Thoughts

[nfored]

I have been noticing more aggression, directed towards my bala sharks by ALL other Fish in the tank.

I have been feeding less due to a mini cycle, so this might have something to do with it. I will not make any rash decisions until I have resumed normal feeding.

Here is the situation. As long as I have had the bala's I notice missing scales here and there, sometimes due to them picking on each other, other times from other fish.

Now it seems there is more scales missing and its almost all the time. The Oscar who is growing like an weed, started to pick on them a week ago, and I noticed the Texas is also picking on them; and so is the small rainbow shark.

I knew my cichlids where aggressive, but I figured the bala's are 6 or 7 inches they should hold their own. While I never see any fights other then the hey you got to close nip, and I don't see any major damage; I still worry. This agression is new within the last couple weeks, I actually saw a pretty nasty wound on the Texas but he has healed nicely and I have saw no new wounds on him.

7'x2'x2', 86F, Ammo 0, Trite 0, Trate 40ish, pH <8.2.

Went from feeding 3 times a day, to once a day for 4 days then skip one day.

 

[TiggertheOscar]

I've got a few Oscar's with a couple Bala's in a 125 and the two species get along just fine. However, the Oscar's beat the crap outta each other all the time and the Bala's kinda just sit back and watch eating a handful of popcorn... They have gotten a little frightened before while I was vac'ing the sand and I noticed scales missing. I think it's just a fish personality thing to be honest.

 

[LD50]

I have been noticing more aggression, directed towards my bala sharks by ALL other Fish in the tank.

I have been feeding less due to a mini cycle, so this might have something to do with it. I will not make any rash decisions until I have resumed normal feeding.

Here is the situation. As long as I have had the bala's I notice missing scales here and there, sometimes due to them picking on each other, other times from other fish.

Now it seems there is more scales missing and its almost all the time. The Oscar who is growing like an weed, started to pick on them a week ago, and I noticed the Texas is also picking on them; and so is the small rainbow shark.

I knew my cichlids where aggressive, but I figured the bala's are 6 or 7 inches they should hold their own. While I never see any fights other then the hey you got to close nip, and I don't see any major damage; I still worry. This agression is new within the last couple weeks, I actually saw a pretty nasty wound on the Texas but he has healed nicely and I have saw no new wounds on him.

7'x2'x2', 86F, Ammo 0, Trite 0, Trate 40ish, pH <8.2.

Went from feeding 3 times a day, to once a day for 4 days then skip one day.

The Tex/oscar will get more agressive once they near adulthood. Then its just a matter of a bala swiming into one of the big cichlids turf and they will get chased off.

 

[knifegill]

Seems like light feeding isn't working out for you. It's probably the shiny, attractive scales luring the hungry cichlids. So, I'd either increase the water changes to resume a more 'medium' feeding rate or separate the fish.
There is also a chance that the Oscar is bored and antsy. Maybe, and I hate to say it, but an additional dither fish could distract him? A few silver dollars, perhaps? Of course, that means more waste.

 

[BODYDUB]

It's probably just normal cichlid behavior. Balas are a pretty dosile fish...........