My bala shark died??

D

dizzy

Registered Member
Jan 9, 2006
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0
Hi, my bala shark just recently died. I don't know why but all I know is the shark was swimming upside down for like 3 days. It started doing it after I put a little too much food in the tank. Why do you think it died?? The tank is 50 gallon and the Bala shark was about 7inches. There's still one more bala shark alive and he's 7 inches as well. I was wondering if I should by another bala so he can have a buddy. Right now I have 2 kissing gourami's and 1 bala shark in the tank. Appreciate the help as I am a new member!!
thx
JOn
 
If a fish starts swimming upside down or what looks like looses its balance in the water then its generally a swimbladder problem.
 
Might need a bit more info:

How old is your tank?
Any major changes recently?
How do you filter your tank?
You know Bala's grow to over a foot? so 50 gallon is the bare minimum for one, much less two + gouramis.
Could you post your water readings for ammonia, nitrite, & nitrate?
How often do you change the water & how much is changed & do you use a dechlorinator?

Sorry for all the questions, but these should be standard operating procedure for all tank-problem related posts.

thx
 
He did state that it was swimming upside down. Which would point to a balance problem.
 
Was his stomach bloated? This can be a sign of overeating. We lost an ID shark this way. He ate too much of my mystery snail :mad:
 
Look in the "species profile" section for bala shark and you will see that you

a.) Do not have enough bala sharks kept together
b.) Do not have a big enough tank for bala sharks

If it happend after overfeeding, likely the fish overate and this put pressure on his swim bladder, misshaping it and causing the irregular swimming position. Another possibility (since balas are known for it) is that the fish swam into the side of the tank and hurt himself. Balas need lots of room and are vigorous swimmers, which is another reason larger tanks are a better fit.

I would suggest you return your remaining bala to the store and look into more appropriate fish for your tank size.

This site also lists 55 gallons as the minimum for kissing gouramis (which grow to 12+ inches), but I would challenge this and say a larger tank is needed. Especially for a pair, two foot long fish in a 55 gallon is pushing it.
 
DarkEntity said:
He did state that it was swimming upside down. Which would point to a balance problem.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Looking for solutions though. Unfortunately, the fish is already dead. I wouldn't suspect that one isolated overfeeding would cause the problem though. Always good to have the basic background info. :thm:
 
Ph 6.8
alk 120
hardness 250
nitrate 200
nitrite 0

Yeah his stomach was bloated. Here are some pictures that I took:
x3theo.jpg

x3tht4.jpg

x3ti6g.jpg


and a video!!http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=x3tohd

Hopefully this video comes outt!!! :huh:


thanks
 
I have bala's in my 65G (2) and in my 29g (2 -- waiting to move to the 65).

In both cases I had noted swimming standing on head, rolling over, drifting into strange postures.

In my 65g they gradually stopped doing that -- in my 29g (quarantine tank) they have been doing that for 3 weeks now -- but seem to be gradually (just lately) swimming more normally. I don't know if bala's are prone to this kind of thing or not, but my two experiences say they are.

I am waiting for a bit longer before moving the 2 newer ones to the 65g tank.
 
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