Question for any Bala owners.

[nfored]

So I started out in this hobby with 6 bala's that where about 2". ended up with 3 of them by the time I actually learned how to keep fish.

Those three where about 6" when one of them died for no reason I could find. That was a year or so ago, every since then when ever I feed the fish the largest tries to eat but spends most of his time chasing the smaller one away from the food. Even after the food is gone the largest will try and eat the slim coat off the smallest.

So I bought 2 more Bala's this week hoping maybe this would bring and end to that, and now what I see is instead of just one fish picking on the other they all fight each other. And only when I feed and for 30 minutes to an hour after.

Its been a year since I saw either of my bala's with no scales missing.

Does any one have any thoughts on this? Oh and something I just noticed yesterday, was that my rainbow shark decided to try and start picking on the balas randomly. I have had the rainbow and the balas for years in the same tank, they both started their lives in a 55 with me.

The bala's have been like this for a long time, the rainbow just started this.

 

[MyGiants]

How big the tank? Bala like lots of room very active fish. You might want to get some other fish like Tinfoil barbs do well with Bala sharks. I have 4 Bala Sharks range from 8-12". They never fight but I also have lots of other fish in the tank so its hard for one fish to dominate everyone in my tank

 

[nfored]

84x24x26

How long did it take your bala's to hit 12? seems like mine grew steadly for a year or so until it hit about 7. IT seems like they have been 7 - 8" for ever.

I have 1 Oscar, 1 Texas, 1 Jack Depsy, 1 Jewel, 1 Firemouth, and the 1 Rainbow shark.


Edit: is that a GT in the 300G community you have in the video?

 

[Chromobotia]

Balas are aggressive with each other. I have some that chase each other all the time. I don't think adding smaller (I'm assuming they are smaller) Balas to the tank will solve the problem If you have 2 that are the same size and aggressive with each other. A group of 5 that are the same size will probably spread the aggression around.

I'm pretty sure Rainbow Sharks are aggressive so I'm not suprised to hear about that. Perhaps it get more aggressive as it grows.

 

[Warborg]

My Bala started chasing the goldfish around about 3 months ago when it's feeding time. Don't know why.

 

[nfored]

All bala's are withing .5 of each other in size about 7 inches each. Yes the rainbow is aggressive and I have seen it before but never with my bala's only with another smaller shark I had when I was noobing it up.