Hi Newbie with Bala ?

[RockyT~]

Hi i am new to this forum not to this hobby though

we recently moved. we got a 46 gallon bow tank. we did the usual start up things.

we went and got 2 balas. this was on 1/09/06 one died, returned it got two more, 1/11/06, on 1/16/06 i returned TWO dead ones, got TWO more, one died and i returned it today. Now i have two that are fine one of my origional from 1/9 and one from 1/16.

my question is i CHECKED the water, they made me bring in a sample of water and said its fine. my tank temp is 73. why the heck did they die? i mentioned maybe i got a "fresh" batch on the day they arrived to the store and maybe they were stressed and was quickly informed that i was wrong.

i have them in my sitting room where i am a great deal crocheting and i have not observed any bullying. as was suggested to me by the punk (literally) girl at pet store.

so i was wondering if anyone had any clues. i have decided that two are enough for me

signed
bala killer in colorado

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Excessively hard water?.

your temp is on their low end, upping it to 76 should be a bit more comfortable for them.

those are the only things I can think of.

Sorry for the loss.

 

[RockyT~]

i have the 5 in one strip and the water hardness was fine according to it...so i dont know but i have decided i will not kill anymore. i just wish i could have kept 3 alive.

thanks for hte sympathy and the suggestion

 

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA and sorry to hear of your loss. I agree your temp should be higher. Bala's are typically peaceful fish. It may also be that they were not well from the lfs.

 

[Japola44]

i have heard those test aren't to accurate...maybe getting something like the AP master kit. Idk... I live in colorado too and i would have to agree that the pet stores (petsmart) really suck. The people at the store have no idea what they are talking about. I wouldn't really take any of there advice. Anyway, what are you feeding them? How long has your tank been running?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Welcome to AA Rocky. And I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I would definately pick up a liquid reagent test kit and test the levels again. How did you cycle tank tank? And I agree, the temp is definately too low.

Also, you may want to re-consider keeping Balas. They are schooling fish and require tanks alot larger than a 46 gal.

 

[RockyT~]

i will get one of those kits.

i have had fish for 7 years would have been 9 but got stationed overseas.
we had balas before we went in a 250 gal tank. so i know how big they get mine were about 2 years old. we donated them to a restaurant with a 800 gallon tank. (was really cool had a HUGE Arowana in it!)

anyway i have had my tank 6 months cycled it for 6 weeks. my balas right now are only about 3 inches long. we are planning on getting another 250 gallon tank in march so i am thinking they should be ok till then.

i just have never had the issue of them dying before and thought maybe someone would have some ideas here as this is the first i have discovered of this forum.
my other balas came home and lived till we moved and last i checked they were still kickin at the restaurant (my uncle still lives there)

thanks for all the advice though

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Another thing, bring the temp up to 78 degrees. They will do better.....

 

[RockyT~]

forgot to mention already did that

that was mentioned to me above

 

[Lonewolfblue]

cool....

78 is a good all-around number for most fish. Few prefer cooler and few prefer warmer, but most do well around 78. I always keep that for my magic number, just like bringing the tank above 86 degrees slowly to get rid of ick. Another magical number.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You seem to already have excellent knowledge with fish. It's another example of how post counts do not dictate knowledge. Alot of people purchase Bala's and do not realize their potential size and try to keep them in a 46 gal tank. But since you've already planned an upgrade, that's perfect. The temp could be the cause of death. If there was any kind of poisonings, it would have killed all of the sharks.

 

[RockyT~]

thanks LOL it was just one of those things i thought maybe ok i been gone 2 years maybe something new

it has been DRIVING ME NUTS!
like i said janu 9th is still kickin and jan 16th but the tweeners i am scratching my head

oh well great mystery of life LOL!!!!!!


(whispering still wish i knew what the heck happened to them)

LMBO

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The mysteries of fish deaths. LOL Sometimes it feels like fish die for no reason. Several months ago we had purchased 2 African Cichlids from the lfs for our 150 gal tank. The QT was currently housing new additions to the 29 gal tank so we couldn't QT the new arrivals. We'd always had good luck with the lfs so we didn't think anything about it and just added them directly to the 150.. Well, the next morning both fish were dead. The day after that, one more was dead. The day after that, another one died. It happened like that for about a week. We racked our brains, the lfs, and probably everyone on AA for what was going on (including searching MANY sites looking for the answer). Eventually we just chalked it up to Heximitosis. But really, who knows why they died. Very strange.

Many people have gone nuts looking for the COD of their fish, but sometimes it can never be solved. There is a new thread by Mattrox regarding his mass casualties when he got back from Vacation because the tank water was 93 degrees.