# Rpb Eye Problem



## Talonfal

So 1 of my redbellied piranha has had something wrong with its eye for a while and ive tried quite a few things and nothing has really worked, a couple months ago all 4 of them got very sick and 2 ended up dying, now i have 2 left and after intense aquarium salt treatments they seemed to fully heal all except the larger ones left eye. I also tried a general "heal-all" aloe tonic but didnt have much success with it, i used it for 1 week and quit because i didnt see any improvement. Im just wonding if this is going to be a permanent thing and i should quit wasting my time and money trying to heal it or if its fixable. I tried to post pics with it but it wouldnt let me so ill have to explain it...its eye looks like it has a contact lense on with a hole in th middle so it looks like it grew from the edge to the eye in but it isnt completly covered and it hasnt changed in a while. (im kinda frusterated i couldnt attach a photo because i got a very good one if its eye lol)

thanks,
Talonfal


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## CLUSTER ONE

Talonfal said:


> So 1 of my redbellied piranha has had something wrong with its eye for a while and ive tried quite a few things and nothing has really worked, a couple months ago all 4 of them got very sick and 2 ended up dying, now i have 2 left and after intense aquarium salt treatments This isnt very intense of treatment BTWthey seemed to fully heal all except the larger ones left eye. I also tried a general "heal-all" aloe tonic but didnt have much success with it, i used it for 1 week and quit because i didnt see any improvement. Im just wonding if this is going to be a permanent thing and i should quit wasting my time and money trying to heal it or if its fixable. I tried to post pics with it but it wouldnt let me so ill have to explain it...its eye looks like it has a contact lense on with a hole in th middle so it looks like it grew from the edge to the eye in but it isnt completly covered and it hasnt changed in a while. (im kinda frusterated i couldnt attach a photo because i got a very good one if its eye lol)
> 
> thanks,
> Talonfal


You can try to pm me the pic or email me at [email protected] and I can put it up. Im not sure what it is based on your description alone.


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## CLUSTER ONE

It looks to be a cloudy eye or something, but these arnt the best of pics.

Can you post your water chemistry up including ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. More if you have them.

You may be able to post them if you resize them smaller as right now these pics were huge and i took them to 25% of their original size in paint to get them to be able to be uploaded


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## Talonfal

ok so i finally got my water tested, i test my own ph but i dont have to stuff for the ammonia or nitrate but my ph is 6.39 ammonia is 4.0 and my nitrate is .25. i know that my ammonia is way to high but so far all i have heard is to do water changes and it will get better, is there really nothing else i can do about it? oh i have also been using melafix for the eye issue..nothing has changed.


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## Guest

Nothing has changed because your water parameters are horrible. How big is your tank and what are you running for filtration? Water changes will help get your ammonia under control but you need to find out why you have high ammonia to begin with. What is your schedule for water changes and how much do you change?

I would check your tank for any uneatten food particles (under rocks and decorations and on filter pads or sponges), do a thorough gravel vaccuuming and a 75% water change. If you dont have a Master test kit then you really need to buy one. Test your water after the big water change, remove any uneatten foods within 15 minutes and maintain a 50% water change every week. This should help get your water parameters under control. Once your ammonia is under control you can tret with Pimafix and Melafix combined.


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## Talonfal

ksls said:


> Nothing has changed because your water parameters are horrible. How big is your tank and what are you running for filtration? Water changes will help get your ammonia under control but you need to find out why you have high ammonia to begin with. What is your schedule for water changes and how much do you change?
> 
> I would check your tank for any uneatten food particles (under rocks and decorations and on filter pads or sponges), do a thorough gravel vaccuuming and a 75% water change. If you dont have a Master test kit then you really need to buy one. Test your water after the big water change, remove any uneatten foods within 15 minutes and maintain a 50% water change every week. This should help get your water parameters under control. Once your ammonia is under control you can tret with Pimafix and Melafix combined.


i Do a 25% water change once a week and my filter is a 30-60 gallon overflow i have a 30 gallon tank. Also when i do my waterchanges i do them all by syphon so i get as much of the particals as i can, i also have a pleco i hoped he would help clean up too. Ill also look into buying a master test kit and Pimafix. I have only had the tank running for 5-6 months and i kept tropical fish before that but im just starting to get serious into fish keeping.


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## Guest

Okay, so if I read your reply correctly you use a hose to siphon out the water and you remove any particles from the surface of your substrate. Right?

Well that could be one of the issues you are having. You must gravel vac to remove any fecal matter and debris from the gravel bed. By not doing this ammonia can and will ge trapped.

Another problem I see is your tank size. 4 Redbellies can not live in a 30G. Fist of all, you would never be able to keep ahead of your water parameters. Thats probably why they got sick. I see you only have 2 left and a pleco. Get rid of the pleco, they cause more waste than they clean. Your two remaining redbellies will need an upgrade asap. I strongly suggest a 75G. You could even add another redbelly of same size to your remaining 2.

Your filtration also is inadequate. Pygos (redbellies) are dirty and very messy eatters. I like to keep my filtration at 5x the tank volume per hour, minimum. So for a 75G I recommend a canister filter and/or an AC110. The AC110 filters 500G per hour.


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## Talonfal

I use the syphon in the gravel, it has a wider tube at the end so i just put it in the gravel and stir up a small spot and suck up everything that comes up and I do that across the entire tank once a week. About the filtration i have that and a 10" bubble stone (which i know doesnt filter anything but does get more oxygen into the water)Im wanting to get a AC200 or AC300 but upgrading the size if the tank is just not a possibility right now, im pretty tight on cash, im 20 years old living with my fiance and our 9 month old son lol but thats besides the point. I knew i needed a bigger tank eventually i just didnt think they would grow as fast as they did. They dont really nip at each other much so that isnt really a problem but im guessing the waste is.


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## CLUSTER ONE

An ac 200-ac300 would be a waste. Go for the AC110 (formally AC500). You need mroe filtration for your tank, bigger water changes and a smaller bioload (get rid of the pleco). They will outgrow the tank fast so i would suggest so just heal them then sell them. If you want a piranha get a sanchezi as they are alot less of a bioload and only get 6" so they will only need a 30g plus.

For the eye problem i would start with 50% dailiy water changes with conditionor. The eyes would probably heal without even medications if you could get your water to be clean. Id probably try 50% water changes a week straight then go from there. After a week you may want some meds to help, but i would still continue water changes.


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## Talonfal

CLUSTER ONE said:


> An ac 200-ac300 would be a waste. Go for the AC110 (formally AC500). You need mroe filtration for your tank, bigger water changes and a smaller bioload (get rid of the pleco). They will outgrow the tank fast so i would suggest so just heal them then sell them. If you want a piranha get a sanchezi as they are alot less of a bioload and only get 6" so they will only need a 30g plus.
> 
> For the eye problem i would start with 50% dailiy water changes with conditionor. The eyes would probably heal without even medications if you could get your water to be clean. Id probably try 50% water changes a week straight then go from there. After a week you may want some meds to help, but i would still continue water changes.


Ok i did a 50% waterchange last night and gave them a dose of melafix and they seemed pretty content. Also i'll get rid of the pleco and im looking at getting a Penguin Bio-Wheel Filter and eventually an undergravel filter. (if that doesnt sound right please say so) Ive been feeding them beefheart lately and it comes in prepackaged cubes and it was making a mess so i got fresh steak cuts and just cut it up and froze it. Just watching them eat that made me much more relaxed because it wasnt making a huge mess in my tank like the heart was. is there anything you recommend other than melafix to treat the eye?


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## Guest

Piranhas do not need red meat. Save your cubed steak for a stew or something, lol. Redbellies do well on a varied diet such as pellets (Hikari Carnivore is good) raw shrimp, smelts, tilapia, catfish, sardines, scallops etc etc

Stay away from an UGF (under gravel filter) They are a pain in the ass to keep clean under the trays plus they trap waste particles and can cause ammonia spikes. A Peguin 350 will be fine


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## CLUSTER ONE

Talonfal said:


> Ok i did a 50% waterchange last night and gave them a dose of melafix and they seemed pretty content. Also i'll get rid of the pleco and im looking at getting a Penguin Bio-Wheel Filter and eventually an undergravel filter.get a large hob filter not an under gravel filter (if that doesnt sound right please say so) Ive been feeding them beefheartcould be why your water quality is terrible. Feed raw fish fillets or shrimp as its much cleaner. Beef heart is ok once in a while, but not very often at all. It can also make them fat lately and it comes in prepackaged cubes and it was making a mess so i got fresh steak cuts get fresh or frozen filletsand just cut it up and froze it. Just watching them eat that made me much more relaxed because it wasnt making a huge mess in my tank like the heart was. is there anything you recommend other than melafix to treat the eye?


Go out an buy talpia, haddock, shrimp, pollock...

I would deffinitly get shrimp and mayby one other fish fillet to mix things up. Your water/eye problems probably stem directly from the food.. Switch the food and the water should improve. Extra water changes will help it to improve faster.


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