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what do you think is the minimum tank size for balas? a school of 3 is probably fine, but do you think the 3 could live happily in a 75 gallon. the profiles says their max size is about 13 1/2 inches. they should be good in a 75 gallon right?

No. Some fish that get that size are fine in a 75 gallon tatnk, however, Bala Sharks are very active fish. This means that they need much more room for their behaviors. Any Bala over 6" should be in a 6 foot tank, otherwise they'll be hurting themselves when they bash into the walls of a 4 foot tank like the 75 gallon.

To note, a 6 foot tank is still not long enough for a Bala Shark to breed; spawning runs by swimming linearly in a single direction is a method used by many cyprinids to breed. However, even in a 6' tank Balas do not have the length of the tank to breed, at least to date. In fact, some cyprinids swim up to 40 times their body length in a spawning run!

Last edited by Shinigami at 09-Jun-2005 12:18

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i haven't really seen a full grown balas but some that are pretty large. so i can't be 100% right with my suggestion, but i would have to say no. my father in the later 70-80 had a 130 gallon with (at the time his favorite) 3-5 Balas that from photos were really big, but he told me had trouble keeping them in there, seeing how they like to jump.

you could be able to keep 3 of them in a 75G round tank for a few years or untill they get big, but later you will have to get a larger tank for them.

Let's see ... Bala Sharks can exceed 13 inches and are very active swimmers. They alos like to be in a shoal, which to me means 6 minimum.

That says to me in turn, "oops I can't keep them" because my house isn't big enough to take the aquarium they'd need.

To do them justice, you'd be looking at a 12 foot tank. A 12 foot long by 2 foot wide by 18 inch deep tank would be nearly 270 US gallons, or a little under 225 UK gallons. Or, for the metric people, 1,109 litres. So you'd not only need a lot of space simply to site the aquarium (not to mention the fun and games of the running costs of a behemoth like that), you'd also need to be pretty sure your floor could take something that when set up, would tip the scales at somewhere around 1½ tons. Even a shallow gravel bed for an aquarium that size is going to be heavy. If my Panda Fun Palace™ needed 35 pounds of gravel, then this monster would need something like 315 pounds of gravel. This is starting to look less like an aquarium and more like a small civil engineering project


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Let's see ... Bala Sharks can exceed 13 inches and are very active swimmers. They alos like to be in a shoal, which to me means 6 minimum.

I would say balas would be happy in groups of 3

As these fish are so active i would say a five foot tank is the smallest possible tank though a six foot tank would be better.

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IMO, 3 Bala's in a 6 foot tank will be Ok.


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can u really buy a 12ft tank? i would dearly love one. living in a re-enforced, double brick apartment building means my floor could easily take the weight. might need to go down to 10 ft tho to fit it in. this thing would come ready made would it? no ofcourse not because then there would simply be no way of getting it in the door. mmmmm....plotting...
i want one i want one i want one. and at the end of the day what's a couple of grand in the setting the thing up?

maybe i can just make one? perhaps using 5mm glass yes and it shouldn't need nemore than 3 bridges over the top. mmm yes then i can create a true river tank for dainty cories and black widows. oh so many black widows mmmm lovely black widows.

ok now im rambling, sorry. lol.

The reason Balas don't belong in a 6' tank, in my opinion:

Conservatively, adult size for Balas is 12" (most pass 14" and many 18" ). As active schoolers, they can easily be compared to zebra danios, which, again conservatively, hit about 1". So putting Balas in a 6' tank (say, a 180 gallon) is like putting zebra danios in a 6"x2"x2" box - something no one would ever recommend, because it's just plain cruel.

Last edited by LittleMousling at 10-Jun-2005 13:30

-Molly
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Which, LittleMousling, is why I suggested a 12 foot tank for Bala Sharks.

Let's face it, even 18" Balas should feel right at home in a tank that size ... and although ideally, one should aim for as huge an aquarium as possible for fish such as this, 12 feet is probably the maximum upper limit for most indoor aquaria that can be constructed and set up without [1] placing undue strain upon floor joists, and [2] taking over whichever room that they are sited in. Of course, if anyone has the space in a basement (with a concrete floor capable of taking the weight) an 18 foot aquarium would be even better for these fishes, but how many of us have the facilities for an 18 foot aquarium? 12 feet is probably beyond the means of many people here, not necessarily in terms of finance (and the dedicated/determined keeper would exert the effort to devise ingenious solutions allowing the existence of such a setup) but in terms of sheer house space. There isn't a room big enough in my house to allow such a monster aquarium to physically fit in it, even if floor joist strength was not an issue. However, for those fortunate enough not to be subject to such restrictions, I would say go ahead and build a 12 foot aquarium for Bala Sharks, because that way the Balas would be happy.

Heh, if money was no object, I'd have a house built specifically to take huge aquaria on this scale, but that is lottery win territory. There but for the accident of not being born into the Rockefeller family go I


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Yup, I saw that. I just thought the reasoning should be filled out after jasonpisani's comment.

But, I have to admit it - IMO, even 12" is just too small. Again, the zebra danio comparison - a 12"x2"x2" box is much smaller than even a 2.5 gallon tank, and most of us won't recommend danios in anything smaller than a 10! (Which would be, in Bala equivalents, 20' long and quite large around).

-Molly
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You are right LittleMousling & sorry for my mess.

Today i was reading that 1 Bala Shark need a minimum 55gal. tank.

Sorry once again.


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Wooooah I didn't know balas get so big! I was going to get some for my 55g tank. Guess not xp

A 200 G tank would be fine for 6 balas.
3 could be kept in a 6 foot tank 125G or over.
If they get too big sell them. They are worth pretty good bucks when they are that big.


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