I have 3 red belly piranhas, they are babies about 2in long. I woke up this morning to find that one of the piranhas had something on his eye..it wasnt a cloudy eye it looks like puss or something bugging out of his eye. If i look at it at a certain angle i can see his eye under it.. if that makes sense. They are all starting to lose their scaled, their fins are turning black and theres discoloration on their heads. PLEASE HELP ME. I called the rhode island aquarium and spoke to someone and they told me to do a water test at my local fish store. I went and they said i had high level of nitrate and to do a water change (which i did) and to add 2 t-spoons of neutral regulator into the water (before i put it in the tank) and tetra safestart which reduces dangerous ammonia and nitrate. I did all of this. Should i be ok? I am very worried and would like to help my fish. PLEASE RESPOND.
Please Help, Sick Red Belly Piranhas?
- Thread starter ranhi3
- Start date
Davo86
Cichlids, Catfish and Oddballs
We really need more info
How new is the setup?
What size is it?
How long have you had them?
How often do you do waterchanges?
What filtration do you have?
How new is the setup?
What size is it?
How long have you had them?
How often do you do waterchanges?
What filtration do you have?
I setup the tank about 3 weeks - a month ago and a few days later I bought them
It is a 15 gallon tank - Yes, i know it is very small but i plan on moving them into my boyfriend's 150 gal shortly
I was told to do a water change once a month so I did my first water change today
I have an aquaclear 30 filter in the tank
It is a 15 gallon tank - Yes, i know it is very small but i plan on moving them into my boyfriend's 150 gal shortly
I was told to do a water change once a month so I did my first water change today
I have an aquaclear 30 filter in the tank
Can you post your water stats please in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
Black patches can be ammonia burns that are healing.
Missing scales can be bad water quality, fighting, lifted up by knocking them on ornaments in the tank, parasites.
Yhe eye on the fish is it bulging out. Has he caught his eye on something in the tank.
Any white specs behind the lens of the eye.
Any excess mucas on gills or body of fish.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
Get a magifying glass to see if you can see anything under the lifted scales.
Any whiteness around the scales.
Black patches can be ammonia burns that are healing.
Missing scales can be bad water quality, fighting, lifted up by knocking them on ornaments in the tank, parasites.
Yhe eye on the fish is it bulging out. Has he caught his eye on something in the tank.
Any white specs behind the lens of the eye.
Any excess mucas on gills or body of fish.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
Get a magifying glass to see if you can see anything under the lifted scales.
Any whiteness around the scales.
The guy from the place i went to didnt give me the stats all he did was hand me a few bottles and told me what to do
i do have a ph tester at home and it says the ph is between 7.6 and 7.2, the shade of blue is a bit lighter than the shade shown for 7.6
the problem i have had with the ph is that every time i add the ph up or ph down, it does not change anything
im pretty positive that the missing scales is from the water quality i dont think that they were knocking into the ornaments,
i have one medium sized piece of "wood" in there that they like to hide in
The eye on the fish has gotten a lot better after i put the stuff in the tank yesterday. Originally it looked like his whole eye was being covered but now there is just a small spec. I still think his eye is a bit cloudy but i still have the other half of the ammonium/nitrate stuff to put into the tank
the white spec is on the outside of the lens not behind the lens, there are no specs behind the lens
there is no excess mucus on the gills or body of the fish
there are no signs of flicking or rubbing
The black on their fins appears to be going away
I dont see any whiteness around the scales
on the areas where their body is losing scales it is just sparkly and shiny
i do have a ph tester at home and it says the ph is between 7.6 and 7.2, the shade of blue is a bit lighter than the shade shown for 7.6
the problem i have had with the ph is that every time i add the ph up or ph down, it does not change anything
im pretty positive that the missing scales is from the water quality i dont think that they were knocking into the ornaments,
i have one medium sized piece of "wood" in there that they like to hide in
The eye on the fish has gotten a lot better after i put the stuff in the tank yesterday. Originally it looked like his whole eye was being covered but now there is just a small spec. I still think his eye is a bit cloudy but i still have the other half of the ammonium/nitrate stuff to put into the tank
the white spec is on the outside of the lens not behind the lens, there are no specs behind the lens
there is no excess mucus on the gills or body of the fish
there are no signs of flicking or rubbing
The black on their fins appears to be going away
I dont see any whiteness around the scales
on the areas where their body is losing scales it is just sparkly and shiny
Not sure what ph piranha fish should be kept in as never kept them.
What your tap ph.
Ph can alter in a cycling tank.
I would read up on the nitrogen cycle.
Don't use ph adjusters there more trouble than there worth.
I would find a safer way of altering ph, if it needs changing.
Cloudy eye is a symtom of a desease not a desease in it's own right.
Causes are.
Bad water quality.
Stress.
Old age.
Injury.
Irratation.
Parasites.
Bacterial.
What your tap ph.
Ph can alter in a cycling tank.
I would read up on the nitrogen cycle.
Don't use ph adjusters there more trouble than there worth.
I would find a safer way of altering ph, if it needs changing.
Cloudy eye is a symtom of a desease not a desease in it's own right.
Causes are.
Bad water quality.
Stress.
Old age.
Injury.
Irratation.
Parasites.
Bacterial.
Davo86
Cichlids, Catfish and Oddballs
ok right away you need to start doing weekly waterchanges of 50%, whoever said you only need to do them monthly doesn't know much, As it is a new tank you are basicly in a fish-in cycle where the stats will be terrible compared to a mature setup.
I realise you know this but the tank and more importantly the filter is not big enough, yes the fish are small so the tank isn't a problem yet, however due to the foods eaten by Piranha you really need much more filtration,
Also are you using the aquaclear with an undergravel feature? because the aquaclear 30 is a powerhead Not a filter and therefore you have no filtration on the tank.
Also stop using ph adjusters, The fish will adjust to the water, if you change the ph too often the fish will suffer as they will not be able to adjust.
ammonia/nitrite remover products also may help short term but give you a lot more problems long term, Water changes will remove these anyway.
I realise you know this but the tank and more importantly the filter is not big enough, yes the fish are small so the tank isn't a problem yet, however due to the foods eaten by Piranha you really need much more filtration,
Also are you using the aquaclear with an undergravel feature? because the aquaclear 30 is a powerhead Not a filter and therefore you have no filtration on the tank.
Also stop using ph adjusters, The fish will adjust to the water, if you change the ph too often the fish will suffer as they will not be able to adjust.
ammonia/nitrite remover products also may help short term but give you a lot more problems long term, Water changes will remove these anyway.
what type of filter do you suggest? i do not have an under gravel filtration system.
I used the ph adjuster once and will not do it again, i realized it did not help.
when i do the water changes should i always add 3 t-spoons of the neutral regulator to it before i put the new water into the tank? is there anything i should be adding to the water before or after i put it in the tank? if so, what?
another problem ive been having is my piranhas will not eat anything but beef heart. i know this is bad because it will lead to problems with their health in the future but if i dont feed them the beef heart, they eat each other. Ive tried feeding them krill and cichlid pelletz (the guy at the local fish store told me to feed them that) but they never eat it and i always end up having to scoop it out.
someone posted saying that cloudy eye is a symptom of a disease.. should i be very worried about this? After i did everything the other day the eye looks so much better than it was originally. should i be looking out for any other symptoms?
I used the ph adjuster once and will not do it again, i realized it did not help.
when i do the water changes should i always add 3 t-spoons of the neutral regulator to it before i put the new water into the tank? is there anything i should be adding to the water before or after i put it in the tank? if so, what?
another problem ive been having is my piranhas will not eat anything but beef heart. i know this is bad because it will lead to problems with their health in the future but if i dont feed them the beef heart, they eat each other. Ive tried feeding them krill and cichlid pelletz (the guy at the local fish store told me to feed them that) but they never eat it and i always end up having to scoop it out.
someone posted saying that cloudy eye is a symptom of a disease.. should i be very worried about this? After i did everything the other day the eye looks so much better than it was originally. should i be looking out for any other symptoms?
Davo86
Cichlids, Catfish and Oddballs
ok i'm just going to check something becaue apparently there are two aquaclear 30s which i didn't realise
this one
and this one
The first is a powerhead and i'm now assuming it is the second one you have? which is a filter albeit a bit basic for the messy Piranha,
Is the neutral regulator a dechlorinator? i.e. what does it actually do? the only product you need to add when is something that will remove chlorine, chloramines and metals.
As for feeding try them on other meaty foods like bloodworm, prawn, get them used to eating a mixture of meaty foods and then slowly they should learn to eat a wider variety of foods. if they don't take these try not feeding for a few days and then only offer these for a few days after.
In my experience cloudy eyes are more often than not cause by poor water quality, The chemicals that your fish store advised are most likely products to remove ammonia and nitrite, (check this) and therefore these have temporarily improved the situation.
From now on if you stick to 50% weekly waterchanges, with a good gravel clean being done each time, you should be fine until the time comes for them to be removed to a much larger tank, Piranha will need a tank of 75G longterm.
Also at the moment the Piranha are being kept in too small a shoal and therefore it will be easy for one Piranha to become the dominant fish and kill the others. Once your sorted i'd suggest adding another 2-3 so that no one fish can take control
this one
and this one
The first is a powerhead and i'm now assuming it is the second one you have? which is a filter albeit a bit basic for the messy Piranha,
Is the neutral regulator a dechlorinator? i.e. what does it actually do? the only product you need to add when is something that will remove chlorine, chloramines and metals.
As for feeding try them on other meaty foods like bloodworm, prawn, get them used to eating a mixture of meaty foods and then slowly they should learn to eat a wider variety of foods. if they don't take these try not feeding for a few days and then only offer these for a few days after.
In my experience cloudy eyes are more often than not cause by poor water quality, The chemicals that your fish store advised are most likely products to remove ammonia and nitrite, (check this) and therefore these have temporarily improved the situation.
From now on if you stick to 50% weekly waterchanges, with a good gravel clean being done each time, you should be fine until the time comes for them to be removed to a much larger tank, Piranha will need a tank of 75G longterm.
Also at the moment the Piranha are being kept in too small a shoal and therefore it will be easy for one Piranha to become the dominant fish and kill the others. Once your sorted i'd suggest adding another 2-3 so that no one fish can take control
The filter is the second link you posted. What brand/type filter do you suggest i get for my tank?
I was told that it was a dechlorinator
I tried feeding them bloodworms and the minute i put it in the tank it got everywhere and made the tank a complete and total mess and none of it was eaten, the same thing with the krill
I tried not feeding them and they ended up taking bites out of each others fins
I plan on moving my piranhas into my boyfriends 75gal with his 7 red belly piranhas will this be a problem? they are not very big but are not babies, there are plenty of hiding spaces in the tank which i believe is a good thing but is it too risky to put them in there? that was my only option..
I was told that it was a dechlorinator
I tried feeding them bloodworms and the minute i put it in the tank it got everywhere and made the tank a complete and total mess and none of it was eaten, the same thing with the krill
I tried not feeding them and they ended up taking bites out of each others fins
I plan on moving my piranhas into my boyfriends 75gal with his 7 red belly piranhas will this be a problem? they are not very big but are not babies, there are plenty of hiding spaces in the tank which i believe is a good thing but is it too risky to put them in there? that was my only option..
Davo86
Cichlids, Catfish and Oddballs
tbh i wouldn't worry too much about filtration as this tank is a short term fix, that is provided you can monitor the water stats and do water changes as and when needed. As soon as they are of a similar size to the 7 in the 75g tank then it is best to move them across.
When you move them it may be best to take the original 7 out first and then add the 10 back to the tank at the same time.
Unfortunately though your boyfriend is going to be in the same boat as you very soon, a 75G is about the suggested tank size for 4 fully grown Piranhas.
When you move them it may be best to take the original 7 out first and then add the 10 back to the tank at the same time.
Unfortunately though your boyfriend is going to be in the same boat as you very soon, a 75G is about the suggested tank size for 4 fully grown Piranhas.
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