sharieth

I just purchased a 55gallon fresh water fish tank. with fish. 6in. bala, 8in. columbian shark catfish, 4-4in. groumi, 3-1-2in fan tailed tetras, 2-sucker type fish. I've had the tank for a month nobody died in the move or setup. My water is perfectly balance. everything look great. But the past three days
the bala has been beating up on the columbian shark he won't leave him alone. chasing him, and biting him. the columbian is getting real stressed and
his eyes are starting to bulge. I separated them with a screen. the bala paces back and forth like he wants to eat him. any comments on whats going on.

shih-tzu mom

Hi; and welcome to Fishlore-do you know about the cycling? and someone else will be along shortly to explain to you about it. I wish i knew how to post a link for you but one of the older members will i'm sure.but you are in the right place for help. Just have a little patience and someone will be along in the meantime you can go to the home page and look for the nitrogen cycle and have a little read. Hope this helps a little for now. bella

sharieth

do you think cycling has something to do with it

Jonah

when you moved the tank you may have lost the cycle, do you have a test kit you can use to get readings for ammonia nitrites and nitrates ?

You also should be aware you have a world of hurt to come soon for both you and your fish
.
The Colubian Shark needs a 75gal tank all to itself when it matures, it needs Brackish water now and full salt water when grown http://www.fishlore.com/profile-columbianshark.htm

The bala shark needs the full 55galon to himself at maturity and is a pure fresh water fish http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-BalaShark.htm

Do you know what type of sucker mouths you have? A picture would help to identify them but if they are Comon Pleco's they get to between 18 and 24 inch each. They are also freshwater fish and cannot tolerate salt.

The Gouramis and the Tetras should be ok depending on their temperment etc.

My 1st guess at the moment is that the Bala and the Columbian are fighting for territory and the Columbian is loosing. And he will also probably be suffering being in pure Freshwater as opposed to brackish water.

I also would bet a small wager that you have an ammonia spike in the tank at the very least.

Nick G

I'd say the Bala will need a 75gal at least. They get 12 inchs + and require a lot of swimming space. They also do better in groups.

sharieth

thank you for your reply. I've been testing my water 2x a day 0% amonia, 0%nitrates, my pH is 7-7.1 I did add some aquarium salt.

Jonah

Interesting have you got a nitrite test kit? Unless your tank is very heavily planted a 0 nitrate reading indicates that the cycle is lost and you have an uncycled tank on your hands.

Adding aquarium salt will help the columbian but it can be fatal for Plecos if that is what your sucker mouth fish are and possibly for the Bala, I don't know enough about them to be more precise sorry. How big are the sucker mouths and can you post a picture of them and the Gouramis

The Gouramis will probably be Ok with a small ammount of salt. And the tetras are the hardiest fish in your tank.

Just been reading up on the Blue Gourami, they are a decent sized fish as well getting to 6" each as well so that is another 24" of fish to add to your current stock list.

I still honestly believe that you are in for a world of hurt with the fish you have inherited they are incompatible and you are horrendously over stocked

Shawnie

the bala likes to be in 3's or more..although I do have one, and hes a great boy, im wondering if yours is missing the school he was with? although I do agree with the others, he will outgrow the tank..just wanted to let you know they perfer being with some of their own goodluck!