# Chichilid and Bala Shark



## Fresh Life

Do Bala Sharks and Chachilids such as oscars and other African Chilids Get along well?

And Also one of my African Chilids has a Black Dot on It is that normal or can someone tell me what it could be im worried it will kill my other fish if its a diesase.


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## redpaulhus

How large is the tank ?
In a properly sized aquarium, Bala Sharks and Oscars can co-exist.
I'm not sure I'd call it "getting along well" - my Oscar ignores dither fish like bala's for the most part, and my large dithers pretty much ignore my Oscar.

However - oscars ARE NOT African cichlids, and I would not put either an Oscar or bala sharks in with African cichlids - Rift Lake (east african) cichlids need much higher pH values than I would subject an oscar or bala's too, and I don't like mixing little west african cichlids (ie kribs) with Oscars or big bala sharks...

Do you have a picture of the fish ? There are a number of African cichlids that have black on them.
Have you tested your water ? What are you parameters ?


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## Fresh Life

I have not tested my water yet. For i am very very new at this, And I aquire lots of learning. The African Chichlids and the Oscar are getting along fine. but the Bala is being bothered by the small African Chichlids. Im keeping them in a 55g Tank Filtered and heated to 75 degrees. Im worried the one African Chichlid is infected with something he keeps getting more spots on him.

I will take pictures of them soon and post on here for now what should I do because I do not want that one fish to kill my other fishh because he is infected.

Also, I read up and it said Chichlids and Oscars do not mind eachother and that if your tank is large enough a Bala Shark would do just fine. Im just really worrieed bout that spotted fish.


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## shade2dope

when I first bought my 55g there was a jack demsey(8 in) and a redtail shark in there and they were doing fine. what kind of cichlid do you have? my yellow lab has a black spot on him too i just took him out of the tank and added a liltle more salt in his tank.


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## Fresh Life

Do you know if black spots is an infection or is just the fish in general?


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## shade2dope

i have been looking up on it but not sure iam going to ask the guy at the cichlid shop down the road if he knows..in my case i think its somthing wrong with him but may not be true in your case this yellow lab was missed treated by his past owner it was in a tank for 5 years with not filter just a bubbler check this out http://www.africancichlids.net/forums/index.php/t/686/0/3d9e3c306c94f32674f377d7d031c43b/


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## shade2dope

not sure if i can post diffrent sites on here i hop so dont want to get in trouble


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## Eraserhead

I had a redtail shark, a rainbow shark, and 3 swordtails in a 20 gallon. The red tail killed all the swordtails and beat up the rainbow shark. I wasn't about to let that stand, so I just figured I'd make a feeder fish out of him. So I tossed his a$$ in my 72 gallon cichlid tank thinking he wold be food within 10 minutes. That was 3 months ago, and he's doing just fine. I left town for a week not too long ago, and my roommate didn't feed them as much as they were used to, and they bit his tail off, but it grew back. He just scours the rocks for algae. They don't bother him a bit! It's so funny to see the cichlids smacking each other around, and then this little dinky shark gets right up next to them and they don't even care!


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## BV77

I have one surviving bala (6" ) in my 90 , with africans (no oscars)....no one seems to bother him


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## redpaulhus

Fresh Life said:


> Also, I read up and it said Chichlids and Oscars do not mind eachother and that if your tank is large enough a Bala Shark would do just fine. Im just really worrieed bout that spotted fish.


"Cichlid" is a type of fish.
Oscars ARE cichlids, as are many many other common aquarium fishes.
There are many cichlids that Oscars can live with.

However - Oscars are from South America, and prefer soft to moderately hard water with a pH around 7.0 (more or less).

On the other hand, Rift Lake cichlids from Lake Malawi or Lake Tanganyika are the most common "African Cichlids" in the hobby. They generally prefer hard water with a pH above 8.0 (more or less).

You can have a tank with good chemistry for one, or a tank with good chemistry for the other - you really can't setup a tank that will have good chemistry for both.

Chemisty aside, neither an Oscar nor most Malawi cichlids belong in a 55g tank IMO - the Oscar gets too big, the Malawi's are mostly too agressive for such a small tank. The few Malawi's that would be ok in that size tank (and the Tang.'s that would be ok in that size tank) would not do well with a big Oscar in the same tank.

A quick primer on Oscars and other New World cichlids can be found here (and I mean very quick - it's a good LFS handout but not as good as a good book on cichlids!)
http://www.redpaulhus.com/node/17

And one on Rift Lake cichlids is here:
http://www.redpaulhus.com/node/4

Unfortunately I don't have one written on Bala sharks - do you realize that bala's:
a) need to be in groups
b) get over a foot long 
c) need tanks that are at least 6' long and wider than the fish is long (ie 125g etc)

If a store (any store, be it "pet superstore" or mom-and-pop independant LFS) told you that it would be ok to put an Oscar, a bala, and an African cichlid in the same tank, I would 
a) call them and ask them if they are idiots who shouldn't be selling fish or immoral leeches just looking to screw you for money
b) find another pet store ASAP (a good way to do this is go into a store and say "can I put an Oscar in with an African cichlid and a bala shark in a 55g ?" - most good stores will say "Heck No" 

The first question I ask every customer who wants to buy a fish, any fish, is how big their tank is, followed by "what fish do you already have".
If the fish are not compatable, I do not sell any to them.
If the tank is too small, I do not sell them them fish AND make a point to educate them on the tank size they need if they want a particular fish.
If a store isn't willing to do that before they sell you a fish - find another store.

You wouldn't believe how many people I refuse to sell Oscars every weekend (in part because I have a 14" Oscar at home I had to rescue from a customer who was unprepared to care for it - and because almost every weekend some idiot wants us to take his 10"+ Oscar off his hands )


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## Gourami Swami

IMO- Do the responsible thing and return the oscar and bala shark. Whe n you have gathered more information, have properly cycled your tank, and have planned out a setup- then buy some fish that are appropriate for your tank size (i.e- Not oscars or bala sharks)

I rescued a 9" oscar from someone keeping it in a 55gallon with a few other fish, and let me tell you, it i not a healthy fish. Being in a small tank can affect their health when they get bigger.


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## sonofbreeder

Actully a 55 gallon is fine for a oscar by it's self with the proper filtration.


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## shade2dope

sonofbreeder said:


> Actully a 55 gallon is fine for a oscar by it's self with the proper filtration.


Its a 9 inch fish the depth of the tank is a foot long it gives it very littel room to turn around in the jd that came with my tank before i got rid of it tail was all nasty looking from it tail hitting the side of the tank i allmost looked like was raw to bone so to speak imo i say no to having it in there .... i did say before that it was imo allright to have them to together in the tank but not in that size but this is from my xp... they filtration isnt the problem that what i think hope it helps


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## redpaulhus

sonofbreeder said:


> Actully a 55 gallon is fine for a oscar by it's self with the proper filtration.


<sigh>

No it is NOT.

I have a 14" oscar at home right now that was nearly killed by its previous owner because he as keeping it in too small a tank.
It still has scars from the severe hole-in-the-head it had.

An adult oscar (12-14") will NOT be able to turn around in a 55g tank. A 50g "breeder" tank (36"x18") would be a better choice than a 55g (48"x12") since it has a greater surface area (better oxygen exchange) and will allow the fish to move easier - but even in that case, *filtration* isn't the issue - dissolved organics are. No matter *what* kind, brand, size, or number of filter(s) you use, you WILL deal with elevated nitrates in such a small tank unless you are extremely neurotic about water changes - probably 3 times a week would be good.
Spending $50 on a python-type water change system would be more benificial than spending $500 on filtration.

(the fish I mentioned gets 50% WEEKLY water changes in a 125g tank. anything less and the HLLE comes back )

Part of the problem right now is that there are way too many stores selling cute little 2" oscars and telling people that they will live in a 55g tank. That's like selling baby rabbits and telling people they can live in hamster cages - it's grossly irresponsible.


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