My pig of a shovelnose

[rvm]

I woke up this morning to find that my bloody shovelnose has eaten another of my Bala sharks. I try to keep him well fed and the balas are probably the smallest fish in the tank, but thats the second one he's had now! Look at the fat belly on the greedy git!!!

 

[CFC]

Oh dear , he has certainly developed a taste for bala sharks hasnt he.

 

[Ben]

greedy, greedy

sharky

btw, ever thought of moving him to a bigger tank?

 

[Angry_Platy]

I hope those clown loaches and Willie are safe!!!

 

[rvm]

moving who to a bigger tank. it's already a 140g tank!!

I hope those clown loaches and Willie are safe!!!

Thats my concern now. My Royal is in a different tank, so no probs there, but The clowns could be an issue. I'm looking into that on advice from CFC at the moment!!

 

[digital_run]

From that picture it looks like your clowns are perfect snacking size....Sorry to hear about your Bala

 

[rvm]

The perspective on there makes the clowns look smaller than they are. the 3 smallest are just under 5" while the big one is about 6"-7". However, the smaller ones are approximately the same size as the small bala sharks, so I may have problems and I really don't want to lose my clowns, they were one of the first fish I got and I love those guys!!

 

[tetraboy]

you should still think about moving the clowns because if the shovelnose trys to eat one its spines will come out and you will have a shovelnose with a severly damaged mouth

 

[FMZ]

I dont think your fish will mess with loaches since they defensive spines that comes out of under their eyes. Sorry about your Balas

 

[CFC]

The spines on the clown loaches would make very little difference should the shovelnose decide to eat one, in the wild prey fish would include Corydoras and other small Loricarids both of which have spiney dorsal and pectoral fins. Once a fish is head first into the mouth of a large predatory fish its game over, the fins spines will eventually relax and the fish will be swallowed.

 

[bunjiweb]

I dont think the shovelnose would eat the clown loaches. Their colouring alone is enough to warn off prospective predators.

Ben

 

[rvm]

I dont think the shovelnose would eat the clown loaches. Their colouring alone is enough to warn off prospective predators.

Ben

I'd like to believe that, but don't really want to take too many chances. I do know that the little balas often have scrapes and missing scales in the mornings indicating that they are involved in scuffles quite a lot, and the clowns never have any kind of marks, but I don't know if this is because the shovelnose is going for the balas and not the clowns or what!
One thing I do know is that I have to decide on something as I only have 1 small Bala left now, and I've just bought another big one to replace the latest meal!!