friend for my bala?

S

sheenam

New Fish
#1
Oct 22, 2002
3
0
0
#1
hello all, first time posting...

Well, here's the thing.  i got my bala shark two weeks ago; he's in a 40-gal tank with 3 cories, a school of neon tetras, and a school of rasboras.  and he's SCARED to death.  he stays low to the ground, hiding behind a large rock 95% of the time.  of course i expected this in the beginning, but it's been 2 weeks and nothing has changed.  my best guess is he's feeling timid by himself... i know these sharks are naturally schooling, but i cant conceivably fit another one in there without overcrowding.....  

any ideas of a peaceful fish that could provide some companionship and hopefully bring him out of his hole?  he's too beautiful to hide!!
 

Matt Nace

Matt Nace

Superstar Fish
#2
Oct 22, 2002
1,470
1
38
Pennsylvania
#2
Hate to tell you this, but more balas is what he would need.

They do get big, and are a big pain at water change time. They are timid even with others, but they will at least stay near the glass if there are like 4 of them.

You could kkep them until they outgrow the tank, and see if your LFS would except them in credit. I did this, and made a 9 to 10 dollar profit on the 4 I gave them.

They were very pretty, but so annoying at water change time, and a lot of fish pick on them.

Same with irredescent sharks, although they are not as bad IME.

sorry if I was no help.
 

Matt Nace

Matt Nace

Superstar Fish
#3
Oct 22, 2002
1,470
1
38
Pennsylvania
#3
oh sorry, I just saw you have two other schools in that tank of fish. Hmm. Maybe a trade would be a better option for a different fish.

If you like the flashy look, red-eye tetras are a good school fish(with shiny bodies), as are diamond tetras really nice.
 

S

sheenam

New Fish
#4
Oct 22, 2002
3
0
0
#4
thanks for the suggestions, guys...  looks like my poor bala is just a big scaredy pants.  :-/ kind of a shame, he's sooo very pretty.  maybe i'll see if i can get another bala to put in there with him..  they would be fine until they both got to adult size.  i'm assuming it would be okay to give him a baby to keep him company?  he's about 5", i'd probably get a 2-3 incher...?
 

J

JWright

Superstar Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
2,192
7
0
40
Snowy Upstate New York
www.cnytheater.com
#5
No, your Bala is not a "big scaredy pants." It's a fish, and it's acting perfectly normally considering the stress it's under. Bala's come from large schools in the wild and get very big (12"+). IMO, a large, active, schooling fish such as a Bala shouldn't be kept in home aquaria. There simply isn't enough room for them to be comfortable.

Josh
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#6
#6

I agree with Jwright. Bala's actually are schooling and get very big. With schooling fish, it is recommended that there be at least 6 fish, in your case 6 balas. Nice fish and I wish I could get one but I just dont have the size of tank required.
 

C

colesea

Superstar Fish
#7
Oct 22, 2002
1,612
0
0
NY USA
#7
I've seen and had fully grown balas in my store, they are truely beautiful fish, but always very skitish. It seems though that they get less afraid as they get larger. The large ones I had would always stay out. Then again, I had a trio and they lived in 75gallons.

You could try the german techniquie of dithering him out with some smaller similar behaving fish like giant danio or silver dollars. A school of danio racing around could attract him out, or it could send him into hiding more.

But you would need a much bigger tank for a school of balas.
~~Colesea
 

S

sheenam

New Fish
#8
Oct 22, 2002
3
0
0
#8
well here's what happened, if anyone's interested...

last week i went and got a baby bala shark (about 2") to keep my big bala company.  he was totally uninterested in the new addition; the little bala was active and energetic, and my big guy remained in his corner...

i explained the situation to Jim, a friend of my father's who has helped my dad with his aquariums for years.  he said he'd never heard of a bala shark acting this way and wanted to babysit him for a couple of days so he could see what i was talking about.  we put him in Jim's 125-gal community tank, and within days he had basically made it his own.  on top of taking to schooling with some rosy barbs, he was shooting around the tank like crazy.  Jim fell in love with him, and seeing as how uncomfortable he was in my tank, i was more than happy to adopt him out.  :)

i have since gotten another 2" bala and the two of them are sooo active and energetic together.  my guess is that, as you've all pointed out, my tank was way too small for a fish his size.  and his behavior totally reflected that.  am now cycling a 75-gal for my little balas, and will continue upgrading the tanks as they grow..  will never make the mistake of putting a big fish in a little tank again  :)

anyway..  sorry if this was long winded, but just a lil info in case someone has my problem with a bala shark in the future.  :)
 

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