# piranha not doing good



## luvdux

I've had my red bellied piranha for 5 or 6 years now. Recently they've started acting weird. One of them died the other day and I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with the other two. They won't eat and are now staying at the bottom of the tank. It's a 30 gal. One isn't moving a whole lot and the other looks like he's breathing hard and struggling to swim. I thought something might be wrong with the water so yesterday I cleaned the tank completely but there hasn't been any improvement today. I don't how long these fish live in captivity so I was thinking maybe they were just old. I'll try to post a picture of what they are doing now. I really want to save these guys.


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## luvdux

These are a few pictures I just took of them. They are touching the bottom of the tank and not too active. I don't see any visible parasites or injuries. They were eating fine until about a week ago. I was feeding them pollock, chicken, liver, and feeder goldfish(every other week for the goldfish).


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## burninrubber390

question how many piranhas did you have totally in the tank


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## emc7

fish don't die of old age in lockstep. Like us, some age faster than others. Either the water is bad (or has changed) or they caught a disease from the feeders. Look closely for symptoms and check fish disease sites.


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## funlad3

Just an observation, one of the fish looks very skinny from the back. Parasites? Or would they still be eating...


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## luvdux

I only had 3 in the tank. I got them all at the same time when they were still spotted babies. They are pretty skinny but I can't get them to eat anything.

Ok these are all the symptoms I notice. I just looked at some disease sites but I can't find one that fits. I saw some that match one symptom or another but they all said different treatments and I'm not sure what to do.

Weight loss
Appetite loss
Staying at the bottom of the tank
Heavy breathing
Not staying upright(sometimes tilted)
Loss of red coloring in their bellies
Not very active

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Any ideas on any meds I can give them?


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## Mr. fish

Have you tested your water? If yes, please post us your results.


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## luvdux

I only had ammonia test strips. It was .25ppm. My mom, whose house the fish are at, was worried about them not eating and got some feeders thinking they might eat the goldfish. I went there two days later and noticed alot of feeders were dead and not eaten. So I went ahead and did a full water change. I took everything out of the tank, cleaned it, put a new filter in, and put everything back in(minus the rocks this time). I know your not supposed to do to full water changes but since I moved an hour away and was only going to be at my moms for a day I thought it would be best. I can't count on her remembering/ or being willing to do water changes. 

Alot of sites that describe fish diseases seem to point toward internal parasites. Could I treat them for this even though they might not have them? Would it hurt the fish to give them the medicine anyway? If not, what could I give them?


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## TheOldSalt

Some people think that treating fish for something they might not have is a very bad thing, but it isn't. In fact, assuming that all new fish have every disease imaginable and treating them accordingly is the secret to long term success.
Anyway, you could try treating for internal worms and flukes, but I'm not sure how much it would help. It wouldn't hurt, at least.
I'm guessing that this problem started after you left home, yes? It looks to me like your mom isn't doing something quite right in your absence. They look half starved. However, you say they were eating fine until a week ago? What happened a week ago? They might have been poisoned. Did your mom decide to do a little spring cleaning last week? In any case, they will be in real trouble next week since you went and changed/cleaned everything. You tank is like new again, and that' a bad thing. Before you leave, go to the pet store and get some Tetra SafeStart. That will help keep them alive.
That total water change of course led to some suffocation, since raw water isn't yet ready for use even after dechlorinating. They might still be dazed from that, but it will wear off.


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## Mr. fish

My personal opinion, I'm leaning towards ammonia poisoning.

You have 3 piranhas in a 30 gallon tank when they shouldn't be in anything smaller than 55 gallons. It may have worked when they were younger. But, now they are much larger and the bioload has doubled if not tripled. So in less you are doing water changes once a week chances are its the water quality.

Doing that 100 percent water change and cleaning out the filter was not a good idea, in fact you probably made it worse. Like TOS said, go pick yourself up some Tetra Safe start this will help calm things down.

I would still treat for parasites anyways to be on the safe side, no, it wont hurt them. Just don't overdose.


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## burninrubber390

yea i have to agree with mr. fish 3 piranhas in a 30 gallon is slightly over crowded imo i would say no smaller then a 60gal because 20gal per adult fish works very well


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