rm
Passport
- Family
- Sharks
- Grows to
- 35 cm (13.8")
- Lives
- 10+ years
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Care
- Intermediate
- Swims
- Mid-water
- Keep
- In a group of 3 or more
- Water
- 20–28 °C (68–82 °F)
IndonesiaMalaysia
Care requirements
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On record for Bala Shark: adult size, lifespan, minimum tank, temperature, ph, hardness, minimum group, diet, care level, swim level, tank length.
A figure that is not on record is left out rather than guessed. One marked Suggested comes from keeping knowledge rather than a page.
- Minimum tank 473 L / 125.0 US gal
- pH 6–8
- Hardness 2–15 dGH
- Diet omnivore
- Tank length 240 cm minimum
Care notes written from general aquarium knowledge, not from the cited sources.
About
Bala sharks are not sharks and they are not a community fish, and both misconceptions come from the same place: they're sold as three-inch juveniles that look like a neat silver minnow with black-edged fins.
They grow to the length of a forearm. A group of adults needs a tank most home aquarists will never own, and this is the single most-ignored fact in the hobby's stocking advice.
They're also intensely social and highly strung. Kept alone or in twos they're nervous wrecks that dash about and injure themselves; kept in a proper group in a proper tank they're calm, elegant and genuinely impressive.
Tank setup
Buy for the adult fish or don't buy them. There is no version of this where a standard community tank works out.
Keep a real group. They shoal, and a solitary bala shark is a stressed animal that will spend its life panicking.
Give them length above everything. They're fast, straight-line swimmers and they need the run.
Cover the tank and weight the lid. Bala sharks are powerful jumpers and a startled one clears a surprising height.
Keep the room calm. They're easily spooked and a panicking fish this size does damage to itself and to the tank.
Feeding
Bala sharks are unfussy omnivores with good appetites.
Feed a mix: quality flake or pellets sized for a large fish, frozen bloodworm, brine shrimp and prawn, plus vegetable matter and algae-based foods.
They feed throughout the water column and they're fast enough to take whatever they want first.
Avoid: underfeeding growing fish, and avoid assuming their speed means slower tank mates will manage.
Filtration and flow
Filter heavily and give them strong flow. They're large, active river fish and they use current.
Oxygenate well. An active shoal of big fish has a real demand.
Change water generously and regularly. The bioload of an adult group is substantial.
With plants
Bala sharks don't eat plants but their size and speed damage them mechanically.
Anchor everything firmly or attach it to hardscape. Loose stems get flattened.
Tough species round the perimeter — vallisneria, java fern, anubias, large crypts — take the traffic and leave the middle open for swimming.
Health
They're hardy in the right tank and chronically stressed in the wrong one, which is where most of their health problems begin.
Injuries from panic and jumping are the main risk. A damaged snout usually means the fish hit the glass or the lid.
A fish dashing repeatedly at the front of the tank is telling you it's alone, cramped, or both. That's a housing problem and it won't resolve.
Breeding
They're not bred in home aquaria and there's no established method for it.
The tank size and the group size required for adults to spawn naturally put it out of reach for almost everyone, and the wild trigger involves seasonal river changes besides.
Commercial stock is produced on farms with hormone induction. That's why a fish that grows this large stays cheap as a juvenile, and it's worth remembering when you see a tank of them for the price of a tetra.
Tank mates
Avoid13
- Kribensis Bala Shark grows to 35 cm against Kribensis at 8 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Least Killifish Bala Shark grows to 35 cm against Least Killifish at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Panda Garra Bala Shark grows to 35 cm against Panda Garra at 9 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Scarlet Badis Bala Shark grows to 35 cm against Scarlet Badis at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Betta Betta is not safe with Bala Shark: betta (male) and sharks are a bad pairing.
Only with care33
- Chinese Algae Eater Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Bala Shark is peaceful.
- Convict Cichlid Convict Cichlid is aggressive and Bala Shark is peaceful.
- Jewel Cichlid Jewel Cichlid is aggressive and Bala Shark is peaceful.
- Amano Shrimp Bala Shark is a risk to Amano Shrimp: sharks and shrimp and yabbies are a pairing to watch.
- Bamboo Shrimp Bala Shark is a risk to Bamboo Shrimp: sharks and shrimp and yabbies are a pairing to watch.
No conflict is recorded with the other 62 species in the database, so nothing to flag.