Bala Shark -- Minimum Tank Size

[n3ont3tra]

I'd like to know the minimum tanks size for 3 bala sharks, 4 bala sharks, and 5 bala sharks, please. I've heard many different ideas and would like to know what you think.

 

[afishdude]

well, they get well over a foot long.... id say 125g for 5, 90g for 4, 75g for 3. but thats just me everybody has there own opionen.

 

[n3ont3tra]

That's about what I was thinking. Ok, just wanted to confirm I wasn't totally off. Still, other opinions are appreciated.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I would say the absolute minimum size tank for a group of three would be a 4ft long 2ft wide and 2ft high tank, but a tank a foot longer would still be a lot more desirable- i would advise going for the longest and widest tank you can when you get these fish as they are very active and large sociable fish, and grow much longer than most shoaling/schooling fish sold in petshops.

 

[Gatorbait]

I'd say the minimum I would use is a 150g tank for a group of them. IMO, you shouldn't even keep 1 in a 75g tank. It isn't an issue of how much room for it just to turn around.

Like Tokis-Phoenix mentioned, they are extremely active and need a lot of room to swim.

 

[vancouver]

nothing less then 6 feet

 

[geo7x]

yeah i would even say that an 8ft tank is ideal for any kind of decent sized shoal of them.

 

[Ferris]

5x2x2 min IMO. That's what i keep my 4 full-grown adults in and i certainly wouldn't use anything smaller.

 

[daspricey]

yeah i would even say that an 8ft tank is ideal for any kind of decent sized shoal of them.

now thats the way to keep silver sharks, common plecs, tin foil barbs and clown loaches.

but 6'x3'x2' is bare minnimum.

david

 

[n3ont3tra]

Okay, looks like I'll be buying a big tank for my future balas. I'm thinking 8x2x2. There will be 5 balas, 5 clown loaches, ~15 cories, 20 yellow banded tetras, 20 penguin tetras, 20 cories, 10 glass catfish, 3 zebra plecos, about 20 kuhlie loaches, and 8 Roseline Sharks. Would that tank be big enough? It's 240 gallons.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Okay, looks like I'll be buying a big tank for my future balas. I'm thinking 8x2x2. There will be 5 balas, 5 clown loaches, ~15 cories, 20 yellow banded tetras, 20 penguin tetras, 20 cories, 10 glass catfish, 3 zebra plecos, about 20 kuhlie loaches, and 8 Roseline Sharks. Would that tank be big enough? It's 240 gallons.

That tank would be great !

 

[n3ont3tra]

Is it big enough though?

 

[Gatorbait]

The only time I've seen bala sharks overly skittish is in really small tanks like 55g and 75g. A 240 would be great.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Is it big enough though?

Yes thats more than big enough, generally speaking the general accepted minimum length for a bala tank is 5ft long, so an 8x2x2 would be great. You should go for sand substrate though if you are getting corys, clown or khuli loaches or any other fish with search for food with barbels/whiskers, there are also some fish which bury themselves in sandy substrate.
You should aim for some dense planting in the tank, but overal the tank should have plenty of open space for the bala's to swim up and down in with ease .
The khuli loaches will also particularly enjoy places to hide under, with 20 khuli's it'll be likely that you'll always seen one or two about, but they generally spend a lot of time under cover- they will come out for food though, catfish pelets and algae wafers are a particular favorite of khuli loaches. The two main varieties of khuli loaches are black ones and striped ones, so you may want to opt for both of these types instead of a single variety.
Clown loaches take a very long time to grow even though they can grow very large, you might want to opt for some larger specimens as otherwise you could be waiting for years until they reach a decent size- its pretty easy to adopt larger specimens, there are always people who are trying to rehome them due to lack of space. I would definately advise a quarentine tank- clown loaches are VERY prone to getting whitespot when introduced to new tanks, and they are not the easiest fish to treat for this parasite as well. Its better then to have a stable quarentine tank then you can put them into for 2-3 weeks so if they do turn out to have whitespot, it'll be a lot easier to treat them (the whitespot parasite is so infectious, you really don't want to get it in your main tank).

 

[n3ont3tra]

What if I put in the Clown Loaches first?