Is my silver shark dying?

E

Everything zen

Registered Member
Nov 18, 2010
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The tank is about 25l, it has the appropriate heater, light and filter for this size. There are 3 other fish in the tank, and all get a varied diet of flakes, frozen blood worms and pellets. The pH is at 7.0. I need to get the water checked tomorrow, as I cleaned and replaced the 1/3 water today. I have stress zyme, stress coat and water conditioner in the tank as per the instructions.

Until some time today, maybe yesterday, the silver shark was fine. He swam around, ate, seemed happy. Now he's often swimming upside down or vertically. He'll do this for a minute and the correct himself and swim normally again. He then swims down the bottom and goes upside down and repeats it, then goes back to normal.

If anyone has any advice, I'd be extremely grateful.
 
that tank is not suitable for the silver shark. What are the other fish in the tank?

The reason this is not suitable is the tank is far too small for the shark. Also, this fish should be in a brackish tank. They can withstand the freshwater but not long term. Eventually, the brackish tank would need more and more salt, leading to an almost fully salted tank.
 
How frustrating. I explained to the shop person that I was very new to fish keeping and that the bala would be in with a gourami, Molly and panchax. She was adamant the silver would be totally fine with them.

Ok, so what would be best to do now? I won't be upgrading to a larger tank for a few months just yet. Can the fish be saved? If he can recover, I'd be best seeing him go to a shop again so he can hopefully end up in a tank that is equipped properly by someone who knows more than me.

I am cranky at myself that my steep learning curve could be at the cost of any fish. I'm now also unsure of how is best to get advice, as a specialty aquarium pet place also told me this combination of fish would be ok. Also, never once did anyone say the bala needs a salted tank.
 
Does silver shark mean bala shark, balantiocheilos melanopterus (black-tipped fins), or silver-tipped shark, hexanematichthys seemanni (catfish)?
 
Oh Balas dont need Salt...Silver tipped Catfish do...Silver "Sharks" to some means Silver tipped catfish most call balas, balas... And Balas are schooling and should have a group of three they get to be about 14"+ so need a 125gal Bare minimum....

Don't be too upset at your LFS they will tend(depending on the greedieness(sp) ) get you a fish that wont survive and get you into a buy replace buy replace mantra to get them more money, Again not all LFS do this but it happens at times
 
Thanks so much for all the replies. And yes, I meant ball, sorry for the confusion. So bala are fresh water after all, good.

He has now unfortunately died, after a sudden deterioration after I posted this. I'll stick with the Molly, gourami and panchax for now and learn, learn, learn learn, etc.

Thanks again.
 
what type of gourami? also i wouldnt keep the molly in this tank as they reach 4-5" long.
 
ditto the gourami....basically it is barely a 5 gal tank....
 
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