fish stressed

[ConanTheLibraia]

My bala shark has always been pretty skiddish, but lately hes been very panicky and flips out if you move fast near the tank. I mean flips out, swims into stuff at high speed and im worried he'll loose an eye, i mean its like hes gonne give himself brain damage. Some of my other fish are like this like the clown loach. My bala shark will swim against the glass although i see no signs of parasites. Is it possible theyre just stressed because i put 2 new fish a plant and did a water change all the the same day?
PS, all fish are eating well.

 

[Meredith]

A friend of mine had some bala sharks and they were always banging into the sides of the tank. I was sure they were going to do damage to themselves. Do you have plenty of hiding spots for him? Fish that are easily spooked tend to feel more comfortable if they know they have places to hide.

 

[Zagz]

Bala sharks do that, I have one and my brother in law has 2 and they all do that. They are beautiful fish but apparantly not so bright,

 

[tropicfishman]

I had some catfish thing years ago, it had long wiskers like a cat, only about 4 inches long, extremely fast, it was a shiny silver with black spots on it, it ran into the glass all the time, sometimes it did it so hard you could hear it over the tv lol it eventully died of old age i guess

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I'm assuming that the Bala is in the 28 gal tank? If so, do you plan on upgrading in the near future? Balas are odd fish in that they dart around and ram into the glass. Not the smartest ones in the world. They need plenty of swimming space to accomidate this.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Mine often look out the glass at me, move side to side like a kid in a play that's forgotten their line saying "what do I do, what do I do???"

I think they are born confused...

And yes, they need a larger tank to help them out.

also, when I had the 3rd bala, they were far more calm, almost like the collective brain pool was enough to figure out what to do.. (not that any tank is really big enough for 3 18" fish..)

 

[Fishyfanatic]

also, when I had the 3rd bala, they were far more calm, almost like the collective brain pool was enough to figure out what to do.. (not that any tank is really big enough for 3 18" fish..)

Balas are actually schooling fish and prefer to be in larger numbers, hence the calming when the third was added.