Freshwater aquarium shark types

The Freshwater aquarium shark types are very popular in various worldwide freshwater aquarists. Aquarium Sharks are beautiful and attractive.

Even though we call these beautiful fish freshwater aquarium sharks, they are not actual Sharks. They are sharks looking for pet fish that you can raise in your fish tank.

Most of these aquarium sharks belong to the catfish or carp fish family.

Even if they are not actual Sharks, these fish are perfect pets if you like to keep a freshwater pet shark in your fish tank.

Basic conditions for freshwater sharks

Now you might think that can you raise an Aquarium Shark within your fish tank? This part of the post will talk about the most basic condition you should have to keep them.

First of all, These fish are getting bigger. So you must have enough size freshwater fish tanks to keep them.

You need to have a fish tank of around 75 Gallons to 300 Gallons for them.

These fish need to have enough space to swim. So a bigger tank will be always the best choice for them. Some of these Sharks grow around 20 inches.

They need to have a clear environment to swim nicely. You can see the awesome view of them that they swim like actual Shark fish.

These fish can be aggressive, So you must consider a lot when adding tank mates for them. You do not need to keep them alone but only with matching tank mates.

They need to have a cleaner environment. So clean freshwater fish is a requirement for the same as most other freshwater fish types.

Freshwater aquarium shark types

When talking about the freshwater aquarium sharks types there are several shark fish we can put in our freshwater fish tanks.

The basic conditions that I have explained are also similar to all these freshwater shark fish types. Each of them has a unique look and most of them have common behaviours.

We can’t add all the Freshwater aquariums shark types to our fish tank. There are few that we can keep as pets. Also, these sharks are really beautiful.

1. Bala Shark

This Freshwater Shark variety is also known as the Silver Shark,  Tricolor Shark, and Shark Minnow in some countries.

This is a very popular freshwater Shark species for freshwater aquariums. The scientific name for them is Balantiocheilos melanopterus. 

This fish is coming from the Cyprinidae family. The look of the fish is similar to a shark. They have long silver color shiny bodies with black – while lines in the fins.

The upper fins a straight same as an actual shark. Lower tail fins also look as strong as an actual shark. This is one best freshwater Sharks for your aquarium.

They are very peaceful when they are small. They also can grow up to 20 inches. When they are small they will live with any other peaceful fish.

Care details and behavior

Tank space is one of the important factors for this pet Shark as they grow bigger in your fish tank.

Their origin is Thailand. Bala Shark needs to have a fish tank that is minimum 150 Gallons of size and water temperature needs to be 22-26° C.

pH count of the tank water should be pH 6.5 to 7.5.

This freshwater Shark is getting an Omnivore diet. You don’t need to feed them meat like the food of an actual Shark.

This shark is not hard to keep. Once you have enough space and the required water parameters, they will live nicely in your fish tank for a long time.

Even if we consider naming this freshwater fish a shark, the Silver Shark, or as in the name of the heading Bala Shark is not that aggressive fish.

A baby Bala Sharks you can see in the aquarium fish market size of around 3 inches. But never forget that they are going to get bigger and longer.

Don’t forget! you are going to keep a shark in your fish tank :P. Just give them enough space and they will be a good pet for you.

Summary

As a summary here is what you need to consider for keeping a Bala Shark in your fish tank.

• Care-level – Easy
• Fish family – Balantiocheilos melanopterus
• Water condition – Freshwater
• Water parameters – 22-26° C and pH 6.5 to 7.5
• Diet – Omnivore
• Temperament – Not aggressive over similar size fish types.
• Minimum tank size – 100 Gallons.

2. Redtail Shark

This is another most beautiful freshwater Shark species. The unique black body with red colour tails is making them so beautiful.

This Shark variation is semi-aggressive and smaller in body size. The look of this fish is very unique.

This fish is also known as Bicolor Shark by some people. The name Redtail is because of its unique look. This fish also can know as a fish with territorial behavior.

The distinctive look of them makes them stand out in your fish tank.

Care details and behavior

Redtail shark needs to have a freshwater tank with a temperature of 22-26° C. The water pH count should be pH 6.5 to 7.5.

They are not that much bigger so a 50 – 75-gallon tank will be enough for them. They will grow 6 inches as their max size.

Their origin country is Thailand. This freshwater Shark is getting an Omnivore diet. So no need to feed them any meat for them

You must avoid adding them with long-fin fish types since they will attack and bite their long fins. Also, they are not like to live together with other Freshwater Shark types.

Also, they are not like one another, So it’s better to keep one of them in your fish tank when they are getting bigger. This fish is from the Cyprinidae family.

When setting up the tank, You need to consider preparing hiding spots for them. You can use plants, driftwood, and rocks, stones to make their hiding spots.

Also, this fish is also one of the best fish for your planted fish tank.

Summary

This is the summary of the details of this fish. You need to consider these basic details when caring for them.

• Care-level – Easy.
• Fish family – Cyprinidae family.
• Water condition – Freshwater.
• Water parameters – 22-26° C and pH 6.5 to 7.5.
• Diet – Omnivore.
• Temperament – Semi-aggressive.
• Minimum tank size – 50-75 Gallons.

3. Iridescent shark

This is another fish that we can into our fish tank as a Freshwater Shark fish. This fish is also very similar to an actual shark in their body shape and the way they swim.

This fish is a type of Catfish. And they considering Freshwater sharks.

This fish will grow to a large size. They also have a long life span like 20 years. But they must have the required conditions in your fish tank.

Care details and behavior

This fish can live in freshwater that has a temperature of 22 to 26° C with a pH of 6.5 to 7.5.

They need to have a larger size tank since they grow closer to 50 inches. The minimum tank size can be different by the knowledge and the resource people.

Basically, since they grow larger and since they need a larger fish tank 200 Gallons to 300 Gallon tanks would be good for Iridescent shark

They are peaceful when they are small but can eat smaller fish types when they are growing up.

Avoid adding smaller fish types with them. As the smaller fish can be their diet at night.

The origin of this Shark fish is the Mekong River. They do not act like monster fish. And they are technically a Catfish.

They need to have enough space to swim on the tank on both sides. When they don’t have the required tank condition they can be aggressive and get sick quickly.

This Freshwater aquarium Shark type is taking the Omnivore diet.

Summary

The summarizing of the basics of this freshwater shark is like this. These conditions will help you to keep them nice.

• Care-level – Not easy or not much hard.
• Fish family – Pangasiidae family.
• Water condition – Freshwater.
• Water parameters – 22-26° C and pH 6.5 to 7.5.
• Diet – Omnivore.
• Temperament – Semi-aggressive after growing up.
• Minimum tank size – 200 – 300 Gallons.

4. Columbian Shark

When talking about the Freshwater Shark fish types, this Shark also has a prime place.

The Columbian Shark is also technically a Catfish. But we are introducing them as Shark fish for freshwater tanks.

This fish also grow to a large size.  This fish has a high fin which makes them identical. Also, they can live with most of the other freshwater fish types.

Care details and behavior

This is a peaceful fish by their nature. So they not getting aggressive or harm other tank mates.

The water parameters for this fish are 23-26° C temperature and pH 7.0-7.5. This is a freshwater fish.

Since they grow up to 10 inches, a 75 Gallons tank would be ideal for them. So this fish will get enough space to swim inside the tank.

The origin of this fish is in Central America, North America, and South America. This is basically a Catfish type.

This will be a good tank mate for your freshwater fish. They are taking an Omnivore diet as their food.

But the care level for this is not easy. So this is not a good fish for beginners. They should keep by an experienced person.

Summary

The summary for this Freshwater Columbian Aquarium Shark is like this.

• Care-level – Hard.
• Fish family – Arius jordani
• Water condition – Freshwater.
• Water parameters – 22-26° C and pH 6.5 to 7.5.
• Diet – Omnivore.
• Temperament – peaceful.
• Minimum tank size – 75 Gallons.

5. Giant pangasius Shark

This is another giant Freshwater Aquarium Shark type that is popular among Freshwater Shark lovers.

This is basically another Catfish variety that considers a Freshwater Shark. Also, this Shark variety is similar to the Iridescent shark.

In the look and the behavior, they are similar. This shark is also known as the Paroon shark. 

They have a different look sharp fins on their top. This fin is looking sharper than the Iridescent shark. Als this look makes them look like an actual shark.

This fish also getting bigger. So same as the Iridescent shark, this one also needs to have a big fish tank since they grow larger.

Other care details are very similar to the Iridescent shark.

6. Albino Rainbow Shark

By the name Albino, you can guess what they look like. They have a whitish colour body red tail, reddish fins, and red colour albino looking eyes.

These fish are looking very unique and they are the albino version of the Rainbow Shark. The rainbow shark is very similar one to the Redtail Shark.

So this Albino Rainbow Shark also has similar behaviors to the Redtail shark.

Care details and behavior

This is also a semi-aggressive fish. So you should consider when choosing tank mates for them. This fish is also from the Cyprinidae family.

This Freshwater Shark fish can be bigger up to 6 inches. So they are not a very big variation but a very popular variation of Shark.

A 50 – 75 Gallon tank will be enough for them. The water parameters are 22-26° C. The water pH count should be pH 6.5 to 7.5.

With the required conditions, this fish can live in your tank for around 5-8 years.

They will take Omnivore diets as their main food. This fish is love to live in planted aquariums also. You can set up your aquarium with plants and rocks for them.

Having hiding pots in the fish tank will make this fish happy. It would be good to avoid adding other shark variations with them since they are getting aggressive.

Summary

The summarized details for the Albino Rainbow shark are shown below.

• Care-level – Normal/Moderate.
• Fish family – Cyprinidae family.
• Water condition – Freshwater.
• Water parameters – 22-26° C and pH 6.5 to 7.5.
• Diet – Omnivore.
• Temperament – Semi-aggressive.
• Minimum tank size – 50-75 Gallons.

Conclusion

The are several freshwater fish types that we can add as freshwater sharks. Even though they are considered Freshwater Aquarium Shark fish types, they are not actual Sharks.

Most of them are from Catfish variations and most of them are getting bigger in body size. In this post, the max size and care detail are exposed for each Shark type.

By considering those factors, you can get a clear idea about each type of these Freshwater Sharks, their behaviors and their requirements.

In each part, I have added a summary under each fish to clarify their basics.