My Bala Shark isnt eating.....

Question
QUESTION: Hi..

I just got a Bala Shark about 3 days ago.
He seems fine and happy other than the
fact that he's not eating... I haven't
seen him eat at all since I got him.
Why would this fish not be eating??
Do you think he's still adjusting to
his new habitat? Thanks very much.

ANSWER: Hi Amy;

A new fish not eating could be any number of different things. Fish can survive just fine without eating for a couple of weeks or more though so don't worry yet. The first thing to consider is one you have already mentioned; He may still be getting used to his new home.

A good possibility is that he is lonely for his own kind. He is a schooling fish so he will be feeling very uncomfortable and isolated and this is probably his first life experience without other balas. Balas are nervous fish anyway and being in a group of three or more is actually necessary for them to feel safe. Keep in mind that bala sharks get to be over 10 inches long too so unless you have a tank of over 50 gallons, you might want to reconsider keeping even just him alone.

If your tank is small he may be feeling crowded and unsafe. Even a baby bala should not be in a tank smaller than 30 gallons. They just need lots of space. Provide plenty of hiding places too.

It might also be the food you are offering, tankmates are incompatible or the water conditions aren't what he needs. Let me know what foods you have tried, how long the tank has been set up, how often you change water, water temperature, What kind of filtration, what other fish, etc.

Let me know and we can go from there...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you with the helpful information.
however, i know for a fact that its not
because he hasn't been with other balas,
because one of my teachers gave him to me
with a few other fish, none of which were
balas. so i know he hasn't been with his
kind for a good while now.

The only foods i have tried so far are
the tropical flakes and the bottom feeder
wafers. i am going to try out the freeze
dried shrimp as soon as i buy some though.

The tank has been set up for a while now[more than 6 months]
and i try not to change the water too often,
only when it is needed. water temp is roughly
somewhere between the upper 70s and lower 80s.
im not very good with the types of fish yet but
there is 6 fish in there including him at the time and
they all seem to be getting along fine. the fish i
can name are: 1 scissortail, 2 tigerbarbs, 1 white molly,
and 1 small orange-colored fish i can't idnetify. the only
fish that didn't he didn't come with are the scissortail and the white molly, and they seem to have no effect on him.

thank you with this information and i hope to hear back
from you soon!

-Amy  

Answer
Hi Amy;

It's probably just from getting a new home then. You're right, he may just need a different food to get him going. Probably something "aromatic" like shrimp or worms would entice him. If he was in his former home a long time he's just disoriented and unsure. It sometimes took up to a week for me to get new balas to eat in the store. They just seem more prone to that than others. I hope he does okay.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins