A few days later another loach disappeared, no body. Just 1 pictus cat fatter than the rest...
Bala Sharks disappearing.
- Thread starter Backfromthedead
- Start date
Id wager its a combo of the chalecus, the open top… and ur land cat snackin on the corpses lol… i had 3 chalecus 8-10” for 5-7 yrs… they looked identical to yours species wise and every one was an ass hat lol… theyd b “cool” for a few months at a time with each other then go agro tearing each other apart. After that i kept them 1 per tank. Theyd attack almost anything mid or top water and most especially silver fish. Silver dollars, balas, african scats, severum, arowana twice their size, etc… tearing up their fins and constantly pestering them. Tank sizes were 300, 450 and 500 g also so “tight quarters” was in no way an issue or over stocking. If the balas arent bailing from harassment there offin themselves into the lids or tank walls then becoming bottom feed. Had a few 10-11” balas just knock them selves out the same way. Dont take much to kill a flighty “pigeon type” fish… all 3 of my chalecus met the same fate after beating up fish in several different community settings. Cple yrs with my aethiopicus lung then turned into turds 
… he just snagged the last one a cple weeks ago.
… he just snagged the last one a cple weeks ago.
I'm personally intrigued by the "fish rapture" idea, but I've always been prone to the Fox-Mulder I-want-to-believe mindset so take that for what it's worth.
I've also considered a related issue concerning my Jelly Cat; he periodically disappears into his ceramic-tile cave, with no sign of him visible from either end of it, and since he is now longer than the hide I have been forced to concluded that he has conjured up a transdimensional wormhole in there that allows him to jump to other fishtanks to snack on their inhabitants. We read about these mysterious disappearances from time to time, and from various sources...and the Jelly always seems to reappear with a full tummy. Coincidence? I think not...
But, since some people simply must oversimplify everything
, let's examine the choices. Pictus cats are deadly when it comes to fish small enough to swallow whole, but they aren't really aggressive and I also doubt that they would completely devour every last trace of those three fish so quickly that you would not be aware of it. They aren't built for tearing a large fish into swallowable chunks.
Balas are not hiders, at least not when they are healthy; I would discount that idea comletely.
I cast my vote for jumping. Chalceus is an unknown quantity to me, but those who keep them often tell of their antisocial proclivities, which could combine with the open top to produce a jump; the Chalceus pursues a Bala into the driftwood at the top, the Bala gets flighty as it is cornered and launches itself, and your cat finds and carries off the evidence. A sadly-boring end.
Truth to tell, I am amazed that you haven't had regular jumping episodes with these guys in the past. That is...when dealing with jumpers like Balas...a huge open gap in the tank cover.
I've also considered a related issue concerning my Jelly Cat; he periodically disappears into his ceramic-tile cave, with no sign of him visible from either end of it, and since he is now longer than the hide I have been forced to concluded that he has conjured up a transdimensional wormhole in there that allows him to jump to other fishtanks to snack on their inhabitants. We read about these mysterious disappearances from time to time, and from various sources...and the Jelly always seems to reappear with a full tummy. Coincidence? I think not...
But, since some people simply must oversimplify everything
, let's examine the choices. Pictus cats are deadly when it comes to fish small enough to swallow whole, but they aren't really aggressive and I also doubt that they would completely devour every last trace of those three fish so quickly that you would not be aware of it. They aren't built for tearing a large fish into swallowable chunks. Balas are not hiders, at least not when they are healthy; I would discount that idea comletely.
I cast my vote for jumping. Chalceus is an unknown quantity to me, but those who keep them often tell of their antisocial proclivities, which could combine with the open top to produce a jump; the Chalceus pursues a Bala into the driftwood at the top, the Bala gets flighty as it is cornered and launches itself, and your cat finds and carries off the evidence. A sadly-boring end.
Truth to tell, I am amazed that you haven't had regular jumping episodes with these guys in the past. That is...when dealing with jumpers like Balas...a huge open gap in the tank cover.
The gap in the tank lid is 4 foot long..... any fish hitting the underside of lids at speed would get channeled straight out. If you want to play detective dig through the lumps in the kitty litter tray, you should find fish scales or bits of bigger bones.
You can leave the gap to see if you lose more sharks or close the gap and confirm no more disappear.
You can leave the gap to see if you lose more sharks or close the gap and confirm no more disappear.
Yeah, I get that they could get out, but I think a lot of you are overestimating the size of that hole. It's 2" wide, and directly under it is a tangle of branches. Hardly "gaping" imo but I am aware there's a risk.
Again, I know they could get out if they really tried. Like I said it's the obvious answer. I just thought it unlikely that 3 would disappear in that way in a short window of time when they have been fine like this for months. In the past when I've had jumpers they almost always leave a mess on top of the tank....I have nothing but dust that I can draw in with my finger...
Again, I know they could get out if they really tried. Like I said it's the obvious answer. I just thought it unlikely that 3 would disappear in that way in a short window of time when they have been fine like this for months. In the past when I've had jumpers they almost always leave a mess on top of the tank....I have nothing but dust that I can draw in with my finger...
Stupid question maybe… how bout those overflow boxes? Looks fairly easy for someone to go right in there with the water level. I keep plastic mesh type lids on the one i do have. B hard to see a bala in one on the black. I had a 18” tire track eel stuck in a 1.5” drain pvc pipe that eluded me until the tank over flowed
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Yeah...there is something to that. The main drains have strainers on them but the angled e drains do not...it's possible that they could have gotten in there, fallen to the sump, jumped out, all 3 of em...screen mesh is a good idea I just need to get cracking on it.
I have all the listed species and no issues like described, very strange
