Needle Fish

Question
8months-55gal-loaches,tiger barbs,rainbow shark, mollies-bio wheel-ph 7,NH3 0,nitrite 0,nitrate 40,clorine 0,hardness 300,alkalinity 80- a water changeof 10% a couple of months ago, because everything seems to be stable. My question is I have noticed a bump inside the mouth of my larger needle fish (6") that is getting bigger at first I thought it was something stuck inside his mouth but thats obvious now. And also my smaller needle (5")ate my Bala shark (2")which is cosiderably larger than his mouth, there were plenty of rosys, ghost shrimp in the tank at the time, I thought the two were compatible, your suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,

Answer
Hi Kevin;

Needle Fish are voracious predators and will indeed eat fish that are half their size if they get in the way. The bala was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Your needle has more growing to do too so if any of your other fish are similar in size to your eaten bala you may want to move them or get another tank just for your needles.

The one with the bump in his mouth may have an abscess from some type of infection. Or, it could be a tumor, or even a hard fin or bone from a prey fish that poked him and is still embedded. There are many possibilities. Our challenge here is that we can't easily or economically put fish through the same diagnostic tests as other types of pets to determine exactly what's wrong. You could isolate him and treat for bacterial infection if you want to try that. The other possible problems (tumor, embedded bones or fins) are really not treatable unless you can do surgery in consultation with or by  a fish vet. There are vets that do treat fish but they are few and far between. Good luck and I hope he does okay...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins