# my piranha swims sideways and rubs the gravel



## slipx888 (Nov 19, 2003)

how can i cure this? it looks irritating so i want it to stop. or is this ok? they are 2-3 inches and they were intoduced to my tank yesterday


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## slipx888 (Nov 19, 2003)

mr harley will they live? lol?


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## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

THis may be a dumb question but did you cycle your tank ..and if you did what did you use??


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## slipx888 (Nov 19, 2003)

yes and i used my old water from my last tank, i put my pleco in it to create poop/ammonia and i tested the levels and saw the ammonia go up then the nitrate go up and both go down


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## slipx888 (Nov 19, 2003)

wuts wrong withem


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## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

slipx888 said:


> yes and i used my old water from my last tank, i put my pleco in it to create poop/ammonia and i tested the levels and saw the ammonia go up then the nitrate go up and both go down


 How much water ...and was your last tank cycled...what did you use and how do you know it was??


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## str8up (Sep 20, 2003)

nothing maybe wrong at all.....
Check list:
1) temperature between 78 and 82 f
2) tank was cycled
3) Other fish in tank are ok or not
4) Filteration working properly

Give them a couple of hours...hopefully nothing is wrong...maybe they are adjusting to their new environment?
Any more details would help to explain this as well....any ideas?....


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## slipx888 (Nov 19, 2003)

tanks clean umm temps fine ph good ammonia good nitrate good waters clear everything is fine but isnt there a disease that causes p's to itch? i hope its not that! o god i hope its not


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## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

slipx888 said:


> tanks clean umm temps fine ph good ammonia good nitrate good waters clear everything is fine but isnt there a disease that causes p's to itch? i hope its not that! o god i hope its not


 Dosent sound like anything .....give them time...


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## InIndiana (Nov 6, 2003)

Relax its not life threatening even if it is a disease. If you used all the water from your 29G into your 75, thats only 1/3 or so of the water in the 75g.. How long did you have the 75g cycling for ? did you add biospira or anything


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## slipx888 (Nov 19, 2003)

yes bio-spera and ummm it was cycling for like 2-3 weeks


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## mrwilson99 (Jul 12, 2003)

Calcium and chlorine did that to my friend's rhoms.


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## dudelo560 (Oct 30, 2003)

Nothing not normal...my red bellie did it when he was new too....i woulda left the tank cycling for alittle longer tho....nothing should be wrong tho


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## sharpk (Nov 4, 2003)

one of my cichlids that use to have did that.. nothin was wrong with him..


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## captinmo187 (Oct 19, 2003)

u have nothing to worry about my friend my high bak did that for about a week in his tank, i had him in a 30g with a bunch of decor, what i did was got him an active tank buddy/buddys i had 2 oscars in there and a peleco, he seem to be leaving the gravel and swimmin a bit more, but still did the same, so i took out all the decor and left just the gravel. then he did nothin but swim with the light off that is, and now i hav him in my 55g with my caribe, hes about 2" and my caribe are about 3.5-4" but he has joined the pack and swimmin all the time, and eats like a pig. so just try out something like what i did, or whatever u can think of, he will eventually stop.


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## captinmo187 (Oct 19, 2003)

and good luck


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

iv noticed one of my five starting to do that, im in a similar situation about the new tank thing.


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## rbp3rbp3 (Sep 8, 2003)

There doing it from stress i call it powting because they are stressed. Just give it a week they need to adapt to there surroundings.


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## Reich (Oct 1, 2003)

nothing to worry about... theyr only establishing teritorries...


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## DiXoN (Jan 31, 2003)

slipx888 said:


> yes and i used my old water from my last tank, i put my pleco in it to create poop/ammonia and i tested the levels and saw the ammonia go up then the nitrate go up and both go down


 did you only use your water from your last tank and nothing else.
you should have used the filter aswell and kept it in water from the tank using the original gravel and keeping that in the tank water would help but the filter is the most important as the majority of the bacteria live in it.
if the paramaters are fine (i would check them constantly for quite a while) then they may be adjusting to your new water and the enviroment but i do think the tank needs to be cycled properly.
whenever i change tanks or do major maintenance i always keep the filter full of tanks water and all the gravel in buckets with tank water and a much water from the tank i can hold even if i have to go and buy new buckets or scrounge for them.
good luck
dixon


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

They are not doing this because of stress (leaning sideways, maybe...). Nor are they doing this to establish territory (they will bounce off eachother, not off the gravel). If your fish are rubbing on the gravel sideways, there is something irritating them. This can be in the form of ammonia/nitrite, parasites, fluctuating pH, or just an itch (depending on how aggressively they are "flashing"). With answers like pH good, ammonia good, water clear (clarity is not a good indication of water quality) it's hard to find the cause of your problem. To isolate the problem, we need to know what "good" is. If all parameters check out, it can be parasites if your p's are constantly rubbing against objects.








to disease/injury


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