Shark ball - aquarium fish, which in its appearance is similar to a shark. It gains more and more popularity among aquarists for its unpretentiousness in care, attractive appearance, energy, and peace. The scientific name of the fish is black-feathered balantioheylus. Belongs to the Karpov family.
Area
For the first time, a shark balu in the wild was described in 1851. This was done by the Dutch naturalist Peter Blecker. Fish is found in the water bodies of Sumatra, Borneo, Southeast Asia, and on the Malay Peninsula. The reservoirs where they live are pure streams and rivers.
The number of these fish decreases every year. The main reason lies in environmental pollution. Another reason is the catch for subsequent sale. This species of fish is listed in the Red Book. They began to be imported into Russia en masse about twenty years ago. Although the first individuals met before.
Appearance
Description of the shark ball should start with the body. It is narrow, squeezed on the sides. The eyes and mouth are relatively large. The scales are large, its color is silver-gray with a dark border. Under certain lighting conditions, the body becomes as if mirrored.
Fins have their own characteristics:
- pectoral - almost transparent, barely noticeable against the background of the body;
- dorsal - located as in most species of sharks, that is, perpendicular to the back;
- dorsal, anal, caudal, abdominal - painted in light gray or yellowish tone, have a black border.
The shark bal owes its name to the dorsal fin. His behavior is completely unlike a predator.
It is almost impossible to distinguish the sex of these fish. There is information that males are larger than females. There are no other special signs.
Size and life span
In the natural environment, fish grows up to forty centimeters in length. In an aquarium, the size of the shark ball is a bit more modest - twenty to thirty centimeters.
He lives for a long time. The average is ten years, but there are individuals that live even longer.
Behavior
A shark balu purchased at a pet store was likely to have been caught from a natural reservoir. Therefore, it takes a long time to adapt to the artificial habitat. Do not be surprised if the fish behaves inappropriately, trying to jump out of the aquarium or bang its head against the walls. In a month she should calm down.
It’s important not to scare the ball and give it time. He can die from severe stress, so it’s better not to create unnecessary noise and do not make sudden movements near the tank until the adaptation period has passed.
Shark barbs are pack animals. They will be more comfortable in a company of five or more individuals. It will be very interesting to watch this flock, as a strict hierarchy is built in the group.
Artificial Environment
The maintenance of the shark ball does not cause much trouble. The fish is quite unpretentious and strong. However, there are a number of requirements that must be met in order for the pet to live comfortably.
First of all, the flock of the ball needs a reservoir of impressive size. Its length should be a meter or more. The recommended volume is four hundred liters. Fishes need a lot of space for games and growth. If they are placed in a tank of insufficient volume, they will cease to develop normally, be susceptible to disease, and may die.
Plants and other decorative elements should be placed along the walls of the aquarium so that they do not interfere with the speed of the barbs. It is better to plant hard-leaved types of greens, for example, anubias or wedge. You can limit yourself to artificial jewelry. Soft plants with delicate leaves will quickly damage these fish.
The ball needs living conditions close to natural, so the filter should not only enrich the water with oxygen and purify it from harmful compounds, but also create a strong current. Water must be clean. Acidity and hardness can vary significantly. Water temperature - 22-28 ° .
Water change should be made once every seven to ten days for a third or half of the tank volume. If the aquarium is four hundred liters full, 130-200 liters must be replaced.
Food
In the natural environment, representatives of cyprinids have a fairly diverse diet. Therefore, aquarium fish shark ball for full development, it is necessary to maintain such a variety. She eagerly eats live and dry food. It can be fed artemia, daphnia, finely chopped meat of mussels and shrimp. From vegetable feed, lettuce, spinach, and nettle are suitable. You can give green peas and fruits. But it is better to refuse bloodworms, since chitin is poorly digested by the ball.
Food should be given two to three times a day in small portions. Fish should eat everything in two minutes. They are quite voracious and prone to overeating, but for most aquarium inhabitants this is bad.
Breeding
Representatives of cyprinids in captivity breed reluctantly and rarely. Yes, and aquarists especially do not want to breed sharks. This is due to the large costs of the huge size of the tanks.
This does not mean that they are not bred in an artificial environment. There are special farms. They are located in Asia. They created conditions as close as possible to the wild environment.
For spawning, one female and two males are deposited in a tank with a volume of one and a half thousand liters. The water is soft and slightly colder than usual. At the bottom is a layer of Javanese moss. It is in him that the female will spawn. Fishes reach puberty by four years.
During the breeding season, the female should be fed mainly with plant foods. Males should eat live food with a high protein content. Spawning is stimulated artificially by introducing special injections into the pituitary gland of fish.
The female will produce up to ten thousand eggs. After that, adults are evicted. After two days, the eggs will become larvae, and after another day they will begin to swim. The fry will stick in a flock. The first food for them is live dust. If the conditions are met, small balloons will grow pretty quickly.
Diseases
With the correct shark content, the ball is resistant to the main types of diseases. But in an overpopulated aquarium, in which water is changed late, ichthyophthyroidism can occur in fish. The disease affects many aquariums. In everyday life it is called "semolina disease" for small whitish grains that showered the body and fins of the fish.
The activity is caused by the activity of ciliary ciliates. Unicellular in water is not uncommon. In a negligible amount, they are present in many water reservoirs, getting there with live food infected with a new settler. The disease manifests itself if the animal is in constant stress, kept in poor conditions. The disease is treated with the help of modern medicines.
The ball has a predisposition to aeromonosis. In common parlance, it is called "rubella carp." The causative agent is gram-negative bacillus aeroform of hurophil. A sick individual has ruffled scales, the skin is inflamed, there are foci of hemorrhage. Treatment depends on the stage of the disease. For starters, you can try salt baths. If they do not help, it is worth using chloramphenicol, methylene blue.
Compatibility
Shark ball does not apply to aggressive fish. He gets along well with individuals of the same size. You can lodge it with larger aquarium inhabitants.
List of ideal neighbors:
- gourami;
- iris
- catfish;
- tetra
- Minors
- representatives of barbs.
But what is not recommended is to settle it with small fish, which are placed at the ball in the mouth. He will just eat them. Therefore, there can be no talk of neighborhood with neons and zebrafish. You should also not add aggressive cichlids to it. Although they are close in size, they are capable of driving the ball to death.
If barbs live in a flock of an aquarium, they should not even be laced with veil-tail fish for a short while . They will not be able to resist and bite all the long fins. This is characteristic of almost all cyprinids.
Buying a ball spontaneously is not worth it. These fish, although unpretentious, but require a lot of free space. In addition, they are comfortable living in flocks. Individuals should be in clear water with a good course. Then they will delight with their mobility, beautiful appearance. If you do not create proper care, the acquisition can quickly disappoint. Moreover, individuals live for about ten years, and they relate very poorly to a new move. If the aquarist is not ready to create proper care, do not torment the animal, which felt great in the natural environment. And you can admire them at the pet store, at other aquarists or in the video presented.
If you do not create proper care, the acquisition can quickly disappoint. And the long life of pets can be a burden, not a joy.