| Species | Bala Shark |
|---|---|
| Other names | Silver Shark |
| Latin Name | Balantiocheilos Melanopterus |
| Family | cyprinidae |
| Origin | Asia |
| Length | 35 cm |
| Temperature | 22 - 28°C |
| Water Hardness | soft - medium hard |
| pH | 6.0 - 8.0 |
| Aquarium Size | 500 L |
| Food | live, frozen, dry, plant |
This fish lives in rivers and lakes in Borneo, Sumatra, and Malay Peninsula. This is the endangered species.
Colour of the body depends on the habitat and the food eaten by fish. It changes from gray-silver to silver-gold with light lower part of the body. Fins have a dark gray-black border. The body is cylindrical and slender. The dorsal fin is high and triangular. The sexual dimorphism of this fish are difficult to differentiate. The adult females are thicker in ventral parts than the adult males.
This is a shoal fish. Its behaviour is various and depends on the quantity of fish in the aquarium. If you keep one fish, it is shy and passive and sometimes can be aggressive towards other fish. In the group of several fish they form a social hierarchy. If you have the group of 5 minimum then their aggressive behaviours stay within the group and fish are active and swim around the aquarium. If the group is too small then fish becomes aggressive towards other residents. This species will grow large, so it should be kept with a big fish from the Cyprinidae family. It can eat smaller fish, shrimps, and snails.
This fish grows fast, so it needs a very big, spacious tank in which it will feel good and relaxed. You need a minimum 1000-litres aquarium for group of several fish. You can keep this fish in a biotope tank which will have conditions like the fast-moving Asiatic river which has a gravel substrate, hiding-places among plants and roots, round stones, space to swim, an effective filtration system, one-way water flow. It is necessary to cover the tank – this species likes to jump out of the aquarium. These fish likes clear water without organic compounds and it needs to be oxygen-rich. The fish can nibble plants.
This is an oviparous fish. Breeding of this species is very difficult in artificial conditions. Fish available for sale comes from a special farms where they are breed using hormones.
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