Bala Shark by Conanthelibrarian

[fishfreek]

[center:e5fd43ced3]The Bala Shark[/center:e5fd43ced3]

submitted by Conan the librarian

Balantiochellus melanopterus

The Bala shark is a freshwater, free-swimming fish, originating from the rivers of South East Asia. It is peaceful, and does well with almost any other fish, making an outstanding element for community tanks. The Bala Shark is well compatible with: all Gouramis all Barbs including Tinfoil Barbs, all Danios, all Rainbow Sharks, one Red Tail Shark or one Rainbow Shark, and a school of Clown Loaches.
The Bala Shark, also known as the Silver Shark, is sleek, and metallic looking with an enlarged dorsal fin. It is a tri-colored fish with a silver body, whitish fins, and black tips on the ends of its fins.

Caring for a Bala shark is relatively easy, and with a potential size of about 13 inches and lifespan of up to 10 years, it requires a large living space and being an omnivore, a hearty diet of bloodworms or beefheart, and pellets. Normally it is a good idea to give them vegetable matter in addition. A good amount of foliage and/or hiding areas is best for a Bala Shark, although they don’t require a specific surroundings other than at least ¼ inches of gravel. Bala Sharks do best in a pH ranging from 6.5-7, a temperature of 72-82 F, and a hardness of 5 dGH. Bala Sharks dart around incredibly fast and when full grown, have been known to jump in the air up to 6 feet! They also will keep a constant motion throughout your whole aquarium, swimming regularly, although can be shy and hang out near the back at times. With this in mind, plan to have a tank cover and the largest possible tank for a full grown Bala.

The name “Bala Shark” was originally created to help sales and increase the appeal of the fish, which is actually a Cyprinid, or a member of the minnow family. Cyprinid is additionally the name of most other freshwater fish referred to as a shark.

Although your [acronym:e5fd43ced3="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:e5fd43ced3] or other sources may tell you to keep balas in a school of at least six if you are planning on having multiple balas, this isn’t always the case, although it is a good idea since Balas in a group too small to school can end up not being comfortable together. My aquarium includes 2 balas and a black shark, and it is amazing to watch the black shark pick on the balas and then a few minutes later see the balas work together to get back at the Black Shark.

Other things you need to keep in mind if you are planning on keeping Bala Sharks, are having a big enough aquarium for Bala Sharks if you want it to reach full size, and that they are more susceptible to Ich and Shimmy than most tropical fish.

The Bala Shark is an egg layer, and their breeding habits are somewhat of a mystery. There is no way of immediately being able to sex a Bala Shark from its appearance. Balas are not bred in captivity, so all of the fish are caught in the wild.

Bala Sharks are excellent fish, and can even help to keep the algae level down. Bala Sharks are plentiful in pet stores, and in my opinion there is no reason not to have a Bala in a community tank bigger than 55 gallons.
If you are interested in going further, check out some of the links below.

http://www.aquahobby.com/bala.html
http://www.petinfo4u.com/bala_sharks.htm
http://www.petfish.net/bala.htm

[d9hp]

Good job conan

[CJ1129]

I just purchased a Bala Shark for my Husbands 29 [acronym:1723b0c69e="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:1723b0c69e] tank and as soon as I got home I noticed the Bala seemed to be acting odd? It looked like (even though it appeared healthy at the Pet Store) that it's top Fin was cut and it was only partially attached???? It kept making very quick movements so I checked online and read something about a disease they can get? Does anyone think this sounds familar or know anything about it? I was wondering if it was sick would the disease effect my other Fish?
I have since sepperated it and have been told to bring it back to the Pet Store... Should I get another Bala with 2 AngelFish A Kissing Giourami, 6 Large Danios and 2 Catfish??? The Kissing Fish is the largest Fish in the tank and we're thinking up upgrading to a larger tank. Can someone tell me whether my Fish will go well if I purchase another bala????

[FishLover14]

Great Job!

Dan

[KaiserFish]

I keep a school of 4 Balas in my large community tank, they tend to dart around ALOT, the 2 larger ones (~5" each) keep together, and the 2 smaller ones (~3" each) keep together. They are often found as mentioned in the article to be hanging out with the Clown loaches I keep as well.

[aimeeo]

I have 2 balas (about 12 inches each) in a 125 [acronym:46a6be8118="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:46a6be8118] with 2 kissing gouramis (about 7 inches each), 1 pangasius cat (about 14 inches), 1 clown knife (about 10 inches), 2 angels (full grown), and 2 silver dollars (full grown). The balas are the most active in the tank. They are constantly darting back and forth and have a bad habit of jumping out of the water and smacking the top of the tank. It is acrylic, so there's no chance of them breaking the top (thankfully). I recommend balas to anyone that has a large tank and wants a lot of action in the tank. Mine seem to do fine in a pair, I would think that if there were any more of them in there, there wouldn't be enough room for them all to spaz out.

[skydvr]

So, what size tank would be needed for a school of like 4,5,6 balas? It sounds like 125g wouldn't be enough... Esp. with other fish in the tank....

(And thanks for the profile, CtL)

[RoK]

Probably like near 200gal or more.

[DirgeDevil]

man, it would be really great if somebody bred them with something else to make a mini-bala.So they olny max out at 3 in. b/c i want bala sharks, but don't have the money or space for a huge tank.

[mitch86]

haha that would be cool haveing minature breeds of fish.

you probadly could buy the smallest size bala and keep him for 6 months then take him back and swap for the size you bought it for again.
even though im sure theres alot of people who would disagree in doing that haha.