Sick Bala?

[Maillis]

I have 2 Bala Sharks and recently one of them hasn't been eating the flake food I've been feeding them. She (I've decided it's a she ) usually sucks in a flake or two and then spits it out or passes it through her gills all chewed up. Maybe she just got tired of the taste? She still eats frozen bloodworms but I only give them those once a week because the other bala REALLY loves them and tends to chase her around the tank when I feed bloodworms. I haven't changed foods for a while so it's not that she's not used to the food. Water tests show nothing out of the ordinary ( 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, ~30 nitrate) and she looks fine physically.

Any ideas?

 

[fish_doc]

Try feeding some peas. Cook them and peel the skin off them. They love them and they are good for their digestive track.

 

[Menagerie]

Aside from blood worms, try brine shrimp and other assorted frozens from the LFS. When I first fed my cichlids and community fish peas, they laughed at me--the second time, they ALL ate them!

 

[Maillis]

Uh oh.... noticed my balas glancing off the gravel a couple of times. No other signs of anything. Must be the start of some parasites I figured so I ran to the store and got some Quick Cure. Added the quick cure, some aquarium salt, raised the temperature, put in a bubble wall and turned off the lights. Think they'll be ok?

 

[Menagerie]

The parasites won't be affected by the lights. As for treating before seeing the signs of illness, I do not medicate unless absolutely necessary. Have you read Allivymar's article in the article section on freshwater ich? There is a natural way to treat ich--better than introducing meds.

 

[Maillis]

I just turned off the lights to keep the fish calmer... my balas are skittish and they tend to freak when I do anything to the tank. I have read the article but I'm not seeing any signs of Ich other than the scratching so I got the quick cure in case it's some other parasite(Package says it works on a number of different parasites.) I'm only using a half dose of the Quick cure because I have neon tetras in the tank. I'll continue to raise the temperature slowly to about 86 degrees and keep it there for a couple days.

 

[William]

My Bala will not touch flake.

He devoures the Hikari freedried and frozen bloodworms, As well as Hikari Tubefix worms.


and he also loves brine shrimp, Live.