Should I buy it?
Bala / silver shark
Balantiocheilos melanopterus
Also known as: bala shark, tricolor shark, silver shark, Bala shark, Tricolor shark, Silver shark
Fishori provides conservative planning guidance, not guarantees.
Based on multiple reputable aquarium care sources with strong agreement. Use the numbers here as planning defaults — your room, water, and routine still shape real-world outcomes.
Grows to 35 cm and needs a school. Juvenile 5 cm 'sharks' are irresistible in shops. The adult fish needs 500L or more and eats small fish.
Best for
Large tanks 500L or more with a school of five or more and large peaceful companions over 15 cm.
Avoid if
Any tank under 300L, nano fish, or if you can't plan for a 35 cm adult over several years.
Top things that go wrong
- Grows large or needs a very big footprint. Bala / silver shark is often sold at sizes that hide adult length (~35cm on file) and a published minimum near **500L**. Shop tanks are not adult housing.
- Mouth gap vs tiny tank mates. Predation risk toward smaller tank mates. The figure that matters is the adult mouth size against the adult prey length, not the juvenile sizes in the shop.
- Shrimp & snails. Shrimp: not safe. The fish will eat adult shrimp, shrimp fry, or both, depending on the size of the shrimp.
Common mistakeThree bala sharks in a 100L community. They outgrow the tank within a year and eat nano fish once large enough.
What most shops don't tell you
- 1.Predation risk scales with gape, night feeding, and crowding. 'they grew up together' is a schedule, not a law.
- 2.Classed peaceful for similar-sized community use. Still a bite-sized risk toward fry or very small comm fish in small volumes.
- 3.Bought in trios in 200 L and never upgraded as they hit 20 cm or more within a year or two.
- 4.Housed with slow coldwater fish whose temperature window splits from the bala's in summer.
- 5.Plan for a 180 cm footprint or more. Balas burn through oxygen, can jump, and are not a nanofish community option.
About this species
Bala sharks are large active minnows that look 'shark-like' in the shop but grow to 30 to 35 cm. They are peaceful, but the mix of size, swim speed, and a strong jump makes them a long-tank specialist, not a community fish.
- Tinfoil barb500L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Banded leporinus300L min · same fish family
- Silver dollar300L min · same fish family
- Denison's / red-line torpedo barb250L min · same fish family
- Denisons Barb250L min · same fish family
- Giant danio200L min · same fish family
- Rainbow / red-tailed black shark200L min · same fish family
- Rosy Barb180L min · same fish family
- Clown Loachalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Common Plecoalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Denison's / red-line torpedo barbalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Denisons Barbalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Pictus catfishalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Silver dollaralso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- African freshwater butterflyfish tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Black ghost knifefish tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Denison's / red-line torpedo barb tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Giant danio tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Jaguar cichlid tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Pictus catfish tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Rainbow / red-tailed black shark tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Red-tailed catfish tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
Plan grid
Key limits are shown above; this section adds planning detail: pH band, swim level, bioload and activity, and the radar.
Swim zones
Planning trait chart
Six indices for comparing species on paper before you spend.
- Beginner ease24
- Peacefulness76
- Community fit73
- Small-tank fit38
- Hardiness54
- Energy86
Numbers are deterministic planning indices from Fishori fields — not a scientific score of your individual fish.
Common setup sketches
Conservative patterns from Fishori fields — still run the pair checker for every species you add; sketches are not a stocking guarantee.
Match temperature and pH overlap with every tank mate, then verify adult size and group rules on pair pages — Fishori is biased toward boring, survivable plans.
Tank mate intelligence
Use the "Often compatible" lists as a shortlist, not a stocking plan. Always run the pair tool and check the footprint of your actual tank first. Verify behaviour for Bala / silver shark against your own reading before you buy.
Pair-level compatibility with this fish as anchor.
Read the blocking rule on each pair page before experimenting.
Do-not-stock combinations on conservative hobby rules.
Compare with
Run a real pair check: Bala / silver shark + Boesemani Rainbowfish
Behaviour, temperament, and what to watch
Prose and lists come from the same record: read temperament first, then glass-level signals so you are not surprised after day three.
Bala / silver shark is peaceful in mixed company. Treats any fish small enough to fit in its mouth as food. Mouth size at adult length matters, not the prey's listed adult size.
Stress / aggression triggers on file
- Sudden crowding
- Poor water quality
Fin nipping: Not a habitual fin-nipper, but individuals can still test fins under stress or in a crowded tank.
Predation: Predation risk toward smaller tank mates. The figure that matters is the adult mouth size against the adult prey length, not the juvenile sizes in the shop.
Territory: Not strongly territorial, but still claims a working area in the tank. Give it room to settle without overlapping the next species' patch.
Planted tanks: excellent — easy plant ideas
In the glass: typical and warning signs
- Busy at feeding time — expects food to hit the water predictably.
- Shoaling/schooling: most colour and confidence show when the group meets **5+**.
- Clamped fins, gasping at the surface, hiding non-stop, or refusing food after the first week.
- Rapid breathing when parameters swing — fix ammonia/nitrite first, then reassess mates.
- Low listed risk — still watch new introductions.
- Separate or rehome if injuries appear, one fish is pinned, or feeding becomes a daily chase.
- If water is stable but behaviour worsens, reduce stocking or remove the highest-impact species first.
Fish behaviour can vary between individuals and tank setups. Always observe new fish closely after introduction.
Care parameters: water, food, inverts, grouping
Chemistry and group rules sit here so you are not re-reading the same line from tank mate or temperament blocks. Swim level is in the plan grid above.
Hardness
medium
Diet
omnivore
Mixed diet: a quality flake or pellet as the staple, with frozen or live foods two or three times a week.
Shrimp & snails
Shrimp: not safe. The fish will eat adult shrimp, shrimp fry, or both, depending on the size of the shrimp.
Shoaling species. Buy 5 or more of one species together. Smaller schools sulk, lose colour, and redirect their schooling energy at whatever else is in the tank.
Egg scatterers and schoolers still spawn in stable tanks. Have a plan for the fry, or accept that the parents and tank mates will eat them in a community setup.
- Hold 22 to 28 °C steadily on a real thermometer, not the dial on the heater.
- Aim for pH 6 to 7.5 and a hardness you can re-test in two weeks. A one-time strip in the shop car park is not a water test.
- Schooling species. Buy 5 or more from the same tank on the same day before adding any centrepiece fish.
- Tank volume meets or exceeds 500L published minimum for adults.
- You can stock at least 5 individuals (group welfare).
- Heater can hold 22–28°C without cooking cooler-water tank mates.
- No known fin-nippers paired with long-finned fish unless you accept documented risk.
- No tank mates small enough to fit the adult mouth gap for this species.
Explore and stocking hubs
Same library as the rest of Fishori: tank-mate index for this species, category peers, guides, and litre-based stocking lists where min tank on file is within the hub volume.
Plan with tools
Pair-level rules and multi-fish stocking use the same conservative engine — add this fish in the tank builder only after mates pass pair checks.
Filtration & heating
A 500L minimum tank needs a filter rated for at least 2000L/hr turnover and a heater to hold 22–28°C reliably.
Plant suggestions
Bala / silver shark does well in planted tanks. Plants compatible with 22–28°C and pH 6–7.5:
Profile status: partially verified · Evidence tier: high · 3 linked source(s). Fishori does not fabricate citations.
Fishori uses conservative planning rules based on these sources.
Confidence is explained in the summary at the top of this page (same tier as here), not repeated below.
How Fishori evaluates compatibility (same logic as pair and tank tools).
- Seriously Fish. Balantiocheilos melanopterus
Primary: aquarium size, water chemistry, behaviour, and compatibility (URL verified in upgrade script; recheck if site content changes).
- FishBase. Balantiocheilos melanopterus
Secondary: taxonomy, distribution, and maximum length in nature; cross-check with aquarium import lines and measured tank parameters.
- Wikipedia. Balantiocheilos melanopterus
Secondary: general species context; verify all husbandry numbers against a dedicated aquarium care sheet and your test kit, not a single table row.
Evidence notes
- The Seriously Fish profile for the binomial in this record was successfully reached as the primary aquarium reference.
- FishBase contributes natural-range size and habitat context. Translate those numbers through your heater, your water report, and your tank footprint before stocking.
- Wikipedia is only cited if the article URL returned OK. Use it for orientation, not as the only care sheet for an import.
- All compatibility text reflects typical hobby experience and the Fishori model. Individual fish, shop stress, and the order tank mates are added in can still defy a single-paragraph label.
- Fishori profiles work from typical aquarium trade sizes and hobby care norms. Specialist site checks and literature review for this species are not yet recorded here, so the ranges on this page are planning numbers rather than guarantees.