Getting it out....

[Bala_beauty]

We have had our 55 Gallon tank since the end of March, so just over 7 months now. This is what it looks like:

Right from the beginning, my husband knew he wanted Balas. So we had two of them (we called them the Bala Brothers).....until tonight :sad:. Two days ago, one of them got himself stuck in a hole of the ornament on the right that you see in the picture. It was the worst moments seeing him stuck through this hole, wriggling around trying to get out, hubby trying to get him out without hurting him, not knowing how many minutes (hubby looked in when he got home from work 1/2 hour before this) the poor thing had been stuck like that . When hubby finally got him out i breathed a huge sigh of relief...but then we saw the damage. His belly was raw and he had a lot of scales gone on the top (up to his dorsal fin from just past his head) and down his left side. Got him into the hospital tank with melafix to treat him. I don't know if he was just so stressed out by this, and then the new environment of the hospital or what...but we lost our bala early this morning. Now we feel soooo guilty. Maybe if we had of noticed him sooner the damage would not have been so bad. Maybe if we had of just treated him in the main tank instead of moving him to the new environment he would have been ok. I don't know, all i know is right now i feel so sad and i can't believe i was so attached to a fish. Right now he is in a casket waiting for burial later today.

 

[Blueiz]

Sorry to hear about your loss........

There are all kinds of what ifs. You cant dwell on what you should have, could have, or might have done. I know exactly how you feel. I had a dog that got out of my fenced in yard. A friend called me and told me he was out, i chose not to go home and put him back in the fence, he ate a bucket of rat bait and died 4 days later. You will always feel guilty, nothng will change that, but in the end the only thing you can do is learn from the experience.........:sad:

 

[Bala_beauty]

Thanks Blueiz25. I know i can't dwell on these things. It's just hard as this is the first fish we have lost since we started this wonderful hobby. We never expected our fish were going to live forever but we just never expected one of our fish to die in such a manner :sad: . Death by old age yes, death by illness hopefully not. Anyone know how long the other Bala will be ok alone? We are thinking of getting another one tonight or tomorrow.....but it will still have to go through Quarantine.......

 

[Holly9937]

He'll be ok for a while without a friend, but they will really need a much bigger tank than a 55gallon long term. They can get around a foot long and are really spastic, fast swimming fish when they get larger. One of mine is only around 5 inches, and was moved to a 180g tank maybe 6 months ago. Before that he was in a 50g tank and would occasionally hit the sides of the tank or jump and hit the lid. It is a really sickening sound, like a bird hitting a window if you know what that sounds like !!! You might want to consider if you can accomodate the fish full grown before you get anymore

 

[Bala_beauty]

Thanks Holly9937. We do plan to start a 135 gallon tank soon. Should we think bigger than that?