# Baby Piranha Got Bit!



## jst2961 (Oct 4, 2010)

This is my first time posting... looking for help. I searched the forums but couldn't find anything like this. I have three red bellys that are about 2-3 months old. I looked in the tank to see the smallest of the three had a bite size chunk taken out of his belly. I left him with the rest of the fish for a few days, hoping he would get better, but now it seems like he wont eat and he seems to be swimming sideways/struggling. I decided to separate him right now, but because I only have one tank, I was forced to put him into a pot (with the water from the tank) which isn't very big. Do you think I should keep him separated and let him heal, or just let nature take its course and let him try his luck with the rest of them? I will post a picture, but I wasn't able to get that good of an angle, but if you look closely towards the rear side of his belly next to his finn, you can see the chunk that was taken out. It also looks as if his entire bottom finn is gone. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I don't want my piranha to die! This one is my favorite one! Thanks, JT.


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2010)

Unfortunately these things happen. Placing him in a pot isnt going to work either because you cant place a heater in that pot to keep the temp. stable and you have no form of filtration or aeration. I would place him back in the tank and let nature take its course. What size tank do you have them in? I would keep up on 25-50% water changes weekly and add some aquarium salt to help him heal.


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Well you could put him back in n take the chances.(swimming sideways isn't a good sign).light defuser is a cheap tank divider. If your wanting to try n heal him. Bump temp up to 80-82, add salt if you haven't already n probably some kind of antibiotic med. IMO anything below 5 is asking for trouble, not many to spread aggression out between.but you just never know you can just as Easy lose one with 3 as you can 5 or 10. Its the nature of our beasts. GL with whatever you decide.keep us posted


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## marco (Jan 2, 2003)

a couple years ago Aaronic on this site had a piraya like that.... same bite, . it healed but his a-hole looked like it had a dent inside it, unfortunatly.

try to keep him seperated untill the flesh heals. it shouldnt take that long. if you put him back now then you will lose him .


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## PiranhaMike661 (Jul 9, 2010)

IMO you should definitely get him out of that pot. BRUNER suggested a cheap tank divider which would keep him separated from your other P's. As the others suggested, definitely raise you temp and dose with aquarium salt. Good luck and post some updates.


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## jst2961 (Oct 4, 2010)

I put him back in and added some Melafix... dunno if it will work or not, as everyone seems to have their own opinion on the stuff. Tomorrow I'm going out to buy a bigger tank (30 gallons) which will be a significant bump up from the 10 gallon tank they are all in right now. I just found out this is WAY too small to keep these guys in, so I'm going to upgrade their living situation. What do you guys think of putting the other two P's in the bigger tank, while I leave the injured one behind in the 10 gallon to heal with the Melafix? Thanks for all the responses!


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## PiranhaMike661 (Jul 9, 2010)

I think it sounds like a temporary fix bro, you should definitely look for some 60 gallons+ for three P's. They're just gonna take each other out until you're down to one, but it'll work for now (hopefully). Make sure when you setup that 30 gallon, use water from that smaller tank to get you cycle going. Are you using a new filter for that 30 gallon? If so, what type? Did you up your temp?


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## jst2961 (Oct 4, 2010)

I upped my temp, its at about 80 right now. I know I should have a bigger tank, but right now I'm in an apartment that technically doesn't allow pets, not even fish... so I'm trying to keep it somewhat low key. I've been doing a lot of research on the healing process of these piranha bites, and from what I've found is that they will heal pretty normally, assuming the other piranhas don't eat them up during this healing time. I don't know much about the new tank yet, I just found it on craigslist and I'm going to pick it up tomorrow. The filter I'm currently using is a Tetra with medium carbon filters, and just a cheap 15-20 dollar heater I found at the store. I would like to upgrade to better equipment, I just don't really know too much on the subject. The piranhas were at first just a spontaneous buy and didn't know what would come of them, but then I fell in love with the fish. After doing all this research and reading up on these forums, I realize I need to provide better living conditions for them, which I intend on doing as soon as I figure out exactly what I need to buy. As for now, I don't think I'm going to go bigger than a 30 gallon, so I'm going to hope it will do for the time being.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Either get another tank, readd him to the old tank or divide the old tank with eggcrate depending on how big the tank is (eggcrate is liek 10$ at homedepot and a single sheet can make a couple dividers for large tanks (I made 2 dividers for my 125g)


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## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

I wouldn't up the temp, I had a nipping problem while mine where growing up and I just lowered the temp to 76 and they all stopped with the nipping.

And like everyone is saying you'll need something bigger, they'll be doomed in a 30g.... go bigger 70-90 at least for 3 p's A lay down 90g would be the best size I'd say.


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## Piranha feeder (Jun 15, 2010)

ksls said:


> Unfortunately these things happen. Placing him in a pot isnt going to work either because you cant place a heater in that pot to keep the temp. stable and you have no form of filtration or aeration. I would place him back in the tank and let nature take its course. What size tank do you have them in? I would keep up on 25-50% water changes weekly and add some aquarium salt to help him heal.


Hey I have the same problem!! I put my six 2" RBP's into a 5g bucket to do some stuff in the tank came back 20 min later and one had a mouthful bite ripped out of his back!! I immediately put them all back into the aquarium which is 55 gal and checked up on them. They don't seem to be aggressive towrds each other. He's been the same for 3 days now. And I just looked up this post about bites. And would really like some advise. I read that salt and higher water temps r suppose to help so my question is this.... Wouldn't higher temp make them more aggressive?? And how much salt would I need for my 55gal and what kind? Meaning a substitue for actual aquarium salt. (regular food salt??) any advise would be appreciated!


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

Piranha feeder said:


> Unfortunately these things happen. Placing him in a pot isnt going to work either because you cant place a heater in that pot to keep the temp. stable and you have no form of filtration or aeration. I would place him back in the tank and let nature take its course. What size tank do you have them in? I would keep up on 25-50% water changes weekly and add some aquarium salt to help him heal.


Hey I have the same problem!! I put my six 2" RBP's into a 5g bucket to do some stuff in the tank came back 20 min later and one had a mouthful bite ripped out of his back!! I immediately put them all back into the aquarium which is 55 gal and checked up on them. They don't seem to be aggressive towrds each other. He's been the same for 3 days now. And I just looked up this post about bites. And would really like some advise. I read that salt and higher water temps r suppose to help so my question is this.... Wouldn't higher temp make them more aggressive?? And how much salt would I need for my 55gal and what kind? Meaning a substitue for actual aquarium salt. (regular food salt??) any advise would be appreciated!
[/quote]

taking the fish out of the tank is normally not required. further never all 6 in a 5 gallon bucket.

You need to upgrade your tank. i would look into a 50 gallon wide (36x18). you can have that size tank in an apartment easily without anyone knowing. Hell i know guys in university residences that have 75 gallon tanks...


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## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

Piranha feeder said:


> Look at this guy coming into the forums in his first topic and jumping Inflade's sh1t.
> 
> WOW. Good luck getting anyone else to help you.


Hey fàgut! No one asked ur input so close ur ugly trap and continue humping ur dog!
[/quote]

The tank infalde suggested is better then a 55g.... So don't flame him. You just make yourself look like an idiot.

Any updates on the littleguy?


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