Rainbow Shark for fry control?

[Drayven]

I'm having an issue where my swordtails are breeding like mad. Even though I lost the original male the babies have started having their own babies now. I've been waiting till the first batch grew up so I could sex them and sell them off to the LFS but since then there's been another batch and another batch. What I'm wondering is, would a rainbow shark eat the fry to help control the population? Is there anything else that might work better?

right now in the tank I have zebra danios, bristlenose pleco, yoyo loaches, dojo loaches, swordtails and cherry shrimp. the tank is kept at 77 degrees so it's on the low end for the yoyos and high end for the dojos.

 

[thuffman03]

You must have some good places in the tank for the fry to hide. Most swords IMO find and eat their young.

Not sure if the shark will help....I am sure someone can chime in and give you a solution.

 

[fishboy444]

What size is your tank?

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

How big is your tank? Some of the "sharks" get very large.

 

[Drayven]

it's a 50 gallon breeder. Most of the fish in there are still on the small side and I'm keeping an eye on their size and will move them out to larger tanks if size becomes an issue.

 

[mfdrookie516]

well i dont see a problem with getting a rainbow shark, a breeder tank has a great footprint for fish that like to swim... Chances are if the fry are hiding good enough to not get eaten by the bigger sword tails, then theyre gonna hide good enough from the shark too... and thats assuming the shark will eat fry ( i have no clue if it will )

 

[Blueiz]

I think a gourami would be better suited for fry control. Maybe a blue or gold one as they don't get to big.

 

[Drayven]

would a dwarf gourami be aggressive towards the other fish?

 

[Blueiz]

I personally do not trust dwarf gouramis in community set ups. Some are ok, some are not.. just not something I am willing to risk with my tanks.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Ive got a dwarf gouarmi with a bunch of tetras and he shows no aggression, but thats just my situation.