I have recently got a Iridescent shark and i was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these sharks and on average how big have people got them to grow?

Also what kind of fish are they best with?

Heres Some Info Found On The Web...

Scientific name: Pangasius hypophthalmus

-Origin: Southeast Asia, fast flowing waters

-Temperament: Peaceful, very active, shy and skittish

-Color: when young - Blackish blue with iridescent stripe; when older - lose stripe and become two tone gray. Scaleless

-Feeding: Sinking pellets, bloodworms, and other live food

-Temperature range: 72 - 82 degrees

-pH: 6.8 - 7.3

-Adult size: 4 feet in the wild; 1.5 - 2 feet in captivity

-Strata: Middle to top

-Sexing: no differences except males may be more slender

-Life span: 7 - 10 years

-Ease of keeping: Hard

-Breeding: Near impossible in captivity

-Comments: Not a beginner fish. Very, very shy and can become spastic if alarmed. Will dart from side to side and hit his nose on the glass due to their bad eyesight. This causes their nose to become cut sometimes. Also may play dead if alarmed. Will become accustomed to your voice and this can be used to calm them down. May also come to the top to be "petted". Must establish a trust with this animal. Will not eat plants, but may uproot things when he goes crazy. Also is not technically a shark, but rather a catfish. Called a shark due to its resemblance in shape and its two-tone gray coloration. Beautiful fish and a lot of fun to watch.

This Should Answer Some Of Your Questions..

thank you for the info
although i cant see the shark getting that big it was quite interesting

No Prob...
Glad To See People Posting Questions I Can Actually Help With,Lol

how big is your Aquarium in gallons
tha tyou are keeping the shark in?
It may be to small

10 gallons

Unless you have the ability to upgrade to a *very* large tank, I'd suggest taking the shark back or finding it a good home somewhere else, it won't be happy for long in a 10 gallon tank and will likely die very quickly. They are very hard to keep.

Are they hard to keep because they get big?
or because they just are hard to take care of?

Does It Matter?

Both. They are very nervous fish, and can easily end up hurting themselves. They get very large and are really not particularly suitable for most home aquariums.

they need at least a 150 gal aquarium m8, it will just die otherwise....

Kev

Thats pretty werid that nnnnnn would sell a fish such as that

nnnnnn is not the best fish store on the market.
You can find many better stores to buy your
fish then that,you should buy your fish at a high quality pet store,
that there fish are well tooken care of.

I though sharks needed more room then that.
I hope you can find a diffrent type of fish to replace him.

Are most pet stores actually willing to take fish from people?

Would the shark get along with goldfish?

You Should Take It Back.. Trust Me,Listen To What Kev Said...
It Will DIE <_<

You can usally ask to change it with another type
of fish.That would cost the same.

Well i got mine at nnnnnn so that might not be possible

... Why Not Post It On The Buy/Sell Portion Of The Board?
Pherhaps Someone Here Would Be Willing To Take It?

Did you ask around? to see if any one
would like to have him and can provide a good home for
him?

if you keep it, it will die, maybe, it will eat all your other fish, and THEN die, theres only one choice, take it back to the store, even nnnnnn take fish back, and if not, just GIVE it to another store that will take it.

The are not good aquarium fish! A large adult may reach 1.3 meters and weigh 15.5kg. They are also very active and should be kept in shoals. They are nervous in captivity and the noses of those that are kept in captivity are invariably severly deformed from constantly ramming the sides of the aquarium. A proper set up would contain atleast six individuals and be atleast 20 feet long by eight feet wide. They are bred throughout Asia as food fishes. They are bred in large shallow ponds. I am not sure if they breed "naturally" in these ponds or if hormones are injected to induce spawning. If you have not bought one, then don't! If you already have one take it back and trade it for something that you can provide a proper habitat for.

Well Said.

Sad news
my shark died from a power failure while i was on vacation
my water temp droped to 55F
but thankfully my comets could handle the low temp

I'm very sorry to hear that. I bought the same shark when it was an inch and a half big.-I had no idea what I was getting into. I kept him for 3/4 years ,and he was almost 12 inches by then before he died. Kev was right.The older"spaz" got ,the more he spazzed out! They have a very bad habit of racing back and forth in the aquarium,and smashing against the glass. I tried to do what I could for him,without any info-it was only recently,that I learned how wrong I was in purchasing him. I'm surprised he lived as long as he did. I really grew to love him,and I think it's a shame that they can be sold to people in pet stores.That is really no true place for them or bala sharks. The lfs need to really make people aware of the sizes and conditions that these poor fish need. I miss my sharks...

Hey at least you didn't have to wait for it to get big and ram itself into the glass repeatedly, permanently crushing its face..
or ( since it's by itself it would be extremely jumpy) it would either a) land on the floor and dry up or B ) smash your light and die immediately from shock/injury or die afterwards from ensuing complications.

sorry to hear that vette

All I can think of thruout this post is how good that fish would taste on the table once big.... They're a FOOD FISH! Not an aquarium fish. Even in large tanks, they get skittish and have been known to slam straight into the glass and kill itself (after smashing the glass!).

Marketing is such a wonderful thing isn't it? Sell the fry as food fish to aquaculture farms and get about $0.05 a fish, or export it as "ornamental fish" and call them a catchy name like 'shark', and u get the price up to $2ea!! Amazing what a little marketing can do. People never read up about what they are getting b4 getting it..... they're such impulsive buyers and such suckers for marketed names like "Sharks".

.... oh and btw, they taste REAL GOOD! One of my all time favourite fresh water fish when I travel thru South East Asia.

Unfortunately,people do make mistakes when they are starting out.When I bought my sharks,I didn't have access to a computer to learn everything about them. Cazy me,I went by what the people said who ran the lfs,I would have thought they would have known better. When you start out new at anything,you are bound to make mistakes,but hopeully you learn from them. I'm sorry your fish died Lyndzi,but at least you have found koko's for any help you need in the future. Ignore the sarcastic comments ,some people just feel the need t express. Not much sympathy,on their part I might add. Hope you feel better.

Hey my fishy didn't die!

I am the sarcastic one!