Bala Shark & aquarium rock

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thupp11

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
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Location
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I have a bala shark who has picked up a rock in his mouth and looks like he cannot get it out....gave him some time but when I noticed it was still there, I am thinking I may have to remove with forceps. He did not eat this morning. Should I intervene or let him get rid of it on his own?

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...oh yeah, 30 gal tank with 3-blackfin tetras, 3-giant danios, 1 - striped raphael & 3-CAE

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If it has been a couple of days I would intervene soon as this bala needs to eat at some point. Be careful and use a very small instrument. You may only have to reposition it for the bala to spit it out on its own.
 
Noticed it last night. Thought maybe he had lost it, but it is still there. I attempted to remove it with tweezers but unable to grasp the rock. Hate to put soo much stress on the poor thing.

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Get it out of there.

You can use a tweezer again - maybe have someone who is capable of holding it or the other way around, having 2 people will usually be best. Use a cloth with no fabric softener or one of those kind of paper towels that is soft like cloth. Firmly and with purpose. You can do it. Over the years I have had to pull out a pebble from a Goldfish mouth and also a dead Otocinclus from the mouth of my Catfish the Otos barbs skewered her mouth. :eek:
 
I had to do this with a goldfish too. I held it using a wet paper towel and held its mouth slanted down and used a toothpick to move it until it fell out.
 
He looked better this morning. Will be more aggressive with trying to remove if it is still there.

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Got the rock removed yesterday evening...but he did not make it through the night.

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Sorry to hear. Good effort though. You can only do what you can do. I have had many Balas over the years and they're awesome. Hope this doesn't discourage you from having more.
 
No worries, I understand it was just a matter of misfortune. I have not seen him/her pick up rocks in the past. My son loved "bala" so there will probably be a "bala II" in the future. Thanks to everyone for quick responses and advice.

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So, in the thought of replacing the bala, I have shown my son a rainbow shark. Would this be a better fit for my tank than the bala?

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Rainbow sharks can be a little unruly and are best left by them self without any other rainbow sharks in the tank. It's not going to be the same as the Bala shark but still very cool fish and fun to watch. He may chase other fish though. I have a large rainbow shark in my display tank seems to do well with everybody except for the occasional Chase which is to be expected. Never hurts anybody or damages anything.
 
Thanks for the info. I guess my major concern would be how the rainbow would get along with the blue gourami. It and the bala did fine.

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I would think they would be fine if the tank is big enough. They might go round and round the first few days but if you got somewhere for the rainbow to hide and plants for the Gourami to duck behind should be OK . You never know for sure.
 
My son threw me a curve and decided he did not want the shark, but did better in adding to the danio and tetra schools.

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