Bala Shark in trouble

[Dooner]

Last night I noticed my bala shark was unusually still, not patrolling around the tank like usual...but he was doing all sorts of rolls and flips, and they were really cool looking...he almost looked like he was showing off to the other fish.
This morning however, he was still doing flips and rolls and the like, but more so...not like showing off, but more like he couldn't keep himself upright. Now he is swimming around, crashing into things, sometimes listing helplessly. It often appears he's dead, but then he'll get right back up again.
The other balas are paying a lot of attention to him for some reason...at one point i saw one rubbing his body up against the sick one's body and sort of kicking his tail to push the sick one...the other one also tried to kiss (bite?) the sick bala. I wonder if these are signs of affection or aggression? Could it have been what's wrong with my bala (did he get attacked?) He seems alive, just very weak and disoriented.
I was thinking about putting him in a separate tank and putting some salt in, but i read up that balas can't tolerate salt. I'm accepting he's pretty much a goner at this point, but if you guys could lend me any wisdom, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,
Dooner

 

[CFC]

From the sounds of things it looks like your bala has damaged its swim bladder and if this is the case there is no cure for it, the whirling in the water and complet lack of balance are key symptoms for swim bladder damage. With schooling fish often healthy members of the group will try to push sick ones away from the group as they draw the attention of predators so this is probably what the other balas are doing when they push and nibble the sick one.

What size tank are your balas in?

 

[Dooner]

it is about a 28 gallon tank, well planted and has 7 neons, 5 silvers, and three balas.

 

[CFC]

Im sorry to say that the size of the tank was probably the cause of the damage then, bala sharks are large free swimming fish that require a lot of room, when kept in tanks that are too small they often panic and dart around the tank banging into the glass and ornaments. These fish should never be kept in anything smaller than a 75 gallon tank.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=54527

 

[Dooner]

75 gallon tank? They're each only about 2 and a half inches long?
I knew they got big, I was planning on selling them or giving them away when they started to get too large, but i thought they'd be fine for a little while.

I feel terrible.