Red Tail Black Shark

The red tail black shark (Epalzeorhynchos bicolor) is a Thai cyprinid and one of the most graphic freshwater fish available: a deep velvet black body finished with a single blood-red tail, and nothing else. It is extinct or nearly so in the wild, and every fish in the trade is commercially bred. Like its relatives it patrols the lower half of the tank, grazing surfaces and defending a chosen cave.

Aquarium care

• Reaches around 15 cm.
• Strongly territorial. One per tank, without exception.
• Also aggressive towards rainbow sharks and other similar-looking bottom-dwellers.
• Needs caves, pipes and wood so it has a territory to hold.
• Grazes algae and biofilm as well as taking prepared food.
• Omnivorous: sinking pellets, algae wafers, flake and frozen foods.

Suits a medium to large community with quick mid-water fish such as barbs, danios, rainbowfish and larger tetras. Keep it away from slow bottom-dwellers, and never keep two.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See the current shark list.