Silver Shark

Silver Shark

A Larger Than Usual Community Fish

The Silver Shark, Balantiocheilos melanopterus, is a bigger fish than most of the ones normally considered peaceful community fish. It grows to about 14 inches (36 cm) long. Despite its size and appearance, it can sometimes be kept as a community fish with much smaller fish in a very large aquarium.

It comes from Sumatra, Thailand, Borneo and Malaysia. Alternative common names for the Silver Shark are: Bala Shark, Tricolor Shark and Shark Minnow.
The Life Span is about 10 years.

Water Conditions

Because the Silver Shark is a fairly big fish, it will need a big aquarium. Although smaller ones will be all right for a short time in a small aquarium, and for convenience may well be sold from a small tank, when purchasing one you need to consider the size it will grow to. I suggest that a bare minimum aquarium length for an adult Silver Shark is about 150 cm, or 5 feet.

The Silver Shark is a tropical fish, and although I have seen it suggested as a cold-water fish, this would depend on how cold your water gets. I suggest a temperature of between 22 and 29 degrees C (between 71 and 84 degrees F), with a moderate hardness and a pH near neutral. As far as water conditions are concerned, it is quite compatible with most community fish.

Well oxygenated water is recommended. This fish can jump so a well-fitting aquarium cover is a good idea.

Food
Like most fish, the Silver Shark is an omnivore. It will most dried fish foods as well as live food like small crustaceans like Daphnia, insect larvae like wrigglers and blood worms as well as frozen food. It is quite capable of eating small fish, and isn't always a good companion for small types of fish.

Companions
The Silver Shark can be kept with most small and medium size fish. People with experience with this fish are divided over whether they can be kept with Neon Tetras and other very small fish like Green Neons and Cardinal Tetras. There is no doubt that Silver Sharks have sometimes eaten very small fish, but on the other hand I have seen very big Silver Sharks in a large aquarium with Neon Tetras and not bothering them at all.

Other, slightly bigger, community fish should be in little danger. This includes fish like large Cherry Barbs, Penguin Tetras, Pristella Tetras, large Glowlight Tetras, Siamese Fighting Fish, Red Eye Tetras, Silvertip Tetras, Gold Barbs, Rummy Nose Tetras, Scissortail Rasboras, Lemon Tetras, Emperor Tetras, Head and Tail Light Tetras, Glass Bloodfin Tetras, Swordtails, Platies, Mollies, Zebra Danios, Black Widow Tetras, Rosy Barbs, Tiger Barbs, Paraguay Tetras, Buenos Aires Tetras, Colombian Tetras and Splashing Tetras.

Breeding
The Silver Shark is not one that many people have bred in a home aquarium, so there is incomplete information about it. I can only make the following suggestions.
It is an egg laying fish that will need a lot of space to breed. The females tend to be larger and plumper. In the wild it breeds in the monsoon, so imitating the water conditions which occur during the monsoon are worth trying.

Sources

http://www.justtropicalfish.com/Silver_Shark.html, http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=silvershark, http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=39 and http://www.fish-keeper.net/Forum/index.php?/topic/563-bala-shark-silver-shark/.