Monster freshwater "sharks"

[Cichlas]

Hi again, it appears the black shark is very similar to the red dotted shark in appearance except the black shark is just a little darker and missing the slight red dots, would you agree with that? In your pic it looks like the black shark sort of sits on the bottom and rests?

Not really that similar other than a dark'ish colour. the Black shark is more a grey/blue tint to the colour, the rubro more a brown tint. Body shape is also considerably different along with fin shape. The rubro is more streamlined in shape and also lacks barbels. The Labeo calbasu and Labeo barbatus that I have are more akin to the black shark in shape, the calbasu having a green/gold tint to the colour, and the barbatus a brown/gold fleck to it. They both have barbels, the calbasu having the biggest in proportion to the fish, it also has a much deeper caudal peduncle and larger caudal fin in relation to its body size. But otherwise the three fish are very similar and could quite easily be mistaken for a young black shark to the more untrained eye. I expect the differences to become even more visible as the other two grow though.

Yes, the black shark does spend quite a lot of time "resting". They are not like the balas and redlines of this world. Although of course when they do move, they can move with some force. I have tended to find all of the labeos to be similar to this, apart from the Labeo boga which is always on the move. The barbatus seems reasonably active, the calbasu and Labeo parvus less so.

 

[brcacti]

Labeo cabasu and Labeo barbatus, what are they?, sound interesting can you possibly include pics of them for us to enjoy?

 

[Cichlas]

I'll try and get some more updated pics over the weekend. These ones are fairly old.

Labeo calbasu

Labeo barbatus

Labeo boga

Labeo parvus

 

[arowana man]

one of two irridscents. by the way im giving them away for FREE

 

[brcacti]

Was wondering how they all get along with each other though, Are they all in the same tank or a few tanks?, many fights?

 

[Ben_Jam_In]

Ben_jam_in, what size is your bala?, you have an interesting tank there. What size tank is it?, what size are your irridescent sharks? What filters do you use? Thanks for the info.

the tank is a 120 the bala is about 3 4" the irresdecent shark are about the same as the bala for filters i have a emperor 400 and whisper powerfilter 60
im geting anothere emperer 400 for it soon, my irresdecent sharks i have had for about 2 years now im growing them out for my big tank im geting this year

 

[Cichlas]

Was wondering how they all get along with each other though, Are they all in the same tank or a few tanks?, many fights?

They are all in the same tank. No troubles as such, the odd chase but nothing to write home about. The only real problems are between the rubro and the black shark. The rubro gets moved out every few months into solitary and then returned back in. Everything is fine for a few months and then it starts again. The only real fighting in the tank is between the two Osteochilus that are in there, one is a wandersii, the other I've never been able to ID. They fight and occasionally the rainbow shark joins the party. I expect the albino red tail black shark will also join in with that fight once it gets bigger too. All in all, considering the number of aggressive "sharks" in there, it stays pretty calm.

 

[ChrisGray]

thats a huge ass bala

 

[brcacti]

Yeah, thats a surprise with all the "sharks" they tend to fight with each other so I would expect a rough tank. One thing I was wondering is if I get a black shark with the fish listed below will I be able to get any other sharks or catfish to put in with him?, any opinions on what would do best with him? Has to be big enough not to fit in an Oscars mouth

 

[Cichlas]

In my experience, you should ditch the cichlids if you want to keep a big black shark. They seem to take exception to cichlids big time. My black shark used to beat up on my balas and tinfoils too, it never managed to kill any, but they never looked in top shape while they lived in with the black shark. It will be luck of the draw rather than anything planned as soon as the black shark gets big. In general with mine, anything small is ignored, anything big is fair game. Oscars are far too variable in my experience also, and could itself cause mayhem with your other fish.