# i keep losing piranhas



## injection11 (Aug 30, 2007)

hey guys i keep having this problem with my piranhas. some may remember i lost one of my favorites a few months ago, he was in a single tank, his eyes turned all white, his skin started peeling and then he died a day or so later. well i have another tank with 3 reds in it, same thing happened about a month ago to one of the piranhas in that tank, when i saw his eyes all white and he was kinda floating around not swimming, i took him and put him in ice, cause i knew what was gonna happen. well 3 days ago, my gf was over and noticed another ones eyes were whitening, same thing is happening again. today he's dead from the same thing. what kind of disease is this? i will post tank parms later but they're established tanks, and only 1 of them are affected each time it happens. thanks for any info..

by the way i feed sole, or shrimp or other type of fish from the supermarket


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Gonna need them Water params before we can guesstimate what happened :nod:


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## injection11 (Aug 30, 2007)

ok got the parms, slight ammo in there but not enough to kill him..

ph 6.0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
ammo 0.25


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## cobrafox46 (Jun 2, 2008)

How long has your tank been running? It is not cycled I can see since you have no nitrates. How are you cleaning the filters?


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## injection11 (Aug 30, 2007)

tank has been going for at least 5 or 6 months now. i don't mess with the filter media too much, sometimes i just remove it rinse it off and put it back in, last time i changed the media in my one tank it recycled and got an ammonia spike and almost killed my favorite piranha, so i was told i don't have to change media just rinse it sometimes.


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## cobrafox46 (Jun 2, 2008)

I would rinse half of it at a time. What kind of filter are you running, whats the stocklist, and how big is the tank? When was the last time you rinsed the media? Did you rinse it under tap water?


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## Yanfloist (Oct 1, 2007)

what is the temperature of your fish tank??


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

When you do a water change, what percentage of water are you replacing?


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## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

injection11 said:


> tank has been going for at least 5 or 6 months now. i don't mess with the filter media too much, sometimes i just remove it rinse it off and put it back in, last time i changed the media in my one tank it recycled and got an ammonia spike and almost killed my favorite piranha, so i was told i don't have to change media just rinse it sometimes.


By "rinsing the media" do you mean the bio-media? If so what are you rinsing it with? If it's tapwater, you're killing off the bacteria on it, so you tank isn't really cycled. Is your water from the tap treated with clorine or chloramines? If so are you using a declorinator and what kind.


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## injection11 (Aug 30, 2007)

when i rinse it off yes it's tap water, but i don't do it often at all. there was only 2 reds left in a 33 long tank, water temp is 80. water changes i usually do 10 gallons at a time.


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

Is your water city water, and do you treat the water for chlorine?


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## injection11 (Aug 30, 2007)

i have well water, i haven't treated it for chlorine.. no problem with my other tank in about a year though from the same water

i have well water, i haven't treated it for chlorine.. no problem with my other tank in about a year though from the same water


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

It sounds like velvet, or some sort of body fungus.


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## SeedlessOne (Nov 21, 2006)

You dont use anything to take the chlorine out?? You need that and is probably why your fish are going belly up. Also stop washin your media in tap water. You are just killing all the bacteria. Use tank water to wash your media only|


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

If he has well water, there shouldn't be any chlorine. If he has a softener, and uses red out softener salt, that could be the problem right there. Red out pellets have chlorine in them to get rid of the rust.

and that would mean, you need to use some sort of dechlorinator when you do water changes, ect.


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## injection11 (Aug 30, 2007)

yea it's well water, i've never used red out pellets. when i bought these fish a few months ago fro shark aquarium, i don't know why but a lot, and i mean a lot of fish were dying at the store, but i bought them anyways. i feel it's gotta be a disease their eyes turn white, their skin starts peeling, it last about 2 days and they die, everytime. i leave for the air force in july so i guess it's better off i only have 1 fish i have to show soeone how to care for.


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

Unless your tank is very heaviliy planted you should never have 0ppm nitrates. My guess is your tank isn't cycled and you're getting ammonia spikes. The symptoms you're describing are classic ammonia burn. How big a tank? How many/what kind of fish? What king of filtration do you have?


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## injection11 (Aug 30, 2007)

i have an aquaclear 500, 33 gallon long tank, 2 3.5" red bellys left, down to 1 now. 0 plants


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

That's a pretty small tank for 3 P's. It wouldn't take much for it get whacked out from over cleaning, food particles, ect. I think you might need a bigger tank to keep healthy P's my friend.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

You got a picture of this setup just for kicks?


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

injection11 said:


> i have an aquaclear 500, 33 gallon long tank, 2 3.5" red bellys left, down to 1 now. 0 plants


Ok, there's your problem. No plants and no nitrates means your tank isn't cycled. This means one of two things is happening:
1.The ammonia level in your tank is spiking between water changes and killing your fish.
2.The ammonia level in the tank is messing with your fish's immune system, leaving it open to some wierd disease and that's what's killing them.
Which it is really doesn't matter, my guess is once you get your tank cycled it will go away.
Test your water *before* you do a water change. I bet you'll get quite a high reading for ammo.
Oh, and if you don't have a test kit, get one. It is an absolute necessity if you're going to keep fish with any success. The API Master Test kit will cost you about $30 but it's easy to use and easy to read the results.


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## injection11 (Aug 30, 2007)

so what should i do not change water until the tank is cycled? i can get a picture but it'll be later when i get home, and there was only 2 p's left now 1.


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## cobrafox46 (Jun 2, 2008)

You need to test your water everyday and change as needed when the ammonia or nitrites rise. Do not touch your filter media!


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## Uncle Jesse (Feb 18, 2007)

I'm NOT saying this is the same thing but about a year ago I experienced the same type of thing. Eyes would slowly start turning white till they were pure white and sometimes pealing, then their skin looked like it was glazed over and they would be belly up in the morning. Sometimes the skin would peal off and show white patches where the skin was gone. I don't remember why I did it but I put crushed coral in my filters and it hasn't happened since. I think I remember having really low PH?


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

injection11 said:


> so what should i do not change water until the tank is cycled? i can get a picture but it'll be later when i get home, and there was only 2 p's left now 1.


You have to change the water when ammonia levels start to rise or you risk killing your fish. The problem is this interrupts the cycle as you're removing the ammonia, nitrite that that bacteria need to eat, so it takes longer. You're best bet would be to go to a LFS and ask them for some used filter media that will fit in your AC70. Adding media that is already colonized instantly cycles your tank.
Do you have a test kit yet?


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## brianhellno (Jun 16, 2008)

I have a theory. Some people using well water have a super concentrated amount of c02 in their water. C02 lowers the PH of water quite a bit. Low PH is very acidic and can burn the fish in the way you are describing. Once added to the aquarium it will lower the PH quickly and as the c02 dissipates it will spike back up causing a lot of stress on your fish. Maybe try checking the PH of your tap water and see what you get. Less than a PH of 5 is what starts to cause damage.


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

^^So that's why my parents well water is so acidic. I always wondered about that. I had to buffer the hell out of my tank when I lived there because their water is around 5.0 also.
Definitely an interesting theroy.


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

i dont know about you but my API ph test kit goes as low as 6.0. and since you are showing some ammonia it looks like you could have a lower ph and your beneficial bacteria is dying off and seems that it could be low enough to burn and kill your fish.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

Bawb2u said:


> when i rinse it off yes it's tap water, but i don't do it often at all. there was only 2 reds left in a *33 long tank*, water temp is 80. water changes i usually do 10 gallons at a time.


Theres the problem!


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