| Silver Shark Fact Sheet | | | | most dried fish foods as well as live food like small |
| The Silver Shark, Balantiocheilos melanopterus, is a | | | | crustaceans like Daphnia, insect larvae like wrigglers |
| bigger fish than most of the ones normally | | | | and blood worms as well as frozen food. |
| considered peaceful community fish. It grows to | | | | Companions |
| about 14 inches (36 cm) long. Despite its size it can | | | | The Silver Shark can be kept with most small and |
| be kept as a community fish with much smaller fish in | | | | medium size fish. People with experience with this fish |
| a large aquarium. | | | | are divided over whether they can be kept with |
| It comes from Sumatra, Thailand, Borneo and | | | | Neon Tetras and other very small fish like Green |
| Malaysia. Alternative common names are: Bala Shark, | | | | Neons and Cardinal Tetras. There is no doubt that |
| Tricolor Shark and Shark Minnow. | | | | they have sometimes eaten very small fish, but on |
| The Life Span is about 10 years. | | | | the other hand I have seen very big Silver Sharks in |
| Water Conditions | | | | a large aquarium with Neon Tetras and not bothering |
| Because the Silver Shark is a fairly big fish, it will need | | | | them at all. |
| a big aquarium. Although smaller ones will be quite all | | | | Other, slightly bigger, community fish should be in little |
| right in a small aquarium, and for convenience may | | | | danger. This includes fish like Cherry Barbs, Penguin |
| well be sold from a small tank, when purchasing one | | | | Tetras, Red Eye Tetras, Silvertip Tetras, Gold Barbs, |
| you need to consider the size it will grow to. I | | | | Rummy Nose Tetras, Scissortail Rasboras, Lemon |
| suggest that a minimum aquarium length for a Silver | | | | Tetras, Emperor Tetras, Head and Tail Light Tetras, |
| Shark is about 48 inches (120 cm). | | | | Swordtails, Platies, Mollies, Zebra Danios, Black Widow |
| The Silver Shark is a tropical fish, and although I have | | | | Tetras, Rosy Barbs, Paraguay Tetras, Buenos Aires |
| seen it suggested as a cold water fish, this would | | | | Tetras, Colombian Tetras and Splashing Tetras. |
| depend on how cold your water gets. I suggest a | | | | Breeding |
| temperature of between 22 and 29 degrees C (71 | | | | The Silver Shark is not one that many people have |
| and 84 degrees F), with a moderate hardness and a | | | | bred in a home aquarium, so there is incomplete |
| pH near neutral. As far as water conditions are | | | | information about it. I can only make the following |
| concerned, it is quite compatible with most | | | | suggestions. |
| community fish. | | | | It is an egg laying fish that will need a lot of space to |
| Well Oxygenated water is recommended. This fish | | | | breed. The females tend to be larger and plumper. In |
| can jump so a well fitting aquarium cover is a good | | | | the wild it breeds in the monsoon, so imitating the |
| idea. | | | | water conditions which occur during the monsoon are |
| Food | | | | worth trying. |
| Like most fish, the Silver Shark is an omnivore. It will | | | | |