Silver Sharks acting funny

[Richard]

Well... I dunno why they act so funny... I only have 2 in the tank.... one always chases the other around the tank.... well... not always... sometimes... not fighting...look more like courting... hehehe...

and...sometimes...they swim next to each other....bodies sticking together.... and wiggling funnily as if they are caught to each other and can't separate... and just swim like that around the tank...

I thought maybe that was some kind of mating dance? or indicating they want to spawn??? hehehe... but I honestly doubt it... they are only babies... and I have only had them for less than 2 months... so it would not be anything to do with mating...

but why they act funny like that? is it normal behaviour for them?

and... how Do you tell when a fish is ready to spawn?

[Ira]

I don't think anyone has ever gotten silver sharks to spawn in a tank so I'd say it has nothing to do with spawning. Mine used to do the same thing. I think the wiggling might be something of a dominance thing and the chasing is...Well, just chasing. They like to chase each other around the tank. It's all normal.

[Midas]

My tin foil barbs do this also. Wasn't sure what it was either, but I didn't think anything was wrong with them, just some kind of normal behaviour I think.

[Joey]

My LFS told me that this behaviour is actually spawning related, but don't hold your breath. Alot of fish exhibit their regular "courtship" rituals in the home aquarium, but many never end up following through. Bala (silver) sharks are extremely hard, if not impossible, to re-create their natural habitat in order to breed. These are fish that even the most vigilant aquarist will find virtually impossible to breed.

On another note, this little ritual is actually quite an amazing thing to watch, I can sit for the whole duration of it just glued to the tank.

[ajbroome]

Richard said...

> ... why they act funny like that?

Bear in mind that 'silver sharks' are really just big barbs. Kind

of like an oversized tiger barb in behaviour. As such, they like

to be in groups. Generally this is impractical in the home aquarium

(except for the biggest tanks) since they're quite a big fish. If only

two are kept, there tends to be dominance behaviour shown,

especially if one is bigger than the other...

I always find it odd that everyone knows tinfoil barbs get big

and as such avoid them unless they can provide the space

but a lot of people try and keep silver sharks in their community

tanks.

Having said that, they're gorgeous fish and I've been guilty of

keeping one in a 4 ft community in the past too

Andrew.

[Ira]

I used to have 3 in my 200 liter 4 foot tank. My 400 liter (4 foot again, which is why I hate using the lengths for any tank) they had heaps of room.They were quite a nice size, about 4-5" long. Didn't seem like too small of a tank for them yet and that was after two years. I kinda wish I hadn't gotten rid of them since I moved them back to the smaller tank because they kept eating the plants, but now I've given up on the plants and wish I could put them back in the big tank.

Their big maximum size and jumpiness is the only bad thing I can think of about them. They've got a great temperment other than that and take years to get very big anyway.