This aquarium fish began to be bred in Russia only a couple of decades ago. In vivo, the shark barbus lives in water bodies in Thailand and other countries of Southeast Asia. He prefers a fast current and fresh water. These fish are not only very active and unpretentious, but also voracious, so they can grow up to 40 cm. They began to breed because of their unusual appearance and cheerful disposition. In addition, they are able to live for about 10 years. True, they are not very convenient in maintenance, since they require a large aquarium: in captivity, fish do not grow more than 15 cm, but live in packs.
The appearance of the shark barbus
This fish belongs to the Karpovye family, therefore it is a bit like our roach, but upon careful examination, the differences are visible. Its narrow, elongated, laterally compressed body has a silver-steel hue. All scales are large, shiny, mirrored. This fish looks very impressive, because it sparkles when moving. The eyes of the shark barbus are large, occupying almost the entire head. The fins are transparent or yellowish, edged with a wide black stripe. Why is the fish called "shark barbus"? The photo clearly shows that there is a noticeable similarity with the sea predator in the shape of the body and dorsal fin.
Nature of the fish
The shark barbus is very active and peaceful. He likes to live in a pack of at least 7 individuals. It gets along well with other large aquarium fish, for example, catfish, minors, tetra or other barbs. They are not cocky, but it’s better not to plant tail veils - they will be left without a tail. It is undesirable to keep small fish and fry with them, since shark barbs are very voracious.
A distinctive feature of the behavior of these fish is their increased jumping ability, they are even able to jump out of the aquarium. Their other feature is timidity. With severe fright, they may even die. But still, for many, the shark barbus has become a favorite.
Aquarium Maintenance
The fish is quite unpretentious, but in order to feel good,
you need to follow some rules.
- The aquarium for keeping shark barbs should be large - at least 200 liters in volume. After all, the fish are fast, active, prefer to live in packs.
- In the aquarium, you need to create at least a small current in order to bring the living conditions of the fish closer to natural.
- It must be covered from above, because these fish are very jumping.
- It is necessary to create conditions close to natural for barbs. In the aquarium there should be many plants, blockages of stones, branches, snags and other places for shelter. But free space for swimming should also remain.
- The shark barbus is used to living in running water, so it is necessary to arrange a good filtration for it. It is also advisable to change 30-40% of the water more often. The temperature must be maintained at least 23 ° C, as this is a southern fish.
- Shark barbus prefers natural light, since this fish is daylight, it needs daylight hours of 8-10 hours.
- At the bottom of the aquarium, sprinkle a thick, medium-sized light pebble layer.
What do these shark fish eat?
Barbs are omnivorous: they actively eat both live and dry food. But they have poor digestion, so some foods are contraindicated for them. For example, bloodworms, chitinous shells of some insects and cheese. Be sure to feed shark barbs with plant food. Give them dried nettle, spinach, dandelion or lettuce leaves. These fish pick up food mainly from the water column, therefore it is impossible to give it much, otherwise they will not have time to pick it up.
Shark barb breeding
In captivity, these fish breed very reluctantly. Almost all of them were brought from their homeland. To get offspring from them, you need to take into account some features of their reproduction.
- To do this, you need to take adult fish older than 4 years, the female should be at least 35 cm in size. They are selected at a young age according to the brightness of color and activity and fed only with high-quality feed.
- For breeding, you need to use a very large aquarium, about 2 m long. At the bottom you need to put a few kilograms of Javanese moss and more snags to bring the conditions closer to natural.
- One female should have several males. Hormone injections are used to stimulate spawning. In addition, it is provoked by a change in temperature and water hardness. It cannot be said specifically at what parameters spawning is more successful. Different conditions are needed for all fish, but usually it is a lower temperature and softer water.
- Immediately after spawning, adult fish are sedimented. Usually fry hatch from eggs in a day, and after a couple of days they begin to swim. They are fed with rotifers and infusoria at this time. Remember to change half of the water to fresh daily with the same temperature and hardness settings.
Despite the small difficulties of breeding and keeping, the shark barbus is a very funny fish. It is interesting to watch it, and an aquarium with such inhabitants will bring you a lot of positive emotions.