Hello I have recently been considering getting a bala shark, but i was wondering what type of food to feed them. Is their a certain type of pellet food just for sharks or can u use normal tropical fish food?? thanks

Food is not really as important as the proper space and care for these guys.What people don't realize about these beautiful fish because the Pet Stores sell them like Guppies,is they get Huge,like to school,and need Hundreds & Hundreds of gallons of water to live in.I really would advise you to go0gle and try to read up on these fish before you decide to purchase them.I learned the hard way.I got a pair when they were mere babies.They grew almost a foot long in the time I had them.The bigger they got,the more crazier they acted.Once they hit a certain size,if their tank size isn't correct,they tend to do crazy things like swim from side to side crashing into glass.I had one knock himself almost unconsious doing that.They are also the best jumpers that I've ever seen.One managed to get thru a small opening-(which was shocking because he was 10 inches at the time)and jumped out of the tank almost as high as my ceiling! I owuld love to keep them again,but from my experiences,and what I've read,I could never have a tank big enough for them.

thanks devs. couldn't have said it better myself.

if you do decide to invest the money for a large enough tank, to answer your question; they'll eat anything you put in there. it's really cool to listen to them eat, they're the only fish i know of that you can hear chomping from across a quiet room. mine get fed flakes (tropical, cichlid, and gold), brine shrimp, blood worms, and veggies on occasion; but seem to most prefer the sinking pellets (tropical).

Thanks for the info guys. How big is your tank balashark? how many do you have??

right now i've got a male and female at 7" in a 72 gallon bowfront (4'x1.3'x2'). eventually i want to get something bigger and add another one that's a while off though unfortunately.

dev's right though, they are skiddish and need all of that 4' length and then some. luckilly mine have never jumped out (knock on wood). ideally i should have more in a bigger tank (schooling) but i just don't have the money for it right now; and my two do alright by themselves i guess, very rarely apart though.

So i Guess its better to buy two then just one if they like to school so much.

Do you know of any sharks that get a decent size but are ok for most aquariums??

What size of tank and what other fish do you have?

I have a 29 gallon and a 10 gallon. If i get a shark or two I plan on putting them in the 29. I only have one goldfish in it now, I will put him in the 10 gallon.

you could do a redtail in the 29 i bet... but only one, and no other bottom feeders... and only big fish, fast fish....

yea, i think redtails are really nice; and they look a lot more like a shark's supposed to than some i've seen in petstores.

like magic said, just one cuz unlike bala sharks they can get nippy w/ other redtails. and that one will grow to about 4-5" in a year or so. also, make sure and put a rock or something in there that he can call his own, he'll actually set up his own little "territory" that he'll defend against smaller slower fish.

please don't try to put a school of balas in a 29 unless you've got very serious plans to upgrade, as they'll quickly outgrow an aquarium that size. they need to swim, and they won't let other fish, decorations, an aquarium lid, or the glass walls, get in their way.