Barbus shark: description and content in the aquarium

This aquarium fish only a couple of decades ago began to be bred in Russia. In natural conditions, the shark barbus lives in the reservoirs of Thailand and other countries of Southeast Asia. He prefers 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. However, they are not very convenient in maintenance, since they require a large aquarium: in captivity, the fish do not grow more than 15 cm, but live in flocks.

Appearance of the shark barbus

This fish belongs to the Carp family, so it looks a bit like our roach, but on closer examination, the differences are visible. Her narrow, elongated, laterally compressed body has a silver-steel hue. All scales are large, shiny, mirror-like. 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 was the fish named "shark barbus"? The photo clearly shows that there is a noticeable similarity with the shape of the body and dorsal fin with the sea predator.

The character of the fish

Barbus shark 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, tetras or other barbuses. They are not bullies, but it is better not to plant voilehvostov - they will remain without a tail. It is undesirable to keep small fish and fry with them, since shark barbuses 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 their timidity. With a strong fright, they may even die. But still, shark barbus became a favorite for many.

Contents in the aquarium

The fish is quite unpretentious, but in order for it to feel good, you need to follow some rules.

1. An 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.
2. In the aquarium, you need to create at least a small current to bring the living conditions of the fish closer to natural.
3. It must be covered from above, because these fish are very bouncy.
4. It is necessary to create conditions close to natural conditions for barbuses. The aquarium should have a lot of plants, rubble of stones, branches, driftwood and other places for shelter. But there should also be free space for swimming.
5. Barbus akuli is used to living in running water, so it is necessary to arrange a good filtration for him. It is also advisable to change 30-40% of the water more often. The temperature should be maintained at least 23 ^O C, since this is a southern fish.
6. Barbus shark prefers natural light, as this fish is daytime, it needs a light day of 8-10 hours.
7. At the bottom of the aquarium, pour a thin layer of light pebbles of medium size.

What these shark fish eat

Barbuses are omnivorous: they actively eat both live and dry food. But they have poor digestion, so some feeds are contraindicated for them. For example, bloodworms, chitinous shells of some insects and cheese. Be sure to feed shark barbuses with plant food. Give them dried nettle leaves, spinach, dandelion or lettuce. These fish pick up food mainly from the water column, so you can't give it a lot, otherwise they won't have time to pick it up.

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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 of the features of their reproduction.

1. 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 are fed only with high-quality feed.
2. 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 driftwood to bring the conditions closer to natural.
3. There should be several males per female. Hormone injections are used to stimulate spawning. In addition, it is provoked by changes in temperature and water hardness. It is impossible to say specifically under which parameters spawning is more successful. Different conditions are needed for all fish, but usually it is a lower temperature and softer water.
4. Immediately after spawning, adult fish are deposited. Usually the fry hatch from the eggs in a day, and after a couple of days they begin to swim. They are fed at this time with rotifers and infusoria. Do not forget to change half of the water daily to fresh with the same temperature and hardness parameters.

Despite the small difficulties of breeding and keeping, the shark barbus is a very funny fish. It is interesting to watch her, and an aquarium with such inhabitants will give you a lot of positive emotions.