# New Piranha Breathing Heavy



## warlord239 (Aug 12, 2011)

just got a piranha and he looked great at the store but now i got him home and he is breathing heavy and just sitting in the corner...is he just stressed from the ride and new home or should i be worried?

water perams are perfect temp is usually 78-79 and alot of air bubbles from the filter as well a pretty big air wand in the back


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## Guest (Sep 1, 2011)

Hard to say with the limited information you gave. It's most likely just stress as the fish is settling in.

Could you give us more details? Tank size? Filtration? Water parameters (ammonia-nitrite-nitrate)? What type of "Piranha"?


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)

most likely the tank is not fully cycle... "the parameteres are perfect" does not help


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## Da' Manster! (Sep 1, 2009)

Probably stressed out...but heavy breathing also occurs because of lack of oxygen in the water and also very high CO2 levels...What exactly are your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels?


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## warlord239 (Aug 12, 2011)

the tank is cycled its been up for 7 months with fish in it for 6 and a half months, amonia is 0 nitrite is 0 and nitrate is between 5 and 10 ppm

tank size is 60 gallons with 3 red bellies with a aquaclear 110 filter


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## Smoke (Sep 8, 2010)

Turn off the lights if you have it on. It will help ease the stress.


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## liz13 (Jul 25, 2011)

Ya its prolly just the stress, try dropping the temp abit to help him adjust, I found that worked when I found my fish had that problem


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## warlord239 (Aug 12, 2011)

yea i read about the lights causing stress and they havent been on since i added the RB's and i will try dropping temp a bit...thanks


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)

Jist give him soom room and dnt feed yet wait a day or two


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## warlord239 (Aug 12, 2011)

that was gonna be my next question about feeding actually lol i havent fed yet and was gonna wait till tomorow night probably unless informed otherwise


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## liz13 (Jul 25, 2011)

Ya probably b useless, they usually don't come around for atleast a day or two


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Definately just stressed out.

Just leave them be for a couple of days and run the lights in the evening for 4-6hrs till they get used to things.
Try feeding after a couple of days but if they dont eat its normal, just try again every 24hrs until they do. But be sure to remove any uneaten food.

Good luck and enjoy your new reds


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## warlord239 (Aug 12, 2011)

they arent breathing heavy anymore and arent sitting on the bottom of the tank either so i think things r looking up, i will try feeding tonight

also i just put tin foil across the light bar and the lighting is very dull when i tuned the light on it didnt seem to startle them so hopefully this works


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## ScarsandCars (Jul 17, 2011)

I got a piece of tin foil doing that too. My rbps seem less stressed about the light now


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

keep the lights off for a day or two. its probably from acclimation.

stay away from the tank as much as possible. let them be.


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