Can fish die of stress of being constantly hunted?

[flukeone]

So a little background of where I am coming from.

I had a com tank for a year with angels, gouramis, a few balas etc. Planted and with decor. Typical com tank.

3 months ago i was gifted a silver arowana by my father. Eventually he grew and started hunting. At the same time i had to remove the decor to make space and thus removing hiding places. I removed most but 3 of the tank mates but it was obvious they were terrified of the aro. 2 were always on the opposite end of the aro in the aquarium and the other seeked refuge behind a sponge filter. This went on for 3 days

And this morning i found them almost dead. No signs of direct aggresion. Temp ok. Water parameters seem ok. Made a 50%wc 2 days ago. And the aro is doing great. Swims all over the tank. Eats well.

Can stress of being constantly hunted and no real hiding place be the cause? It's the only thing I can think of.

 

[tlindsey]

So a little background of where I am coming from.

I had a com tank for a year with angels, gouramis, a few balas etc. Planted and with decor. Typical com tank.

3 months ago i was gifted a silver arowana by my father. Eventually he grew and started hunting. At the same time i had to remove the decor to make space and thus removing hiding places. I removed most but 3 of the tank mates but it was obvious they were terrified of the aro. 2 were always on the opposite end of the aro in the aquarium and the other seeked refuge behind a sponge filter. This went on for 3 days

And this morning i found them almost dead. No signs of direct aggresion. Temp ok. Water parameters seem ok. Made a 50%wc 2 days ago. And the aro is doing great. Swims all over the tank. Eats well.

Can stress of being constantly hunted and no real hiding place be the cause? It's the only thing I can think of.

Yes stress from being harrassed by the Arowana. Be careful stress will cause illness.

 

[esoxlucius]

In the closed environment of an aquarium, if your choice of fish is poor, and you don't have decor for breaking lines of sight and hidey holes, then stress can be a big problem for a lot of fish. Made even worse sometimes if some of your fish start breeding.

You say you have a "few" balas. Balas aren't the type of fish to hide all the time, they like to use the whole tank and be constantly moving. So even if you had decor in there for your balas to hide in you wouldn't be fulfilling their needs.

You don't mention what size tank it is either, this could be another reason for your stress levels.

 

[flukeone]

Its a 66g. It had decor and all before i had to remove it. The siamese algae eaters and a a rainbow sharkare the ones i'm suspecting to have fallen from stress

 

[tlindsey]

Its a 66g. It had decor and all before i had to remove it. The siamese algae eaters and a a rainbow sharkare the ones i'm suspecting to have fallen from stress

The 66 gallon is too small for Bala Shark and the Silver Arowana will outgrow the aquarium in a few months. I suggest upgrading asap.

 

[flukeone]

Yep that's the plan

 

[duanes]

I believe stress is the most important factor in most aquarists fish deaths, and the onset of disease. Stress, from being harassed, from being with wrong tank mates, from bad water, or the wrong type water the species has evolved to live in, or from too small a tank.
The list goes on and on, and stress can kill outright in a few days (as you have seen), or over time by suppressing immunity.
A 66 gal tanks way too small for Bala sharks, much less an arawana, and eventually stress from living in that compact space, unless you are doing large daily water changes to keep quality high enough, stress from being confined to a tiny jail cell will probably kill it too.

 

[flukeone]

Yes i know about the size issue since i got the aro and already working on a larger tank. The balas will be donated to a restaurant with huge tanks (for display ?) when they get large.

 

[Supergeorge123]

If you had to live in a cage with a tiger i bet that would be pretty stressful. Eventually you would probably end up with blood pressure issues as well as live a shorter life due to the constant presence of stress hormones. Stress has been proven to hamper the immune system as well.

 

[krichardson]

I doubt that that blood pressure would have a chance to become an issue if the poster was placed in a cage with a tiger.....massive blood loss if anything.