ver y sick bala shark

Question
bala 11 years old floating upside down and very bloated no change to aquarium in 3 months lives with 9 year old placo  placo is acting fine

Answer
Hello,

Unfortunately this has happened to more then one of my fish so I know exactly what you are talking about. I must say though, unless your fish was big and strong the outlook is poor.

This definately sounds like an internal infection, possibly related to the swim bladder. The first step you should take is to add an antibactarial to your tank. Since this is obviously not fungus or parasites it is likely that it has a bacteria based cause.

Second you should purchase some medicines for bloating. Various brands have various names. Look for anything that might treat dropsy, bloating or listlisness. There is one medicine that I have used before that I believe is called Maracyn 2, or something very similar. This tends to work well.

If you need any more help, please feel free to get back to me as this could be very serious and should be treated promptly.

I hope this helps,

From Stephanie