Bala Shark is eating my Golden Gourami!!!

[Knotty]

Hi

I am a newbie so any help would be appreciated.

My small newly set up aquarium has 6 neon tetras, a few small catfish,
two golden goutami (5cm) and one bala shark (4cm).

The bala shark has started biting the lager male gourami and has
opened a small wound on the gourami's back, which the bala now picks
at constantly. The bala doesn't bother wih any other fish in the tank
and is otherwise a great fish to keep.

Do I need to get rid of the bala?? Or is it the male gourami?? Will
this be resolved if I get another bala (I have been told they are best
kept in pairs)??

Any help much appreciated.

Kev

[Mean_Chlorine]

Thusly (Knotty) Spake Unto All:

>Do I need to get rid of the bala??

Unless you've got a big aquarium, that is probably a good idea. The
bala will grow to well over a foot in length, and requires a lot of
swimming space.

[Derek Benson]

On 28 Apr 2005 02:23:23 -0700, (Knotty) wrote:

>Hi
>
>I am a newbie so any help would be appreciated.
>
>My small newly set up aquarium has 6 neon tetras, a few small catfish,
>two golden goutami (5cm) and one bala shark (4cm).
>
>The bala shark has started biting the lager male gourami and has
>opened a small wound on the gourami's back, which the bala now picks
>at constantly. The bala doesn't bother wih any other fish in the tank
>and is otherwise a great fish to keep.
>
>Do I need to get rid of the bala?? Or is it the male gourami?? Will
>this be resolved if I get another bala (I have been told they are best
>kept in pairs)??
>
>Any help much appreciated.
>
>Kev

Bala Sharks are best kept in groups, not singly or in pairs. I think
it highly likely that if you did get more Balas, the one you have now
would be more interested in them and would leave the gourami alone.
But this is not a good option, depending on how small your tank
actually is, as Balas want a lot of room and need large quarters as
they grow larger. So how "small" is the tank?

-Derek

[Elaine T]

Knotty wrote:
> Hi
>
> I am a newbie so any help would be appreciated.
>
> My small newly set up aquarium has 6 neon tetras, a few small catfish,
> two golden goutami (5cm) and one bala shark (4cm).
>
> The bala shark has started biting the lager male gourami and has
> opened a small wound on the gourami's back, which the bala now picks
> at constantly. The bala doesn't bother wih any other fish in the tank
> and is otherwise a great fish to keep.
>
> Do I need to get rid of the bala?? Or is it the male gourami?? Will
> this be resolved if I get another bala (I have been told they are best
> kept in pairs)??
>
> Any help much appreciated.
>
> Kev

How large is your tank? Bala sharks can grow to about 12" so you need
at least a 55 gallon to house your fish once it really starts to grow.
If you get a second, 75 gallons would be better.

First, you need to separate the gourami and bala for gourami to heal.
If you have a quarantine tank, put the gourami there, otherwise put him
in an inexpensive breeding net in your tank. Dab the wound with
Neosporin cream daily until it heals so it doesn't get infected.

Once the gourami is healed, release him and see if the bala is less
interested.

--
Elaine T __
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