BALA SHARK

The Bala Shark, also known as the Silver Shark and is great for the semi-aggressive community aquarium. This is one of the more passive freshwater sharks, and they are active fish that will be visible during the day. The Bala Shark is a beautiful fish with a metallic silver body with a yellow and black dorsal and caudal fin.

It requires a large aquarium with driftwood, rocks, and spots of dense vegetation. This shark does best in small groups of 3 or more, as they prefer to school in the aquarium. Unfortunately, the breeding habits of the Bala Shark have not been documented.

An omnivore, the Bala Shark is not a particularly finicky eater. Flake food, freeze-dried bloodworms, and tubifex, as well as vegetable-based foods, should be fed.

The Bala shark is actually an endangered species in its native wild Borneo from overfishing and natural wildfires that destroyed flowing waters, but Bala Sharks remain very common and readily available in the aquarium trade from farm-raised stock here in the US. This is a species of the fish family Cyprinidae and actually 1 of the 2 species in the genus Balantiocheilos. Of course, this is not a true shark but is commonly called this because of its torpedo-shaped body and large fins. Bala Sharks have a gorgeous silver bodies with black margins on their dorsal, caudal, anal, & pelvic fins. Bala Sharks have big eyes to find and catch their prey. The Bala Shark will grow to a maximum length of 14 inches if housed in a large enough aquarium. Bala sharks will roam in midwater depths. Bala sharks are generally peaceful and good companions for many other types of tropical fish. Bala Sharks are hardy fish that will tolerate temp changes, pH swings, etc.