# Help! White Fuzz On My Piranhas! :(



## JackeeFitz

Looking for advice... We have 2 red belly piranhas in a 55 gal tank. They are about 2 yrs old. Never had any issues with the fish or the tank before. We had a power outage for about 26 hours due to Hurricane Sandy and thought the tank would be fine. However, when the power came back yesterday we noticed something was wrong with both piranhas. One has a white-ish fuzzy spot on his side. It's about the size of a penny. The other has a similar white fuzz on his eyes. The one with the fuzzy eyes has been swimming constantly and keeps bumping into the walls, etc. We are worried that he is going to tire himself out. The other one (with the spot on his body) seems to be pretty mellow. I think he's in better shape, but I don't really know.

Last night, we went to PetCo (didn't have time to get to the specialty aquatic shop) and told them about our issue. They gave us PimaFix. We added some to the tank last night. We got power back so we started up the filters, removed the carbon part, and turned up the temperature. We thought we might see some improvement today, but the one with the fuzzy eyes now has fuzz on his mouth as well.

We are worried sick about these guys. Has anyone experienced a problem like this before? Anyone have any other advice? Has anyone been able to bring their rbps back from something like this?


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## memento

Sounds like fungus.
What were your water parameters after the powerfail ?

Try a 50% waterchange as soon as possible, to make sure the params are better.
And the fungus, see if you can get Maracyn.
Used for most kinds of fungus.

Also, if your filter have been down for 26 hours, your beneficial bacteria may all be dead.
So keep an eye on your paramters for the next weeks, because you may get a new cycle process.


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## JackeeFitz

memento said:


> Sounds like fungus.
> What were your water parameters after the powerfail ?
> 
> Try a 50% waterchange as soon as possible, to make sure the params are better.
> And the fungus, see if you can get Maracyn.
> Used for most kinds of fungus.
> 
> Also, if your filter have been down for 26 hours, your beneficial bacteria may all be dead.
> So keep an eye on your paramters for the next weeks, because you may get a new cycle process.


Thanks for replying. Not sure what the parameters are at this time. I'm not at home at the moment. Do you think the PimaFix will work for the fungus or no? Do you think our piranhas will recover?


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## memento

Just start with making sure your water is fine.
So measure it asap, and if needed do a large wc to lower ammonia and nitrites.
That's really the first thing to do, for if the water is not good, no medication will help at all.

The PimaFix may be good, try combining it with MelaFix for best results.

But again, start with making sure your waterparameters are fine.

And keep testing the water for the next few weeks, for without the beneficial bacteria your tank will re-cycle.
So keep a close eye for a rise of ammonia.


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## JackeeFitz

Thanks! We will try that.. Keep your fingers crossed for us, please! We really love these little guys and want them to pull through.


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