Please Confirm My Diagnosis

[amdijefri]

Hello everyone,
 
In my community tank I have a bala shark with what I believe to be an injury on its nose. Other family members state it was not there two days ago. The injury is about 2mm wide. If I had to describe it, I would call it a burst blister. Opinions sought and much appreciated.
 
Regards,
 
David

 

[lrhodes]

What are the other tank mates?
It almost looks like a bite. Hard to tell.
Poor fella.

 

[Ch4rlie]

A little more information would be good.
 
Tank size?
 
Tank stocking?
 
Water parameters?
 
Any changes or new additions to the tank?
 
If you could answer these, that would help greatly in trying to determine what could have caused this.

 

[dave840f1]

It could be Goiter which is caused by a lack of iodine. You can add mineral salts to the tank this may help. It could also be Columnaris  (As these look the same in the beginning) which is a bacteria infection which prefer alkaline water so you could treat for this with a antibacterial treatment, and lower the Ph. below 7 if possible. (That is assuming the Ph. is above 7). I hope this helps but it is only MY observation from your photo other aquarists may have other ideas that I have not thought of yet.

 

[Ninjouzata]

If I had to guess..and I have no experience with balas so could be waay off. 
 
They can be pretty skittish, especially when kept in low numbers and smaller tanks. So you usually hear of them smashing into the tank lid or sides. I wonder if this may have been caused by that.
 
Be sure to answer Ch4rlie's questions

 

[sawickib]

Is that a red bala? doesnt look like a ordinary silver bala lol would love to see a full photo.

 

[majerah1]

Poor thing, it looks painful.  

 

[amdijefri]

I appreciate all of the responses.
 

What are the other tank mates?

 
Three gourami, four dojo loaches, four coolie loaches, one clown loach, three catfish, a pleco.
 

Tank size?
Any changes or new additions to the tank?

 
30 gal. No changes in tank whatsoever. We inherited the tank mid-November from a family moving out of town. I kept tanks in the 1990s but not since so I am a little rusty. I suspect that the tank may be overstocked but have not had time to prep one of my 55gal tanks.
 
I wlll test the water and follow up with those numbers.

 

[amdijefri]

Is that a red bala? doesnt look like a ordinary silver bala lol would love to see a full photo.

New pictures of the injury and a picture of the whole fish (#2345) are available at http/www.taleos.com/bala/

 

[b3cca]

I'm no expert but looks like a Denison's barb (Puntius Denisonii)  but wow it does look sore. Sorry I can't help diagnose anything

 

[Alasse]

That is not a Bala shark. That is a Denison's Barb
 
Not sure if that is from an injury or if it has some sort of fungus happening

 

[amdijefri]

Thanks b3cca and Alasse for the fish identification; Denison's is not in the encyclopedia I have.
 
On the premise that it would be safer to treat this as an infection than an injury, I added Pimafix to the tank last night. Twelve hours on and everything seems okay. I don't know if the fish has rubbed the spot against tank decorations during the night, but there is less loose material now, as there has been other mornings, too. The fish does seem to be eating well and moving around the tank well.