iseefish

when i left to work everyone was ok, i come back and 1 my balas was laying dead.. on top of the sunken ship!! no fish was close to him no nipping everyone was far from his dead body, i pulled him out and he had no sings of fungus or scars. his body was just hard as a rock! I WONDER WHAT COULD OF HAPPENED?
pH: 7.0
nitrate: 20
amonia: 0
nitrite: i dont know i dont have the tester!
Question: do you guys think the a high level of nitrite can be deadly ?

im getting the nitrite tester tomorrow asap!
i recently did a 30%water change for the past 2 days in a roll since i started to see that my nitrate level started to raise. the levels were ok today.

i dont flush my dead fish. he was properly buried in one of my plants pots see if his dead body helps my plants grow healthy!! here is the plant!!

R.I.P little bala swimmer
does anyone have any idea what could of had happened?
thank you for your time!!!

Lucy

I'm really sorry about your shark.
Nitrites are toxic to fish, but without knowing your reading it's hard to tell if that's what caused his death.

Red1313

Hmmm... How old was he and how big a tank was he in?

iseefish

hi i got him a year ago he was about 3inch long, ive seen them way bigger so i suspect he was still a baby , the other bala i have is about a inch bigger that him, i just notice my id shark is hidding too much, i hope he doesnt die, the tank is 55g and this is what i have in it.
55g PALNTED TANK.
plants:
amazonian sword.
Myrio, Green
Limnophila Aquatica
2 Banana Plant
Moss Balls
Green Ozelot Sword
Anacharis
fish:
1 African butterfly
1 bala shark. the other 1 died!.
1 irresident shark.
8 neon tetras
2 glass fish. 2 gold mystery snail
6 cherry barbs

do you think is overstocked..?

iseefish

yeah but i changed 30 the water twice, yesterday and the day before yesterday, i added stress coat and the levels were fine!!! except for nitrites.. i dont know the reading ,

Red1313

hmm could have been too much of a change maybe? I think that Bala sharks like to be in groups (also why they usually need a big tank but I could be wrong) so that could be a reason your other one is hiding.

Have you added any new fish recently? Other then the water changes have you done anything different with your tank? Are the other fish acting normally? Do you add any sort of chemicals to your water? (pH buffer, cycle, ect.)

Sorry I asked but Bala's are a pretty large fish and in small tanks while they are prevented from growing bigger their internal organs keep growing and eventually that causes death. However that doesn't sound like it's the case here.

agabr123

i'm sorry you lost him

iseefish

i recently added 1 butterfly and 8 cherry barbs 2snails. no buffer or anything added to my tank just stress coat. the nitrites level 0.25mg i just changed 30 % water again everyone seams ok!!

cerianthus

I really dont see a reason nitrite registering in a tank which is well-established, especially with lots of plants unless
1. increased bio-load (fish and/or food)
2. Disturbed bio bed
3. pH shifted due to many pwc
4. when i used Python to fill back during pwc, seen hatchets (wild fish), bala sharks, id sharks freaked out from time to time even with proper water conditioner where hatchets being more sensitive to new water (chlorine/chloamine) than the other two. .

If you are using Python, let the water splash as it fills or if using bucket, prepared the new water before draining.

Hope thing stablize soon. Also look out for ICH/Oodinium when performing frequent water changes.

iseefish

thanku for your advice i think this might have been the reason then.
1. increased bio-load (fish and/or food)
because i added a lot of food because the new guys, i think he ate it all thats why he was hard as a rock when i found him ! ll

agabr123

how much food did you add and what kind?

iseefish

well since i added these cherry's i tough some extra little food wont ham them, i guve the dry blood worms is that ok?? or should i change ?