# Please HELP! Piranha trouble



## duffman000ya (Oct 20, 2004)

I have a red bellied piranha and he's REALLY skinny, it's like unnatrually skinny and I was feeding him last night and he swims really slow and doesn't really want to eat. Any suggestions as to what may be causing this? He looks aneroxic and this came about probably in the last week or so. Thanks in advance.


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## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

Can you post your aquariums water's parameters and size of tank? It would help to know pH, KH, ammonia, nitrItes in helping you out. Sorry about your fish but this info will help diagnose what's happening.


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## duffman000ya (Oct 20, 2004)

I'm not heavily into fish but it's a 55 gallon tank, pH is about 7, temp is 75ish and I don't know how to measure ammonia or nitrates, sorry. I did do a 15% water change about a week ago, about a few days after I fed him and I think that may have something to do with it (but I do that almost every week so...). I appreciate all the help you can give me.


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## killerbee (Aug 18, 2004)

up your tempature to about 80 degrees. also go to your local fish store (petsmart,petco, ect.) ask someone to help you look for a water testing kit. I bought mine from my lfs and didn't know how to test water either, but instructions are easy to follow.

make sure you have a kit that tests nitrates, nitrites, ph, amonia, gh, kh. btw in the kit it will give you suggestions on how to fix a problem if the parameter is out of wack...hope that helps u


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

He became emaciated in a week? How often do you feed your fish? Normally, a healthy and well fed piranha can last well over a week without showing signs of losing much weight. Does he have long stringy white poop?


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## duffman000ya (Oct 20, 2004)

Sorry I couldn't reply sooner, I had to goto work. I stopped by a Petco on my way to work with some water and they performed a test for me. Initially the only thing they found was that the water was on the hard side so they took another test that is more accurate for the hardness/softness of the water and changed it to "ok." The guy in the pet store was puzzled because he has a black piranha and never heard of such a thing. Before I got my fish (had him for almost a year) he was fed once a month and I kept that routine for a while. Recently (about the last 4 months) he's been fed every 3 weeks, 2 weeks and now it's down to once a week. I just feel terrible for the poor guy, he's so skinny it looks as if it's a skeleton with scales







Any suggestions about curing common diseases because the guy at Petco suggested that he caught something from the last time I fed him (which is about the time he's been looking/acting like this. I hate to poke him but I did it to see how well he swims and he's not as fast as he used to be but he can still swim pretty good, he's just hiding a lot and not trying very hard to eat (a feeder fish was right in front of his mouth and he lunged but only got a part of his face and when the fish swam away, he stayed in the same spot). As always, I appreciate your feedback/suggestions.


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

I don't know how to respond to this... Seriously, is this a joke? A large HEALTHY adult piranha may be able to withstand a prolonged period of fasting, but being fed once a month for 8 months and just recently feeding him once a week??? It has no diseases... YOU ARE STARVING IT!!!

If what you are saying is true, slowly increase the feeding to twice a week but never put any more than it can eat. Remove all uneaten food and keep up with water changes to ensure pristine water quality so it can recover. If it's lucky (or unlucky) it will survive... Sorry if it sounds harsh...


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

DonH said:


> I don't know how to respond to this... Seriously, is this a joke? A large HEALTHY adult piranha may be able to withstand a prolonged period of fasting, but being fed once a month for 8 months and just recently feeding him once a week??? It has no diseases... YOU ARE STARVING IT!!!
> 
> If what you are saying is true, slowly increase the feeding to twice a week but never put any more than it can eat. Remove all uneaten food and keep up with water changes to ensure pristine water quality so it can recover. If it's lucky (or unlucky) it will survive... Sorry if it sounds harsh...


 that is not harsh at all DonH, you are just being honest. FEED THE FISH, but not too fast or it'll make things worse. follow DonH's directions and pray that it works. poor fish







.


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## duffman000ya (Oct 20, 2004)

When I first got him, the previous owner told me to feed him once a month (he's about 4 inches long). After following this forum some months ago, I realized that 1 month was a long time for a fish to be eating so I gradually increased his feeding but with smaller quantities (when he was eating once a month, he had 8-10 medium feeder fish, I reduced it to 5-6 every 3 weeks, then 3-4 every 2 weeks). He was doing on this routine until the last feeding. A few days after he feeds, I always clean the tank and do a water change (to get rid of the waste he produces) and he went right by the filter and stayed there. He's stayed there for a day or two afterwards and now he just stays near the bottom in plain view. I put 10 feeders in there a few days ago because I thought he might be hungry cause he's so skinny but you've heard from me what he does 100 times. Anyways, I just hope he makes it


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