# A Little Worried.....



## Red Sox Fanatic (Jun 13, 2011)

My shoal of 6 - 2" RBP's have been fantastic eaters since i 1st got them,but in the last day or so i have noticed that they are not eating so much,usually the 6 fish will eat 7 - 8 pieces of shrimp a feeding (3 times a day) now its down to like 2 - 3 pieces a feeding,i have also noticed a lot more fin nips on each fish plus hard breathing.I do water changes 2 times a week of 25% each time,my ph is 7.6 out of the faucet,my ammonia is at 0ppm,my ntrates are still a tad high at 5.oppm but i'm working on it.Could there be just too much aggression in my tank,i keep my heater at 72 degrees but my water stays between 82 - 80 degrees even with the AC on.Any help is really appreciated!!!!


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

What is your set up (tank size, filtration)?


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## Red Sox Fanatic (Jun 13, 2011)

Mr. Hannibal said:


> What is your set up (tank size, filtration)?


A 125 gal tank,2 Penguin Bio filters, 3 air wands (bubblers) hoping to add a canisiter filter in a month (was going to get one for my birthday today but had to pay a bill).

I am wondering if they are getting sick of the shrimp??I havent fed them the Silversides in about a week.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Increase the ammount of water changed (at least for a while) to deal with nitrates and always vacuum your gravel carefully... i don't think shrimp has anything to do with that... Hope you get a canister soon...


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## Red Sox Fanatic (Jun 13, 2011)

Mr. Hannibal said:


> Increase the ammount of water changed (at least for a while) to deal with nitrates and always vacuum your gravel carefully... i don't think shrimp has anything to do with that... Hope you get a canister soon...


Its a bare bottom tank,i will increase the volume of water i change and the amount of times i change.


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## e46markus (Dec 9, 2010)

If I'm reading it right your saying your nitrates are 5.0 ppm, seems fine to me. Maybe check your Nitrites. Otherwise feeding the same thing could be the problem aswell, maybe vary their diet a little bit more. My spilo's appetite kind of slowed down since i kept feeding shrimp and talapia, ever since i started varying his diet a little bit more he's back to normal.


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

Other than the hard breathing, I don't find them slowing down abnormal at all. 3 times a day is a lot, yes they need it when they're smaller but eventually you'll want to cut back to just once a day or a few times per week as they get bigger.

Try to vary the times that you feed as well.


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## Red Sox Fanatic (Jun 13, 2011)

Sacrifice said:


> Other than the hard breathing, I don't find them slowing down abnormal at all. 3 times a day is a lot, yes they need it when they're smaller but eventually you'll want to cut back to just once a day or a few times per week as they get bigger.
> 
> Try to vary the times that you feed as well.


The temp in my tank dropped to 78 degrees,the hard breathing has slowed down alot aswell as the aggression,you guys sure now your stuff about P's who would think a few degrees in temp could cause so much trouble!!


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## CyberGenetics (Mar 29, 2009)

Red Sox Fanatic said:


> Other than the hard breathing, I don't find them slowing down abnormal at all. 3 times a day is a lot, yes they need it when they're smaller but eventually you'll want to cut back to just once a day or a few times per week as they get bigger.
> 
> Try to vary the times that you feed as well.


The temp in my tank dropped to 78 degrees,the hard breathing has slowed down alot aswell as the aggression,you guys sure now your stuff about P's who would think a few degrees in temp could cause so much trouble!!








[/quote]

Glad to here things are looking better


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## MFNRyan (Mar 27, 2011)

They are getting older and growing into the Juvy stage, this means more fin nips, an less eating. It's normal. An at that size, water param's varying will cause a little stress to them and stress causes loss of appetite. The Nitrates can cause some stress, What's there colors looking like?


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## Red Sox Fanatic (Jun 13, 2011)

4 out of the 6 are showing thier Red Bellies as well as the spots,the other 2 are smaller with a hint of red on thier bellies,they get picked on the most,but the smallest 1 is down and out nasty even though he gets picked on the most he doesnt back down from the bigger guys.


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## MFNRyan (Mar 27, 2011)

What about the color on top of their head? Does it look kind of like a clear? If so that is a sign of stress from poor water conditions. Kind of like when we get sick our lips lose the color and we get pale. They lose the red an get a clear look on top of their head. I'll see if i can find the site for you on finding signs of stress in your piranha. It was very interesting. Just because they lose the red does not mean they are stressed though. The color is due to diet, age and many other factors.


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## Red Sox Fanatic (Jun 13, 2011)

RedBelly11 said:


> What about the color on top of their head? Does it look kind of like a clear? If so that is a sign of stress from poor water conditions. Kind of like when we get sick our lips lose the color and we get pale. They lose the red an get a clear look on top of their head. I'll see if i can find the site for you on finding signs of stress in your piranha. It was very interesting. Just because they lose the red does not mean they are stressed though. The color is due to diet, age and many other factors.


The top of thier heads look like a dark silver to blue color.


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## MFNRyan (Mar 27, 2011)

I would say they are probably ok. No big problems may just be growing up some.


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