feeding bala sharks

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akshay2222

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 9, 2009
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durg
Currently i am having 2 pair of bala sharks in my cichlid tank.
I use the high quality cichlid food for my cichlid and my sharks also feed on it.


So, my question is it ok to feed bala sharks cichlid food or i use some thing else to feed them.
Also suggest me what should i feed them for a healthy and fast growth.
 
All my fish eat Hikari Gold cichlid pellets. Only because I am to lazy to double feed and my fat Oscar would just eat it all.

Bala's grow sloooooooow, feed the more often rather then better food.
 
Balas like Prima, algae wafers, floating cichlid sticks. They'll eat anything. Mines loved cucumber. Give variety, feed often. They grow slow, but not as slow as clowns. Mines got to 7 inch in 2 years from an inch when I got them. So it's not that slow.

I stopped keeping them when I realised they need at least 6 foot in length to not act skittish all day!
 
nfored;4207167; said:
All my fish eat Hikari Gold cichlid pellets. Only because I am to lazy to double feed and my fat Oscar would just eat it all.

Bala's grow sloooooooow, feed the more often rather then better food.
Click to expand...
They don't grow that slow, they usually grow around 1/2"-1" per month which really isn't that bad imo. And I have heard of them growing to 14" in just a year but I don't know for sure whether or not that was just an exaggeration, but I know they are capable of getting to 1' in a year. The best way to ensure a good growth rate is frequent w/c's and frequent feedings.



SteveR;4207270; said:
Balas like Prima, algae wafers, floating cichlid sticks. They'll eat anything. Mines love cucumber. Give variety, feed often. They grow slow, but not as slow as clowns. Mines got to 7 inch in 2 years from an inch when I got them. So it's not that slow.
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Wow, that's a lot slower than mine have grown, mine have gone from about 3 inches (around Oct.-Nov. '09) to 8-9", which is over 1/2" per month (yours is only 1/4" per month).
 
drgnfrc13;4207316; said:
They don't grow that slow, they usually grow around 1/2"-1" per month which really isn't that bad imo. And I have heard of them growing to 14" in just a year but I don't know for sure whether or not that was just an exaggeration, but I know they are capable of getting to 1' in a year. The best way to ensure a good growth rate is frequent w/c's and frequent feedings.




Wow, that's a lot slower than mine have grown, mine have gone from about 3 inches (around Oct.-Nov. '09) to 8-9", which is over 1/2" per month (yours is only 1/4" per month).
Click to expand...


Remember growth depends on alot of things. One of the biggest is competition for food. Which in my tank, there was alot!
 
SteveR;4207330; said:
Remember growth depends on alot of things. One of the biggest is competition for food. Which in my tank, there was alot!
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I doubt anything in your tank competes more than a 18-19" pacu and a 20+ inch silver arowana. ;)
 
And I have heard of them growing to 14" in just a year but I don't know for sure whether or not that was just an exaggeration
Click to expand...

back in the 90's I grew two of them from 3 inches to 12" in a year (in a 90g). they ate like hell. would eat wardley's shrimp pellets after they softened up a bit like crazy. I suspect this is what got them to grow so well.

prior to that I could never get them to grow big at all, but for some reason, these ones grew big for me. balas I had prior to that never did. it was weird.
 
mine got to 9 or 10 inches in 2 years from very tiny fish, feed only once a day and even skip a day occasionally. I feed them goldfish slow sinking pellits with occasional beef liver
 
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