Bala Shark & Black Shark Question.

[Garbage]

Ive got a full grown bala and he is just a complete idiot! He is SO jumpy, you walk over to the tank and as soon as he sees a person he just shoots off like a rocket usually hitting the glass so hard he knocks some scales off an rearranges the decore. Why are these guys so jumpy!? Im consitering giving him to a friend. Id like to replace him with a black shark. I love my RTBS and Ive always wanted a black shark. I realize Black Sharks are huge and really agressive, so is there anyone here who has experience with them? What do you guys think?

 

[Garbage]

Also Ive been told by a few people that Adult Black Sharks can and will kill cichlids, any truth to that?>

 

[NightStalker]

Ive got a full grown bala and he is just a complete idiot! He is SO jumpy, you walk over to the tank and as soon as he sees a person he just shoots off like a rocket usually hitting the glass so hard he knocks some scales off an rearranges the decore. Why are these guys so jumpy!? Im consitering giving him to a friend. Id like to replace him with a black shark. I love my RTBS and Ive always wanted a black shark. What do you guys think?

Most simple question is, how big is your tank?

Bala's are skittish, its normal for them, id expect this kind of behaviour since he's still getting used to his new enviornment.

Is your tank decorated with plants? One thing you could do i fnot, is get some plants abunch of them, put them on one side so he has sort of a hiding spot, he feels more secure.

I have 3 balas, all babies of course, they are skittish but they relaxed abit after a week or so.

Anyway questions to answer before i myself can lend any more help:
Tank Size
Decoartions
Water readings (you can go to your local LFS to get this test, if you werent aware)

Another thing is, for the future, buy aquarium salt, the kind for fresh water, it reduces stress. Balas are extremely prone to ick, stress is a big factor, and he seems pretty stressed.

 

[InaneCathode]

May be because you only have one? Tank size might be stressing him?

 

[Garbage]

Ive got a full grown bala and he is just a complete idiot! He is SO jumpy, you walk over to the tank and as soon as he sees a person he just shoots off like a rocket usually hitting the glass so hard he knocks some scales off an rearranges the decore. Why are these guys so jumpy!? Im consitering giving him to a friend. Id like to replace him with a black shark. I love my RTBS and Ive always wanted a black shark. What do you guys think?

Most simple question is, how big is your tank?

Bala's are skittish, its normal for them, id expect this kind of behaviour since he's still getting used to his new enviornment.

Is your tank decorated with plants? One thing you could do i fnot, is get some plants abunch of them, put them on one side so he has sort of a hiding spot, he feels more secure.

I have 3 balas, all babies of course, they are skittish but they relaxed abit after a week or so.

Anyway questions to answer before i myself can lend any more help:
Tank Size
Decoartions
Water readings (you can go to your local LFS to get this test, if you werent aware)

Another thing is, for the future, buy aquarium salt, the kind for fresh water, it reduces stress. Balas are extremely prone to ick, stress is a big factor, and he seems pretty stressed.

Ok where to start, I have a 125 Gallon tank so size wise it should be large enough for either a bala or a black shark. It is however not a new environment for the bala, he's been in there a long time, I have noticed that the bigger he gets, the more skiddish he becoms. By leaps and bounds actually. I dont have many plants, I got tired of the cichlids digging them up My water quality is top notch!

May be because you only have one? Tank size might be stressing him?

Well the tank size is sufficent (125G) but you might have a point about him being the only bala. That said, he's been the solo bala for years and I dont remember him being as rediculously skiddish in the past as he's become today.

 

[Garbage]

Actually while Im waiting for advice here, Ive been googling black sharks, most of the sources Ive found say that they shouls either be kept alone or with large cichlids....

 

[sic0198]

When you say black shark do you mean RTBS?

Is this what you mean?

 

[Garbage]

When you say black shark do you mean RTBS?

Is this what you mean?

Not a RTBs but the one in the link you posted, yes thats the one!

 

[andywg]

Black sharks are evil things that can and do grow to 2 foot and more. Not good tank mates for a bala shark. They can more than hold their own with large aggressive cichlids.

Bala sharks need groups. I find anything less than 5 tends to lead to a lot of skittishness.

One other point:

Another thing is, for the future, buy aquarium salt, the kind for fresh water, it reduces stress

Aquarium salt does not reduce stress. this is an old habit from when fishkeeping was less scientific than now. Salt will lower the effects of nitrite and nitrate poisoning, useful in the days of "aged water" and reduced water changes.

The theory to reducing the stress is because FW fish have to maintain an internal salt balance that is higher than the water around them. By placing salt in the water it was thought that it would place less of a strain on the fishes' osmoregulatory systems.

It is now considered better to have the fish in clean, fresh water which is as close to their natural water as possible. Fish have developed over thousands to millions of years to live in the water they live in, replicating that water is the best we can do.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah i'd second the comments that he would do much better in a group, they're very skittish when kept alone and worse when they are older. he may have been fine until recently as he was young, as he's growing up he needs companions more than before.

 

[Garbage]

Black sharks are evil things that can and do grow to 2 foot and more. Not good tank mates for a bala shark. They can more than hold their own with large aggressive cichlids.

Bala sharks need groups. I find anything less than 5 tends to lead to a lot of skittishness.

One other point:

Another thing is, for the future, buy aquarium salt, the kind for fresh water, it reduces stress

Aquarium salt does not reduce stress. this is an old habit from when fishkeeping was less scientific than now. Salt will lower the effects of nitrite and nitrate poisoning, useful in the days of "aged water" and reduced water changes.

The theory to reducing the stress is because FW fish have to maintain an internal salt balance that is higher than the water around them. By placing salt in the water it was thought that it would place less of a strain on the fishes' osmoregulatory systems.

It is now considered better to have the fish in clean, fresh water which is as close to their natural water as possible. Fish have developed over thousands to millions of years to live in the water they live in, replicating that water is the best we can do.

Black Sharks are evil things lol Well I found a new home possibly for the bala and I ordered a black shark at the LFS today

 

[gettotank110]

i have noticed bala sharks are very skittish and at 1st ma large one did the same thing untill i bought him some freinds 3 bala sharks that were smaller than he i thought it would be a good idea and so it was after about they began swiming in school together their all still skittish but not as much i dont know anything about black sharks so i cant help you there

 

[Gatorbait]

Black sharks are evil things that can and do grow to 2 foot and more. Not good tank mates for a bala shark. They can more than hold their own with large aggressive cichlids.

Bala sharks need groups. I find anything less than 5 tends to lead to a lot of skittishness.

One other point:

Another thing is, for the future, buy aquarium salt, the kind for fresh water, it reduces stress

Aquarium salt does not reduce stress. this is an old habit from when fishkeeping was less scientific than now. Salt will lower the effects of nitrite and nitrate poisoning, useful in the days of "aged water" and reduced water changes.

The theory to reducing the stress is because FW fish have to maintain an internal salt balance that is higher than the water around them. By placing salt in the water it was thought that it would place less of a strain on the fishes' osmoregulatory systems.

It is now considered better to have the fish in clean, fresh water which is as close to their natural water as possible. Fish have developed over thousands to millions of years to live in the water they live in, replicating that water is the best we can do.

Black Sharks are evil things lol Well I found a new home possibly for the bala and I ordered a black shark at the LFS today

Nice! I hope you show us pics. Personally, I like "evil" fish.

 

[Garbage]

i have noticed bala sharks are very skittish and at 1st ma large one did the same thing untill i bought him some freinds 3 bala sharks that were smaller than he i thought it would be a good idea and so it was after about they began swiming in school together their all still skittish but not as much i dont know anything about black sharks so i cant help you there

Well Im pretty sure your right, the fact that he is not in a school is probably alot of his problem. I would get him some fiends but at this point Im just more interested in a Black Shark thus Ill be rehoming the Bala Shark this weekend

Black sharks are evil things that can and do grow to 2 foot and more. Not good tank mates for a bala shark. They can more than hold their own with large aggressive cichlids.

Bala sharks need groups. I find anything less than 5 tends to lead to a lot of skittishness.

One other point:

Another thing is, for the future, buy aquarium salt, the kind for fresh water, it reduces stress

Aquarium salt does not reduce stress. this is an old habit from when fishkeeping was less scientific than now. Salt will lower the effects of nitrite and nitrate poisoning, useful in the days of "aged water" and reduced water changes.

The theory to reducing the stress is because FW fish have to maintain an internal salt balance that is higher than the water around them. By placing salt in the water it was thought that it would place less of a strain on the fishes' osmoregulatory systems.

It is now considered better to have the fish in clean, fresh water which is as close to their natural water as possible. Fish have developed over thousands to millions of years to live in the water they live in, replicating that water is the best we can do.

Black Sharks are evil things lol Well I found a new home possibly for the bala and I ordered a black shark at the LFS today

Nice! I hope you show us pics. Personally, I like "evil" fish.

Heheh I like Evil fish too, when I get him Ill post pics SHould be a week and a half or so

 

[nath1]

hello, before you get rid of him any chance of a pic as you dont often see full size bala's. i have three rangeing from 7" to 3" and they can be skittish, mainly at feeding time!!
nath1