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Red-tailed Black Shark

I was browsing in my local fish store and a tank of red-tailed black sharks caught my eye. I studied up on them a bit and became a tad bit confused. My book said they were suitable for community tanks and that they were rarely quarrelsome, so I thought great, I like! But when reading up on them in my friend's book it described them to be aggressive and to be kept away from fish smaller than itself. What confused me most was that both books had been written by the same man, Dick Mills. Also, when I watched the fish, some of them appeared to be hanging at the surface or the water, whereas both books described them to be midwater swimmers and bottom dwellers. I'm a little confused, any info available would be a great help. I was also wondering whether anyone had any info on Leopard Spotted Catfish. Thanks, Hannah

• I haven't got into sharks, but from what everyone has told me the red-tailed are the most belligerent and aggressive. I heard the rainbow aren't too far behind, but not quite as bad. Balas are supposed to be nice but large.Also if they were hanging at the surface, maybe there wasn't enough oxygen in the water for them. They are mid or bottom dwellers.

• Yes! I had one and found it to be poor community fish. It has two modes: hang out under rock and chase other fish. That's it! It never ate the other fish, but it chased everything else out from this huge rock that I have and was very aggressive.

• OK, advise taken, I'll stick to my Siamese fighters and my little neons. Once again, any info available on Leopard Spotted Cat-fish? Greatly Appreciated, Hannah.

• Hannah, when you speak of "Siamese fighters", are you talking about bettas? Please get back with me on this as if you have one (and hopefully not more than one) in your 70 gallon tank, I think I need to talk to you. Especially if you are wanting to add more fish to this tank. I will agree with the others on the red tailed shark. I owned one once. First of all he shooed all my loaches from their homes and after doing that I rarely saw him. If you decide you can't live without this fish, only one per tank as they are aggressive to each other. Please let us know just what you have in your tank, and I am sure we can make suggestions for you that will work right and that you will enjoy.