Bala Shark and Iridescent shark

[mdb_talon]

OK i see that id sharks may not be the best for me so i have a 110 gallon and i want a big fish for life. What would you suggest.

In that size tank I would personally get several african cichlids. Some peacocks or other fish that get to the 6" range. probably not what you want as a "big" fish though.

One of my favorite fish for that size tank though is a banded leporinus. Supposedly they get to a max size of 12" from most of what I have read. Mine is now 13" and still growing though. Lot of people report they can be very aggresive and kill fish smaller than them or nip the tails of any size fish. I have not had any issue with mine in a tank of african cichlids though they leave eachother alone. Biggest issue I have is feeding them as the cichlids devour any food I put in and my leporinus is shy and wont go near the top of the tank while I am there and the cichlids try to eat all the food before it can fall down to him !

 

[peewee]

I dont need to ask if he is going to upgrade or not it is foolish to buy fish that will outgrow your tank until the point in time you actually have a tank that can house them properly. LFS and craigslist are full of pacu and other similar large fish that people intended to upgrade tanks for. Plans dont always work out and it is the fish that suffer from people who dont have the patience to do it right.

this is what we call being unfair. let's use a lil percentage of our brain ok?

 

[BALLER34IG]

ppl are funny just because your fish got that big doesnt mean they all do. My friend has a 250 gallon tank with a adult oscar and jack dempsey and 3 full grown bala sharks. The balas r 7 years old and all range from 9-13 inches. Like aggression size does vary too. Size is just an estimate in opinions from person to person. Go with 3 balas and nothing else that gets large as the small school of balas should be the tanks main focus point

 

[mdb_talon]

this is what we call being unfair. let's use a lil percentage of our brain ok?

Not unfair at all. What is unfair is buying large fish for small tanks on the thought you will upgrade at some point in the future. Saw it weekly when worked at a LFS in high school and people would come in trying to give us a Pacu or Oscar (those were most popular) because all those plans they had to upgrade just did not work out.

Since you asked I will just use a "lil percentage" of my brain from now on just to make our intelligence equal.

 

[Yanbbrox]

Bala can get big on there own:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209321

 

[pelleeklund]

I'd say to go ahead and buy the ID's if you want. You may save them from ending up in some unsuspecting persons 10 gallon tank. If it's at your fish store it's already got a death sentence, why not make it's last years great memories with you? 110 is a decent size. And when it comes to growth, mine has never grown an inch in 6 months and it's in a 220. It's actually the most growth retarded fish I have ever owned. God damn gary coleman ass shark. You may actually die before it reaches a foot. Man I hate that little ****.

 

[jclyde13]

balas: 2 or 3
id shark: NONE

I agree.

 

[jclyde13]

no balas balls get to be 14inches and they need a school minuium tank size is around 240+

Now those are some big balls!

 

[mamapuff]

I have had my first ID since he was 2 inches, and he's barely 7 inches right now, he's was in a 75 gallon for about a year, and then in a 150 gallon for the last six months or so. He is a very slow grower even though he is a good eater. My other two ID's are both only about 4 inches, but we got them two months ago and have already doubled in size. I can't wait until they are big enough for a pond of their own. Talk about Kitty Pool

 

[TTTT]

ID sharks are slow growers? I thought they'd be fast, like RTCs