Tip: Don’t overfeed your Red Tail Shark with meaty foods. Too much protein in their diet isn’t good for their long-term health. So when you’re treating them to a little something extra alongside their flakes/pellets make most of the treats vegetables.
How Often/How Much Should I Feed My Red Tail Shark?
As I mentioned in the tip above it’s not a good idea to overfeed your Red Tail Shark. Apart form increasing the risk of health issues overfeeding leads to more fish/food waste. And more fish poop and leftover food will reduce water quality in the tank.
Below is a general guide to how much and how often you should feed your fish
- Feed Twice A Day – regular feeding in smaller amounts is better for your fish’s digestive system
- Amount – only feed as much food as your Red Tail Shark can eat in 2-3 minutes without leftovers
- Vegetables/Fruit – if you feed a treat of veg/fruit make it part of the daily feed not an extra meal
- Protein Foods– if you feed a meaty protein treat make it part of the daily feed and not an extra meal
It’s worth mentioning that some Red Tail Shark keepers only feed their fish every other day to reduce the risk of overfeeding. It’s up to you how you do it. But it’s important to watch the activity level, colouration and general health of your Red Tail Shark. These pointers are a helpful guide to whether or not you’ve got your feeding regimen is right for them.
This might make things sound a little complicated but it really isn’t. Just like anything else in the fish keeping hobby it’s a bit trial and error to start with. But once you’ve learned through experience what works and what doesn’t it’s pretty straight forward. It’s also very rewarding.
Do Red Tail Shark Eat Algae?
In their native environment Red Tail Shark do eat some algae as part of their diet. In the aquarium Red Tail Shark will eat a small amount of algae alongside the other food that you offer them. But you need to bear in mind that the amount they will eat is only small compared with some other aquarium fish/shrimp/snails. So you wouldn’t keep a Red Tail Shark to solve an algae problem in your tank.
That doesn’t mean that they won’t nibble on the algae that grows in your aquarium. It just means that they’re unlikely to make much of an impact on the algae growth.
However, Red Tail Shark will quite happily nibble on Algae Wafers. And although they probably won’t eat the whole thing they generally enjoy this as a treat. Their tankmates are likely to help them finish the algae wafer off too. Just remember to remove any uneaten wafer once everyone has finished feeding.
Do Red Tail Shark Eat Aquarium Plants?
Whether your Red Tail Shark will eat your aquarium plants is a subject where opinions are divided by personal experience. The general consensus seems to be that although the Red Tail Shark eats vegetation in its native environment, in the aquarium it’s not overly destructive when it comes to plants. It will eat decaying plant leaves and sometimes nibble on softer, juicier leaves. But overall your plants should be safe from destruction.
This is another one of those things in the fish keeping hobby that comes down to personal experience. It also depends on the personality and behaviour of each individual fish. How often, and what, you feed your Red Tail Shark can make a difference too. If you give your Red Tail Shark enough vegetables as part of its regular diet it will be less likely to eat your tank plants. Although that’s not guaranteed!
Tip: If you find that your Red Tail Shark is eating your aquatic plants to destruction try changing the plants for different ones. If you go for tougher, courser, less juicy plants, your Red Tail Shark will be less likely to eat them.
A live planted tank helps to create a more natural environment for your Red Tail Shark. So it’s worth persevering with live plants even if you have to change them after your initial tank setup. If you still have problems with the fish eating/destroying the plants it’s worth considering using artificial/fake plants instead.