my friend and i were just discussing his 2 bala sharks and he mentioned that they won’t grow to full size if they are kept in a small tank. i think this is truly amazing. can anyone explain how this is acheived, by what mechanism, and whether the shark knows to stop growing (by eating less maybe)? is it simply another form of adaptation and what exactly happens inside the sharks body to acheive this stunted growth?
thanks in advance.
This is a myth. It may be possible to stunt growth by improper feeding and by improper care, but bala sharks are not going to stop themselves from growing. I did a quick search and found several different sites with minimum requirements in tank sizes to keep bala sharks. This site mentions a minimum of at least 70 gallons -
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/cyprinids.shtml
You’ll have to scroll down to the list, but it gives some general requirements for several types of fish.
This is something unscrupulous pet store owners tell naive customers to get them to buy figh which will outgrow their tank setups. Then either the fish dies, and the customer has to come back and buy more fish, or the fish out-grows the tank and the customer has to come in and spend more money on a bigger tank.