Silver Bala Shark Tank Size?

[CFC]

These tank sizes being given are a bit over the top, yes a 6 foot tank would be lovely for balas, an 8 foot even better!! But in reality a 5 foot long and 18 inch wide tank is perfectly adequate for a group of 3-5 of them provided there are no or very few other middle and top dwelling fish sharing the upper levels of the tank, in the extreems a 48x18x18" (75g) could be used to house 3 balas though i wouldn't want any more than that due to over crowding. The maximum adult size for bala sharks is continually over exagerated, many sites talk of 14" 15" and even 18" balas but i have not yet seen a reliable source which gives an adult size above 13" and in my experience of myself and other people keeping them for many years have not yet seen one with my own eyes longer than 12", i would personally say that an average adult size in aquaria is around 11 inches. The fishbase entry for them lists them at 35cm (which is 13") http/filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/speci...me=melanopterus as does Baensch in volume one.

 

[Hughesy]

The Rio tanks go off there name.

I.e RIO 125 = 125 LItres
RIO 180 = 180 litres and so on

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have to agree with CFC, the max size of bala sharks is often much smaller in captivity than it is in the wild (this actually applies to most large fish in the hobby).
I think if the tank if carefully decorated, allowing the fish both a lot of space in the middle and upper section of the tank but as well as cover in the lower section, and the tank is properly filtered with no other fish primarily occupying the bala's swimming space, then i think CFC's estimate is fine.