Bala sharks

[ArkyLady]

I currently have a 55gal tank with 2 ropefish, 1 bala shark and 1 common pl*co. We will be building a 100-120 gal tank for all these fish and more in the spring (shop has no heat and it's too darn cold to be out there working now).

How big are your bala sharks? How old are they? I see websites listing them as max size from 7" to 16".

What size tank do you keep them in? and how many do you have in there? Some say to keep at least 3 and others say 6 or more are required for them to be happy.

I enjoy my bala shark and I've become a bit attached to him so it will be hard to take him back to the LFS. But I don't want to get hooked on a fish that needs 6 in a school to be happy and gets 16" long. I don't see how I could fit much else in a 100galish tank with those monsters in there

I guess I'm asking if I should give him up now before I get even more attached or if you think I can have a nice variety of fish in a 100gal and keep some bala sharks as well.

Also, I'm open to any suggestions of what fish I should keep together in the new 100gal tank. I'd like to start getting all the fish now so they can have some time to grow together and all be added to the new tank at the same time.

 

[tim watson]

bala

i kepp two 2 inch balas in my 20g, which (iknow!) is to small. i got them from my lfs ,and told them i had a small tank,but they didnt tell methat they get to 17 inces!. now the fish are bumping and chasing each other all the tim. get 3 balas if you cane, or just one more.

 

[TnCgal]

Hi, Tim Watson !

Welcome to AquariaCentral, home of the most Bala shark keepers on the entire planet earth.

Since this isn't really a newbie-type question I'm going to move it over to General FW !

 

[cacti]

I have had these fish before in a different state. I would suggest having only one or more than 2. These numbers are the best. With 2 the dominant one will do some chasing of the smaller fish. Not a major problem but it still does exist.

 

[dpmac10]

hey whats up i purchased my bala shark about 4 months ago and he has grown alot when i got him he was about 2 inches and about as skinny as a pencil now he is about 5 inches and very think and healty looking he eats whole srimp pellets now and he never usest to be able to do that but what i'm saying is that i only have one bala shark and he loves is swiming area he is in a 55 gallon tank with many other fish such as red tailed shark and black ghost knife and a african ghost knife with tiger barbs and some corys. i just got a 75 gallon for him and my neeble nose and gar and the knifes but i don't think that he minds that he is the only one in the tank he likes to swim with the red fined shark.

 

[O-man21]

Bala sharks are great fish, but they can get big (12 inches)

 

[Pagipoo]

we have had two bala sharks in a 46 gallon bow front for about a year now, and they are about 7-8 inches in lenght, and are the most timid fish in the tank. we add three smaller ones a couple of months ago and one of the smaller ones was very aggressive it chased one of the other new ones to death, and had the larger ones running scared. we moved it to a tank with more aggressive fish than him and now it is very well behaved. am doing a 125 gallon tank for the larger fish we have in near future.