Bala Shark Disease
Bala Sharks are more susceptible to disease than most other aquarium fishes and you can use that to your advantage. If you notice your bala sharks rubbing themselves against aquarium ornaments and rocks as though they’re trying to rub their scales off then your aquarium may be in for an Ich infestation. When you notice this behaviour you can check for white spots developing on the bala sharks (Ich is also known as “white spot” disease) and then take action to stop the Ich before it becomes a major problem in your tank. Whenever you administer medication to your aquarium make sure you follow the guidelines on the bottle. Baby Bala Sharks are especially vulnerable to Ich. It is recommended that you add a half dosage of Ich cure to the aquarium water just before you add any new bala sharks.
Ich (short for Ichthyophtirius) is a parasite that gets into your aquarium and attaches itself to the scales of your fish. If you do have 
an outbreak of this parasite you will also want to change your water more frequently. If you want to try a more naturopathic route, raising the temperature and adding salt has been found to kill Ich as well. Slowly raise the temperature up to around 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) and add about 5 table spoons of salt per gallon of water. Friends of mine have successfully treated Ich in this way, but I can't guarantee that you will have any results for better or worse.
You always want to make sure that you’ve properly diagnosed the ailments of your fish before you medicate. You don’t want to start giving medication to your fishes only find out later on that you’re medicating for the wrong condition. Also try to find out why your Bala Sharks are sick. If you can figure out why it they are sick, then you have a much better chance of preventing the same in the future. Often times, sickness is brought on from transport. The fish become stressed when they are taken from their home and transported around the world. Due to the stress, their immune systems are depressed and they become more susceptible to all sorts of disease. This is holds true for all tropical fish not just Bala Sharks. Make sure that you properly acclimatize your fish before you add them to your tank. You may even want to have a separate tank (often called a quarantine tank) for the new fish to live in for a few weeks before adding them to your main tank. This way, if they are sick, you can treat them in quarantine and avoid adding chemicals to your main tank. It might also be a good idea to have a quarantine tank for when fish in your main tank become sick. Another common cause for illness in fish is below adequate water quality, but that is easily addressed once identified.
Always always always make sure that you read the instructions on the medication bottle. It can be the difference between fish that are alive and happy and fish that are not so alive, if you catch my drift (pun intended : ) ). Before you add any medication make sure that you remove carbon in your filtration system. If you don’t, the carbon will remove all the medication from the water which results in expensive water being filtered. Much like what happens when humans take too many multi-vitamins; the kidneys filter expensive blood and you send expensive urine to the sanitation plant.
I'm a firm believer in preventative medicine. Once of the best ways to prevent ailments is follow proper Bala Shark care and feed them nutritious (even vitamin-enhanced) Bala Shark food.
Go to Bala Shark (next page).