# will my piranha survive ?? >> photos <<



## chris79 (Aug 28, 2005)

I noticed one of my 3 red bellies (approx 5 months old) was looking a bit sick, he was sorta stuck to the filter intake.. I prodded him and he swam off slowly, not the normal fast escape associated with the skittish nature of these fish...

later in the day I came back to find him lying upside down with some nasty bites.. after prodding him he started to swim off round the tank, but in a sorta drunken state ...










On closer inspection you can see he's been bitten badly whilst he's been sick...










Knowing he will get eaten i've made a home made sling to suspend him in the current of the power head to get him breathing.. he isn't moving much but he's breathing and his eyes are moving.. what's likely to happen? Is he gonna die? ... I noticed round his head he seems to have gone a darker colour than the rest of my fish...










I tested my water params and the nitrite (the lesser toxic one) was quite high with a count near 100-120 or so, i've done a 1/3rd water change today.. but if the water was bad surely it would affect all fish, not just one... i've noticed that lately they've been fighting a bit more than normal, is it possible he just got stressed out and decided to give up? can't explain it


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## t_rent8 (Dec 15, 2005)

it might be better to put him in a hospital tank cause the others might peck at him cause he is now weaker than the rest


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## Oscar5001 (Sep 22, 2005)

Yeah, if you haven't already you need to get him in his own tank or divide the one he's currently in so he is away from the others. The injury dosen't look fatal to me, but the way you have him in the sling is going to make him an easy target for the other ones. The darker coloration is likley due to stress. As far as your water readings, I think you mean nitrAte and not nitrIte. 100-120 mg/l is a bit high. Did you test it again after you did your water change?


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## Northstar (Jun 19, 2003)

I would put him in a hospital tank asap......Keep us posted.


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## DucatiRave21 (May 27, 2005)

def sep him in a QT tank. im not too sure about that sling either. is it plastic??


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## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Get him out of that bag man, he will heal dont worry


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## chris79 (Aug 28, 2005)

when he's out the bag he's just floating upside down or on side ... the bag is stopping the others attacking him, i dont have a hospital tank for him and i dont have a divider either







... this is the best i can do, its thin plastic... he's still moving his eyes around and breathing quite heavy.. i hope he recovers


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## patriotsfan (Sep 6, 2005)

you have to do something besides that plastic bag


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## chris79 (Aug 28, 2005)

the front of the bag is cut away round his face so he can breathe properly.. he seems quite content for now, maybe if he starts moving and trying to get away etc i'll release him and monitor him but i dunno how i can seperate him without another tank etc


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## DucatiRave21 (May 27, 2005)

dude just go to walmart and pick up a 10gal tank for like $8. anything is better than the bag or in the same tank with the other Ps


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## chris79 (Aug 28, 2005)

yeh but then i'll have to cycle the new tank etc etc ... its not practicle.


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## DucatiRave21 (May 27, 2005)

what i would do is take water from the old tank and add it to the 10. instead of throwing it away during a water change


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## chris79 (Aug 28, 2005)

i've got another 10 gallon tank upstairs which i've got tetras in and some other fish.. i wonder if he would be ok to go in that for now.. i dont want him to eat the tetras though...


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## DucatiRave21 (May 27, 2005)

yea he might. even a rubbermaid will do! add some melafix as well. cna help withthe open wound


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## Oscar5001 (Sep 22, 2005)

Go to wal-mart and in the crafts section you will find "plastic canvas" measure the tank height and width and find out how much you need. Its like 2 bux a sheet. In the same department you can buy mini suction cups. You can cut the canvas to the correct height and about 2" over for width. Then cut small holes on the side and wedge in the suction cups. These are the only dividers I have ever used. The only casualty I had was when I left the water level higher than the divider. Its cheap, and nothing will get throught it.


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## Onion (Sep 20, 2005)

Why dont you build a temporary divider? Be creative







And add some salt to 
(with out iodine) it will speed the healing.


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## Jeffers (Dec 5, 2005)

That sucks man, keep us posted, I really hope he will be ok.


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

chris79 said:


> i've got another 10 gallon tank upstairs which i've got tetras in and some other fish.. i wonder if he would be ok to go in that for now.. i dont want him to eat the tetras though...


Hard choice isn't it.. Tetras, or precious RB.

Honestly, I dont think your RB would even be in a state to try and kill off your Tetras. But then if he does, the better. Sounds cruel, but it would show he's still in his aggressive state, which show's he still has some fight in him to survive. Since he's in that tank alone, it would definately help to NOT turn on the lights, do salt treatment, and water changes (after each treatment). You'd want him to stay stress free as much as possible to hopefully not develope any fin rott and/or bacterias from his recent injuries.

Good Luck and keep us posted.


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## Ashfury (Oct 3, 2004)

get some salt in the tnk and hell be fine trust mei got alot of xp with ps


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

Well if he is still alive by this time he will be fine....

I recomend going to lowes or home depot, and buying light difusers, the egg crate stuff made of plastic, you will find it in the same aisle as Georgia pacific ceiling tiles, this and some zip ties can be made into a divider to keep him in the same tank....

Looks just like one of the tankmates bit him...

As far as putting him in another tank, you dont need to if you use the diveder method I talked about.....Honestly man, that bag "sling" thing doesnt look to good, good effort though..

IN the hospital tank, just adding water from the main tank *WILL NOT* be good, the bacteria is stored in media not water..

I reccomend buying a sponge filter and storing the sponge in one of your filters, if you ever need to set up a hospital tank, you have a sponge cycled, or attach a mini hang on to one of your tanks and always have a cycled hang on ready..

For your water conditions is it your Nitrite or nitrate that is high????I would also check ammonia and ph, all 4 readings to see if your water is good or not......

Will move this to injury forum....


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## chris79 (Aug 28, 2005)

well I went to bed last night and he was breathing real heavy, his mouth was quite wide open whilst he was breathing, it didnt look good.. not much movement in the body etc...

woke up today went to check on him and he's dead.. no movement, nothing. I Dont think there was anything I could do for him, I dunno why he freaked out and ended up dying, my other 2 reds are fine, swimming around, eating, blah blah.. i've done a partial water change yesterday too.. but I guess maybe he either had something wrong with him, or the others bullied him too much and caused stress.. I noticed around his face and gills he seemed to go a darker colour than the other two, maybe an indiciation something was wrong..

just hope my other two are ok and its nothing wrong with the tank/water etc...


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## Oscar5001 (Sep 22, 2005)

Sorry man. At least you did what you could to help him.


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## 86_Monte_SS (Nov 25, 2005)

if you put him in a hospital tank alone and unstressed he would have lived that wound is not fatal, he probably was extremely stressed becuase of that stupid bag, poor fish suffered till his death.

RIP lil buddy


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## joey'd (Oct 26, 2005)

sorry to hear he passed dude, when i had a sick fish i ...hmm hmm... cleared away my 10 gal and made it a hospital tank within 10 mins of realizing what was going on. next time just do that and syphon out the water from the big tank. hope the other 2 do well


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## PiranhaKeeper (Dec 3, 2005)

86_Monte_SS said:


> if you put him in a hospital tank alone and unstressed he would have lived that wound is not fatal, he probably was extremely stressed becuase of that stupid bag, poor fish suffered till his death.
> 
> RIP lil buddy


Im sorry, though I have to second that. The bag was a death trap.

Besides being EXTREMLY stressful the ammonia buildup in that bag would kill him or cause gill burn. If he was put in a hospital tank which you could have simply filled with water out of the current setup he would be alive most likley. Though we all make mistakes.


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## Piranha King (Nov 28, 2002)

first off sorry about your fish. second a healthy fish in a bag like that would probably kill him, it had to be stressful. but he was already messed up before he was bit so i think he would have died anyway.
wes


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## PimpDaShizzle (Sep 8, 2005)

A fish in a plastic bag.... to make him feel better....

Seriously. I feel bad for the fish but you need to know this: You're an idiot.


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

PimpDaShizzle said:


> A fish in a plastic bag.... to make him feel better....
> 
> Seriously. I feel bad for the fish but you need to know this: You're an idiot.


People make mistakes. He was genuine about taking care of his red. Dont be an asshole and flame the guy


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## PimpDaShizzle (Sep 8, 2005)

Ex0dus said:


> A fish in a plastic bag.... to make him feel better....
> 
> Seriously. I feel bad for the fish but you need to know this: You're an idiot.


People make mistakes. He was genuine about taking care of his red. Dont be an asshole and flame the guy















[/quote]
You're freakin right. Atleast there was an attempt. Can I just say that next time you might want to take advice when everyone you're talking to is agreeing? I'm talking about everyone saying "take it out of the bag." But, past is past or something like that. Good luck with your next fish.


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