FishProfiles.com Message Forums

hey- Im new to this sort of forum thing but have had tanks for years and I have a question. I have a 55 gal tank and in it I have a variety of fish but its not overstocked by a long shot!! My question has to do with one of my fish its a bala shark and they are supposed to get fairly big. Well Ive had this shark for over a year and he is not nearly the size that ive read them to grow to. Is it okay that he isnt at his full size potential or should I be worried. He is happy and rather lively inside the tank... just a question wanted to know if I should be worried:%)

Balas are a schooling fish and should be with others of their own kind. Additionally a 55 gallon really isn't big enough for a bala as they need plenty of swimming room.

Welcome to FishProfiles

I have to agree you really need a larger tank for him and some buddies for him to be truly happy...with that said, I wouldn't worry too much if he hasn't reached his full potential in size yet, though you do want to make sure that he has more than enough room...

By the way how large is he?

heidi




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well boy meets girl and it's a good bet
Girl's gonna play a little hard to get
But they both got the same thing on their mind
Ain't that the way that the world goes round
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

if you feel he isn't growing right you could be stunting him (not intentionaly im sure!) how big is he now?

look at this link http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/silvershark.xml

i wasn't aware thay are endangered!

it is also recomended that they are in small groups of 3 or more

you may need to consider your options

1. upgrade tank and get another 2 (masive tank)
2. returne to LFS and get some store credit or a exchange

seems like your only options (in the interest of your fids)



Last edited by johnsfish1984 at 24-Jun-2005 20:35

hey all back from a break,

i have a few ideas in mind, maybe being in a small tank stunt his growth, or maybe he is a slow grower, like not the right foods.

hey maybe 2-4 inches hes pretty much the size he was when i got him a long time ago... he had friends but there were fights and he won... i got him another group of friends a while back and there were fights again, so i kinda gave up on giving him a school a friends.. ill look into some options and see what I cant work out... but like I said he is really small and there is more then enough room in that tank for him to grow and i have a bigger tank if nec for when he grows but he hasnt done so since I got him so Ive left him with the other fish in the tank so he wasnt by himself... thanks and Ill take any other advice anyone wants to give

If you have a bigger tank, it's better to place him there. Lately i've read that bala need to stay in schools & they also need a huge tank. I'm sorry for your losses, but it also seems that introducing other fish with him, is a big problem. Yes, maybe he's happy where he is & maybe you can leave him there.
Can you tell us what other fish do you have?.


http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/my_photos
http://www.geocities.com/s8xi5heh/classic_blue.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buzaqq/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

well i don't no nothing about bala sharks unless its silver sharks your refering to cause thats what i've been told is the name o those silver sharks with black tiped fins but anyway wellcome to FP

there are two angelfish with him and two BA tetras that Ive had for no joke like 4 years its crazy... I think I might be giving my little bala back to a store or a friend that has a bigger tank and some balas already... Im thinking about it.. thanx again hes always been one of my favs but Im leaving for college in almost 2 months so I dont that a bigger tank will happen for a while especially since there is a no pet rule in my dorms including fish which I find crazy...

I bought a silver shark like 8 months ago (not my first) and he was tiny...and he stayed tiny for ages...In the end i cracked it..and bought another 1, larger in size! To my surprise within 2-3 months the smaller of the 2 had doubled in size and had overtanken the larger shark by atleast 2 inches!....

I still have them both today..with another 3 i've bought! there all flourishing

cool- thanx that is another way to look at it... never really thought of it like that! It seems however that he has started to grow and to my surprise its because my brother bought what he told me to be a candy parrot fish(?) who is rather large and the shark is following it around and its kinda like a two fish school!! its interesting to watch, but I wonder what the fish is because I cant find it on the fish profiles!!! thanks again!!

I found it, the stupid fish ate my favorite tetra!!! My tank is not big enough for all of these fish does anyone know of a fish store in atlanta that will "buy fish back" or give a store credit

I'm no expert but i really dont think bala's shouldint be in schools in smaller aquariums becuse my friend had 1 bala for a while and its was happy then he got another and after a week or so it died from a fight with the other, but i completly agree they need big aquariums. And agian i'm not 100% sure and also my friends aquarium was a mess to so mabey they were stressed....

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys