Not sure what happened? Bala shark died.

[shamu]

So did my regular weekly water change last night. Went out this morning got home and sad to see that my awesome Bala Shark had died, so quickly did a water test, ammonia-0, ph between 7-7.5, nitrite-below 0.1, Nitrate 5 to 10. I'm still kind of new to this so just want to check if the levels sound good? The only thing I changed was to put my air pump tube under the rocks instead of just hanging on the side-thought it would look nicer. Just trying to figure out what happened to the shark, this is my first one are they very fragile? Have had him about 8 months. Am also worried about my other guys.

 

[blert]

How big was he?
I see you kept him in a twenty gallon tank. Just so you know, Balas can get to like 16" long and a twenty gallon is not a good home for one. They also prefer to be kept in groups. He may have suffered an early demise from stunting.

 

[shamu]

I should update my info, I actually now have a 55 gallon. I had planned on taking him in the next few weeks to the fish store (he was only about 2 1/2 inches long) but I wanted to get him to a good home before he got any bigger. I feel pretty bad now I probably should have taken him sooner. Thanks for the info blert.

 

[boadams87]

So did my regular weekly water change last night. Went out this morning got home and sad to see that my awesome Bala Shark had died, so quickly did a water test, ammonia-0, ph between 7-7.5, nitrite-below 0.1, Nitrate 5 to 10. I'm still kind of new to this so just want to check if the levels sound good? The only thing I changed was to put my air pump tube under the rocks instead of just hanging on the side-thought it would look nicer. Just trying to figure out what happened to the shark, this is my first one are they very fragile? Have had him about 8 months. Am also worried about my other guys.

Did {mod edit} you dechlorinate the water {mod edit}before adding water?

 

[Hholly]

Since you had detectable nitrites after the water change, it was probably very high before the change. Nitrite should be at 0. He may have died of stress from high toxins in the water and the water change pushed him over the edge.

 

[shamu]

Yes I did dechlorinate the water. Should I do another water change?

 

[Hholly]

I would.