Injured Bala Shark

[nsap]

Last week, I noticed one of my Bala Sharks was chasing around another and the chasee jumped out of the water and hit the hood of my aquarium. A few days ago I noticed this Bala was missing some scales on his head and he has been lethargic for the past few days. He sits in one corner of the tank while the light is on but when I turn the light off, he eventually goes back into the school (I have 5 sharks total). It is hard for me to tell if he is eating normally or not, though based on his actions when I put in food. I see no symptoms of any disease, but I removed the fish and put him in a quiet, dark spot so that he could rest. The water quality is normal for Balas.

Is he injured or is he just afraid of being picked on?

 

[andywg]

The bala has probably just knocked himself and is healing up. I wouldn't have removed him as this just places stress on them. I have had my balas knock themselves unconscious while charging around, they soon pick themselves up, though some do become a bit less skittish after a major knock.

 

[Spooky76]

Some melafix wouldnt do it any harm if its a minor / healing wound.

 

[nsap]

Well I put him back in the tank with his buddies and he seems to just hate the light. If I turn off the hood lamp, he acts normally. If I open my blinds, he acts normally. If I turn on the hood light, he sits in the corner all day. It doesn't bother any of the other fish so I don't know what's going on.

I have noticed that this fish is much darker than the others but I can't see anything that would explain this as a disease. Anybody else have any ideas? I will try to get a picture later to illustrate what I am talking about.