Balas? Or - maybe -not?

[hrothgarblue]

I clicked the following link posted on another thread:

Bala Shark Profile

because when I got my tank (first one 10 months ago) I did not realize how big they will get, etc.

Well, when I went to this link, these are not the same fish that I have that I thought were balas.

I will try to post a pic I just took (hope it works - I am new here)

What do I have then? I know they're gettin' huge and I don't know what I will do with them eventually (rookie mistake)

 

[DclownD]

catfish shard or sumtin like that

 

[hrothgarblue]

hmmm... gotta love Petco ("BALA SHARKS")

 

[albo]

it looks like an iridescent shark.

 

[GeraldTheMouse]

Iridescent sharks. Get a good 4ft in length.
Iridescent shark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[MOsborne05]

Yep its an ID shark, check out this thread http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/pre...ridescent-shark-not-home-aquarium-either.html Take them back ASAP, and see if you can trade them in for something not so big. How big is the tank?

 

[hrothgarblue]

hmmm...

The pic of the fish in that thread doesn't really look like mine though... my fish don't look like they have "scales" like that - what I mean is that when I look at them they remind me of dolphin skin... not so much "scaly"

(I give great techno-fish talk, don't I???)

 

[MOsborne05]

That's because yours are babies and the scales arent as big

 

[hrothgarblue]

now what?

Okay... so... with everything I am reading... this is a very poor fish to have in a home aquarium.

So... what do I do with them? There is a Petco (where I bought them) and another LFS that I went to a time or two but was not happy with.

Will a LFS really take fish in from strangers? (seems like they'd be worried about disease, etc).

And another dumb question... how would I get them there? I like them, and don't want anything to happen to the little guys, but if they have gotten this big after 10 months, there is no way they can hang out much longer!

 

[MOsborne05]

They should take them back, they might not give you credit for them unless you have your receipt though. I've taken fish back in a tupperware container before, so you can use pretty much anything.

 

[GeraldTheMouse]

Just out of curiosity, how big did they get in 10 months?

 

[hrothgarblue]

growth

Well, I got three (petco "they need to be in groups of 3 or more") and one is about 5 inches and the other two are around 4 inches.

Like I said,,, they are really cool to look at, but it won't be good for them to be in such a small area (I have a 27 gallon bow-front tank)

Rookie mistakes....... sigh

 

[GeraldTheMouse]

Hey petco was right this time, they do need to be in groups.

Any other petstores you can 'donate' them to?