weird bala behavior

[tropicfishman]

well I added my bala to my 29 for right now, and although he does enjoy the more room, he does this weird thing where he swims up and down looking at the back glass, I think he's chasing his reflection, he does it all day, is this normal? anything I can do to stop it? there isn't any kind of back ground btw

 

[hc8719]

is the new tank a brand new set up, before the water gets cycled and all that, fish do weird things for the first 30 days sometimes

he also might not be used to the abundent room

 

[rkilling1]

i had two bala's awhile ago. one of them got stuck in a hole in my fake driftwood and perished. ever since then, the lone bala has done the same as yours. i just think he is lonely and now sees himself as another bala and wants to school. balas do best in groups.

 

[SCFatz]

Schooling with himself I would guess.

 

[bert12]

Balas need at least one other bala. They are a schooling fish that need other balas to feel comfterbul. Also IMHO a 29 gal. is to small for a bala, I would look into a 75-125 gal. for them. (or you could trade him in b/c they do get very large 8-12")

 

[Ferret_Friend]

I have a single bala now (one was eaten recently) and he hasn't been acting all that unusual, but I'm sure it's because he's afraid of getting eaten himself, so perhaps he's not lonely as much as scared.

Oh well... he'll get eaten eventually. I kinda feel bad for the little guy, but my Oscar's gotta eat too!

I do agree with what everyone else is saying though. I've heard that balas tend to be schooling fish, so one by itself may very well do lots of weird things.