Pregnant Bala

[richywiseman]

I have just noticed that one of my Bala sharks looks pregnant? I have searched through the net trying to find information on this but cannot find any.

Her behaviour has changed also she is shying away from everyone else in the tank, swimming around the back alone.

Has anyone any experience of this?

Regards,

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Bala sharks can't get "pregnant" as they are egg laying fish/egg scatters. Breeding is very rare in the aquarium though as far as i am aware, no-one has done it successfully, the bala sharks need to be quite large before they are mature enough to breed (the only person i have known to have bala sharks perform spawning rituals had bala sharks 12-14inches long each). Its much more likely that your bala shark is appearing fat due to something else like bloating or constipation or general desease/parasites, your sharks behavior does not sound like that of a bala shark in the mood for breeding (bala sharks are also known as silver sharks);

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...p?article_id=39

So we now need to find out what is wrong with your shark, as it could be serious. How many gallons/litres is the tank and/or its dimensions (length, width, height) and the types, numbers and sizes of the fish you have in the tank? How long has the tank been set up and what is your general tank cleaning/maintanence regime like in detail as well as fish feeding regime ?

 

[n3ont3tra]

Bala sharks can't get "pregnant" as they are egg laying fish/egg scatters. Breeding is very rare in the aquarium though as far as i am aware, no-one has done it successfully, the bala sharks need to be quite large before they are mature enough to breed (the only person i have known to have bala sharks perform spawning rituals had bala sharks 12-14inches long each). Its much more likely that your bala shark is appearing fat due to something else like bloating or constipation or general desease/parasites, your sharks behavior does not sound like that of a bala shark in the mood for breeding (bala sharks are also known as silver sharks);

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...p?article_id=39

So we now need to find out what is wrong with your shark, as it could be serious. How many gallons/litres is the tank and/or its dimensions (length, width, height) and the types, numbers and sizes of the fish you have in the tank? How long has the tank been set up and what is your general tank cleaning/maintanence regime like in detail as well as fish feeding regime smile.gif ?

I agree. Interesting article, by the way.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hmm...I think something has gone wrong with my link, when i click on it, it just takes me to practicalfishkeepings site map ? Is this happening to anyone else?

 

[n3ont3tra]

Weird. It worked the first time I clicked on it, took me right to the bala page. I wasn't being sarcastic.
Now it takes me to the index..

 

[richywiseman]

I have a Juwel trigon 350 which has been setup for around 3 months, I change 20% of the water every week and the water is crystal clear.
PH 7.8, Hardness 160, 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, low Nitrate. Water temp is 26.5oC
I believe that the tank is understocked, and I have the following,

2 Opaline Gouramies- 4 Inch.
4 Silver Sharks- 2inch
4 Silver Angels- 2inch
4 Clown Loaches- 3 1/2-4inch
1 Electric Yellow Mbuna- 4inch

I feed them once a day, The Mbuna gets a Chiclid pellet, the loaches get a loach tablet, and the rest of the fish get flake

 

[andywg]

In my experience with all my balas I have found that the balas tend to look fatter shortly before putting on a length growth spurt.

 

[richywiseman]

I will try and post a photograph when I get home from work tonight.

 

[richywiseman]

As you can see the underside is swollen

Any suggestions?

Regards,

 

[§tudz]

As you can see the underside is swollen

Any suggestions?

Regards,

if it isn't gravid, my guess would be that it is constipated, try feeding some frozen peas or such like

 

[n3ont3tra]

Definately something wrong there. If it doesn't go away soon, try the emergencies section. Good Luck.

 

[andywg]

Looks like a fat, well fed bala to me Seen mine like that many a time when they were smaller.

No chance of it being gravid, at that size it is still a juve, nowhere near sexual maturity.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Looks like a fat, well fed bala to me Dunno.gif Seen mine like that many a time when they were smaller.

I think that's a little too fat, considering they're fed flake once a day. IME, flake doesn't make fish fat, it's bloodworms that do... Also, they mentioned the different behavior and if it's been that large since yesterday I think there's a problem.

No chance of it being gravid, at that size it is still a juve, nowhere near sexual maturity.

Definately agree.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Could be either;
a. Constipation
b. Internal bacterial infection causing bloating/building up of fluids inside fish
c. Internal parasite infection causing bloating (less likely).

Its difficult to make out from the pic, but are the scales on the fish sticking out at all? If so, the bala has dropsy, which is an internal bacterial infection (can also be caused by a bad case of constipation though).

My advice would be to treat the fish with an anti internal bacterial med like "anti internal bacteria" by Interpet, and try to get the shark to eat some cooked de-shelled and chopped up pea's.

 

[richywiseman]

UPDATE:

I moved the poor thing into another tank I have, it has fancy guppies in it. After 2 days the swelling went right down.
I decided to move him back to the main tank, and within a day he was swollen again.

I have noticed that he does not interact with the rest of the sharks when in the main tank, he just sits about on his own.

Can he be stressed because he is being excluded from the group???