anyone any experience with bala sharks?

[lucysmam]

i have a rescuee in my 190l atm (looking to rehome but not much luck)

he seems to have gone 'patchy' for want of a better description.

def. not white spot or fungus and none of my others have any patches. he's still feeding well and has just tried jumping out of tank half way through wc little bugger!

any ideas what it might be and how to help him. atm i'm doing wc every second day -no random meds as i can't find anything that matches my oh so bad description- but he doesn't seem to be either getting better or worse and no amm or nitrite to blame (nitrate out of tap is around 30)

ty if you have any ideas

[EauRouge]

Hard to say without seeing, could it be that his mucus coating is getting thicker in places or is coming away? If it was coming off you'd be able to see sort of cob-webby looking bits. On the patchy bits, can you see any sort of bronzey looking shiny bits?

Bala sharks are very active and skittish, so it may be that he's bumped himself- is there anything in the tank that he could have bumped himself on? Can you see any scales missing?

Is he a lone shark? (sorry ). Do you have any clue how old he is?

[lucysmam]

lol yeah he's a lone shark but i read up and he alone will get too big for the tank so a group or another is not really an option. i'd guess he's fairly young as only maybe five inches ish long....he's been in my tank about six months.

maybe he has bashed himself on the wood in there because he is missing a couple of scales on his side. the patchiness is more on his back in front of his dorsal....no bronzey looking bits

[EauRouge]

Yes, they do get very large and are really energetic- they are lovely fish but I have no idea why so many shops sell them, they are totally unsuitable for all but the largest home aquarium. Good on you for rescuing him though, he'll do much better in a 190L than in a smaller tank.

Are there any other fish in there that might be startling him? Could you grow some java fern on the wood to stop him from catching himself on it?

[lucysmam]

i doubt anyone's going to bother him, a lone neon (also a rescuee and likely to be shark food at some point from what i've read), 6 silvertips and 3 m. praecox are all that are in there atm.

the wood has java moss and anubias on the most sticky outy bits. will get some more tomorrow in town and keep up the water changes every other day, see if he sorts himself out.

[lucysmam]

well, i've been water changing like crazy and he looks better than he did so maybe it was a bump and the extra frequent water changes are helping.

it might be down to my rainbows though, which surprises me as they usually steer clear of the bala. have been watching them chase him out of their area the past couple of days so might have a shift about with the next wc and see if that helps at all