Bala Sharks!

[Linchpin]

Hi there,

I'd like to find out if anyone has experience with Bala Sharks.
All I'd really like to know is how long do they take to get fully grown
(+- 400mm)

[Henk Hugo]

do NOT buy bala sharks EVER

they are EXTREMELY active and gets WAY to big for most tanks. unless you have 4mX2mX1m tank dont bother. i saw some half size ones at a shop last week that took a serious beating in their way to small tank.one of the eyes got cut on something in the tank.

yes they get to 40cm long but its a BIG bulky fish... 40cm long and 20cm high.... avoid man they just get to big

[Linchpin]

I'm afrain I've already got.

Thats why I'd like to know how quickly they grow. I'd like to get them a propper home before they get too big.
My parents live in J-Bay and are building on to their house. I want to build a big tank into one of the walls but building is gonna take some time. I've only just finished designing the house and foundations.

Ideally I'd like to build my own tank but I need a house before that, can't exactly build a 4m tank in a rented apartment.

If they grow too quickly I'll have to find someone whit a big tank for them.

Any idea on how quickly they grow?

Mine are only 5-6cm now and they're in a 500 litre tank.

When I first reaserched the bala's i found that they can live in a 70 galon tank (min) and mine's almost double the size.


Comon sense has cought up to me though, they need much bigger, like you said.

I appreciate the input.

[Linchpin]

I've found a few sites with info on how quickly they grow if anyone's interested.

http://www.balashark.info/
http://www.balashark.info/bala_shark_care.htm
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070719225247AASngNs

There aren't any exact answers and I've even found sites saying they grow quite slowly. (not too sure if I believe it tho)

Apparently they'll grow to 15-17cm within a year or two and then their growth slows down.

[Henk Hugo]

i would take them back to the LFS... make them someone elses problem

[JayMeister]

i have 5 bala's in a 1mtr tank for abt 4years now and they didnt grow much got them when they were abt 6cm and now they are abt 8.5cm so i think they will b fine in your 500ltr tank for a while linchpin

[Asgar]

i would take them back to the LFS... make them someone elses problem

Thats Just being ignorant. That doesn't solve the problem in any way.

I guess if people are educated, hopefully they will resist these fish and eventually the LFS will have to stop stocking these fish because no one wants to buy 'em.

[JayMeister]

they will b fine in your 500ltr tank linchpin dont take them back

[Henk Hugo]

Hows the altum asgar?


i have 5 bala's in a 1mtr tank for abt 4years now and they didnt grow much got them when they were abt 6cm and now they are abt 8.5cm so i think they will b fine in your 500ltr tank for a while linchpin


That is stunted growth btw....

[JayMeister]

so i dont feed them the right way?

[Risen]

They are what one calls a TANK BUSTER. Petshops should not sell them before explaining that they become to large for your common 3 ft tank

[Goodisor]

Is it not true that you stunt a fish's growth when you put it in a tank that is smaller than its normal enviroment ?...........Is it cruel or is it ok since the fish remains small and therefore remains happy with its space?..Just a thought!

[Henk Hugo]

if you put a fish in a tank that is too small for it it will be stunted. this leads to organ damage etc....

[Carping]

the size of the eyes of a discus give you an indication of their feedings status and it looks like the eyes are again quite large in relation to their size, in other words, they are starting to look stunted
Found this statement on another thread concerning discus.....
I bought a Bala shark from my local LFS last week, and when compared to my othe shark, it seems to have large eyes in relation to its body size. So my question is, was this other (new) sharky stunned at some point in it's life? It is also much thinner than my older sharky

[Henk Hugo]

sounds like it

[Carping]

Will a fish that was stunned ever recover or will it stay "deformed" ?

[Henk Hugo]

nope - will never recover. Did you know that a Commet gold fish gets upto 50cm big and yet they are kept in 10L bowls

[Carping]

Did you know that a Commet gold fish gets upto 50cm big and yet they are kept in 10L bowls
Henk, there is a lot of things wrong out there with people keeping fishies in conditions that are just not right....

[Henk Hugo]

yea true - was just using it as an example

[Fish Fantasy]

I have a confession, I also have 2 bala sharks, they are 5cm in lengh and i have a 1 meter tank 256lt, this is just the right excuse for me to upgrade to a bigger tank at a later date. Hee! Hee! Because there is no way i can give my babies up! Sorry guys!!

[Carping]

:bigsmile: Great minds think alike Fish Fantasy.... Why do you think I went and bought a pangasius last weekend ???? They grow to 1 meter long :angel:

[Henk Hugo]

you going to braai them like hte guys in asia? Pangasius is farmed in asia for food

[Carping]

:dontknow: That would depend on what size of tank we upgrade to :wondering:
But yeah, when I did my research on them, I saw that they are a very liked source of meat in the East and even in the USA

[Fish Fantasy]

I would love a Pangasius but they grow to big, adults reach up to 130cm(4ft) in lengh and can weigh up to a maximum of 44.0KG. the fish would take over my whole lounge.

[Carping]

But fortunately they are slow growers... So you can at least enjoy them for a while before you :eating: them. Gives you a couple of years to research the recipies :nuts:

[Fish Fantasy]

LOL!!! :bigsmile: Sis man! We are a civilized society!!!:sick:

[JayMeister]

hehe i'm not a big fan of pangas they have very poor eye sight and if the power trips they get startled very easly and swim into everything and they hurt them self really bad and then they go ly on there backs to recover its a difficult fish to keep

[Carping]

very poor eye sight
You can say that again Jay. Both my thermometers are standing at 90 degree angles, and it's not because I put then like that. They keep on swimming into it LOL. Would have thought that they would have learned by now where it is. And you must see when they split up.... It takes them 2 hours to find each other again

[JayMeister]

hehe they need alot of space and if we do water changes etc he swims into the glass the rocks and then he go's and ly on hes back and they bite hard he bit my dad when my dad was trying to catch him on hes finger

[Carping]

What size is the one that bit your dad? And how long have you had it?

[JayMeister]

its abt 40cm and we have it for abt 2 and a half years now

[2time]

But fortunately they are slow growers... So you can at least enjoy them for a while before you :eating: them. Gives you a couple of years to research the recipies :nuts:
Wrong they are fast growers, I Have two in my tank and they were 3cm when I got them and after about 7 months they grew to 16 cm long and I now have to sell them. I also have two bala sharks and the biggest one is the biggest in my tank at about 17cm long and about 10cm high and I have them for a year and a half

[rogerrabbit]

Your normal pangasius is a slow grower, the hi-fin pangasius on the other hand will very quickly outgrow the average tank

[Fish Fantasy]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Iridescent_Shark_Catfish.jpg/250px-Iridescent_Shark_Catfish.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iridescent_Shark_Catfish.jpg)Jay does you fish look like this?

[Carping]

Know it's not a clear pic (they move to much for a decent pic to be taken) lenght is about 9cm at the moment. Its swimming with the angel
197

[Fish Fantasy]

looks similar to the big picture! What do you think?

[Carping]

The qustion now is, is it the normal one or the high-fin one?

[Fish Fantasy]

Roger you're going to have to do some research on your fish because everyone is giving different opions and we haven't pin pointed the exact species yet!

[Carping]

That is a lot of times what the problem is FF. The more you research, the more conflicting info you get. www.fishbase.org (http://www.fishbase.org) recons they grow up to 300cm ???????
Now that is one serious freshwater fishy LOL or that guy had no idea how to read a tapemeasure

[JayMeister]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Iridescent_Shark_Catfish.jpg/250px-Iridescent_Shark_Catfish.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iridescent_Shark_Catfish.jpg)Jay does you fish look like this?


yeah FF thats the one

[Fish Fantasy]

Jay oo to this link it will give you some insight into the species of your fish:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridescent_shark

[JayMeister]

yeah thx FF

[zuna]

they the most weakest type of fresh water fish ive ever seen. did one water change and lost 3 out of 7

[Gilbertr14]

Hows the altum asgar?




That is stunted growth btw....


Yup Unfortunately

They are lovely fish, but need their space.

A 3 - 4m tank is what they need.
With that size, some clowns at the bottom will look nice.
I found mine quite hardy. That being said not all batches are the same.