# Just had the biggest loss in my piranha keeping history!



## Fordfanatic (Feb 2, 2006)

Well unfortunetly it is too late for the 10' diamond rhom.







But I need anwsers. I drove up to NJ from MD yesterday and picked up the piranha superbee had posted for several weeks. We the fish and I made the three hour ride home. The fish was in a 10 gal rubbermade. I double checked my water params in my 125 and everything looked good, 0 ammo, 0 nitrite and about 10ppm nitrate. I netted out the manueli that has been in there for a week doing well. Before the manueli I had 7 caribe living in there for months with no problem. I left the rhom in the rubbermade and used a solo cup to put a cup of my tank water every 5-10 minutes or so for about 45 minutes to acclimate him. I netted him with no problems and placed him into tank. He was not breathing heavy or anything. He was actually swimming around and looking really good! I come down to the tank this moring and there he is freaking dead!! I don't know what happened. I checked the water again and it is the same. I would really like for someone to help me out here and tell me what may have happened. Thanks


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA (Dec 8, 2003)

Thats a rough one man I dont know what happened but sorry that really sucks and the best way to acclimate is to use airline tubing with a controler to adjust the amount of water going to the fish and run it that way for 5 or 6 hours to slowly adjust him to you water.


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## Fordfanatic (Feb 2, 2006)

Yeah this is the only problem I see also. I done it this way several times with no problems, but none of the fish have been this big either.


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## cobrafox46 (Jun 2, 2008)

The only fish I have ever acclimated via water drip were my snakeheads cause they are so vulnerable to changes. I just do the same thing you did with every other fish, dump a few cups of water in with a cup and throw the fish in the tank(sometimes not even that!) I really do not see that being an issue unless your water has a completely different hardness and PH. Your temp and everything is OK? I would ask Superbee to test his PH and see how far off it is from yours. Sorry for your loss.


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## skylute3 (Nov 30, 2007)

Damn that sux bro, if I lost my dia. Rhom. Id flip.
Sorry to hear u made a trip for him n lost him. That
Was my fear too, I just drove 9 hrs round trip for my new
2 piraya. When I got home, I had to just dump them in my 180,
Which had only been cycling for over a week. I was worried too, but
They r doin great, with my others as well. Guess sh*t happens...sorry tho
Hope u sumhow come up after ur extreme loss.


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

Damn man.
That's terrible, I have moved several fish with up to 6 hours in rubbermade containers with no problems.
I generally take about 2-3 hours to acclimate them. I am guessing there must have been some large differences in water parameters?


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

DAMN!
Another one of those mysteries..It would imagine there must have been something really different from your water and Sbees...Who knows.
Sorry for the loss man.


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## Fordfanatic (Feb 2, 2006)

My water temp is about 75 right now and ph is bottom of the chart 6.0ish.


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

Hey Fordfanatic,
god bless you my friend...Listen, don't be too hard on yourself...I would be willing to bet all the money I've ever earned and won, that the reason he died was just stress!...It didn't have anything to do with the acclimation process...you got to remember, Superbee only had him for a few months, he got the diamond rhom from someone else...so if you stop and think about it, that literally means that within a 4-5 month period that poor fish has lived in three different tanks!...the previous owner, superbee's and yours...I think that it was just too much stress for him...anyhow, that is my humbled opinion...Take care and talk to you soon!


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## superbee (Sep 15, 2008)

Da said:


> Hey Fordfanatic,
> god bless you my friend...Listen, don't be too hard on yourself...I would be willing to bet all the money I've ever earned and won, that the reason he died was just stress!...It didn't have anything to do with the acclimation process...you got to remember, Superbee only had him for a few months, he got the diamond rhom from someone else...so if you stop and think about it, that literally means that within a 4-5 month period that poor fish has lived in three different tanks!...the previous owner, superbee's and yours...I think that it was just too much stress for him...anyhow, that is my humbled opinion...Take care and talk to you soon!


I think stress also, but i had this fish since jan of 09. He was happy and healthy was a beautiful example of a diamond rhom...My water was always spot on, i really dont think he would have grown as much as he did if it wasnt..Weekly water changes, excellent diet!

It truely sucks that this happened, and it is a big loss. Fordfanatic and i both have kept fish for years so i dont see a problem on either of our ends...


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## james79 (Sep 11, 2009)

thats a shame mate not nice to lose a fish


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

cobrafox46 said:


> The only fish I have ever acclimated via water drip were my snakeheads cause they are so vulnerable to changes. I just do the same thing you did with every other fish, dump a few cups of water in with a cup and throw the fish in the tank(sometimes not even that!) I really do not see that being an issue unless *your water has a completely different hardness and PH. Your temp and everything is OK? I would ask Superbee to test his PH and see how far off it is from yours*. Sorry for your loss.


sorry for your loss,







but like cobrafox said this might be the issue, as well as carbonate hardness.


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

I think stress also, but i had this fish since jan of 09. He was happy and healthy was a beautiful example of a diamond rhom...My water was always spot on, i really dont think he would have grown as much as he did if it wasnt..Weekly water changes, excellent diet!

It truely sucks that this happened, and it is a big loss. Fordfanatic and i both have kept fish for years so i dont see a problem on either of our ends...
[/quote]

Hey Superbee,
I've also kept piranhas for over 25+ years and I am 100% certain that stress was the main factor...It doesn't have anything to do with you or fordfanatic, he was obviously a healthy fish but as you are well aware it doesn't take much for piranha (both rhoms and pygo's alike) to get spooked rather easily and go spaz...Like I said, just the fact that he lived in three different tanks in a short period of time is enough to cause him to be stressed out regardless of pristine water conditions and water parameters...Unfortunately, in our hobby this happens all too often..Just the mercurial nature and behavior of piranhas alone make it very difficult to explain why these mysterious fish get lost besides gross neglience...Anyhow, take care man!


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Stress seems like an easy answer but a 10" fish should be pretty hardy as compared to stressing out a guppy. Plus, I don't think stress alone can necessarily cause death. Stress is a major contributor to future problems but I don't think that stress is the root cause to the fish's death. Are you sure something else in the tank didn't go wrong? Any possibility of getting spooked over night and smashing the glass? Any possibility of some foreign contaminate getting into the tank? Was the heater on and in working condition (did it break)?

Are there any other fish in that tank now? Try throwing something in there that you wouldn't mind losing and see what happens........


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## Guest (Oct 13, 2009)

I am sorry for your loss. My questions are what was the tank temp. in the rubbermaid bucket, was the water heated in the bucket throughout acclimation and was the water the same temp in the bucket as the tank when the fish was released? Personally I find 75 degrees to be way to cold.


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## cobrafox46 (Jun 2, 2008)

I do not see temperature being an issue.........I have switched fish from tanks probably 10+ times this past year and the temp was always off 5+ degrees or more. I took minnows from 40 degree water last week and put them in my Mac tank at 85 degrees. They float around a little like they are going to die for a few minutes but every one of them came back and were fine. I still think a difference in hardness or PH.


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## Fordfanatic (Feb 2, 2006)

I agree temp should not have been the issue either. The fish was calm afeter I put him in I turned out the lights and went to bed. It did not appear that he trashed though out the night.


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## Guest (Oct 16, 2009)

A variance in temp. will cause a fish to go into shock and depending on the difference can result in death, there is no thrashing, the fish will appear calm and quiet.


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## the REASON (Jun 18, 2006)

.


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

NJKILLSYOU said:


> ...Just go look at the black diamond rhom that I sold to Fordfanatic for reference...I've had him since he was dime size for over 5 and a half years and grew him out to his current 9 inch size...


so what the hell is going on here? and dont say you sold the fish to superbee and he sold it to ford, im not buyin it.
[/quote]

Like I said in the other thread, you obviously have a difficult time reading and comprehending posts, in addition to following threads properly...So I will try to make this as easy as possible so that even a simple moron like yourself can understand..and please, for god's sake, try to follow this time...first of all, That was superbee's BLUE DIAMOND RHOM that died on Fordfanatic, not mine...understand?!!..the fish died on him overnight...secondly, I asked fordfanatic if he would be interested in my BLACK DIAMOND RHOM that I grew out to 9 inches since he was dime size...So I sold him my fish and luckily the BDR is doing great which Fordfanatic posted on his "I got a new rhom" thread on the list your piranhas section...now do you understand?!


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## the REASON (Jun 18, 2006)

I wasn't going to respond but since you called me an idiot, and now a moron, ill explain how I saw the situation.

The way you jumped into this thread stating you knew the exact reason the fish had died and were completely certain without knowing any other factors, seemed fishy. (No pun intended)

You were probably right, but it seemed odd. Then when superbee posted, your reply made it seem as if you and him were the same person and you were covering your tracks. Especially since it was your first or second post.

I was unaware of the transaction between you and fordfanatic after, that was nice of you.

So I apologize for misunderstanding and jumping to a conclusion. The whole situation just seemed off to me, since I am a simple minded idiot moron.


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

NJKILLSYOU said:


> I wasn't going to respond but since you called me an idiot, and now a moron, ill explain how I saw the situation.
> 
> The way you jumped into this thread stating you knew the exact reason the fish had died and were completely certain without knowing any other factors, seemed fishy. (No pun intended)
> 
> ...


NJKillsyou,
I just gained a lot of respect for you...It took some major stones to own up and apologize!...I gladly accept!...first of all, I'm not one to hold any grudges...that's not my style...Secondly, had you taken that approach the first time you responded none of this verbal sparring would have happened..all you had to do was just ask if you were confused about something!....but instead you came on strong and attacked me for no good reason...anyhow, Jesus loves you man and I forgive you...It's all good!...nothing like a little fracas to clear up the sinuses!!...Later, bro and take it easy!


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

Well , the only thing that can be done is throw in some shitty fish and see if it dies.


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## Fordfanatic (Feb 2, 2006)

Yea, I have had my approx. 25 african chiclids living in there with no prob for about a month now.


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