# Regurgitating



## pirairtool (Nov 12, 2005)

Well over the past couple of months i have had issues with my piranha regurgitating their food within 3-4 hours after they have consumed it. I have never had this issue before only recently so i am trying to work out what is causing it.

I first of all though it was due to the amount i was feeding, so i started cutting this down but it doesnt seam to be this.

I wondered if it was water quality maybe???

The ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph is all perfect i was wondering if there was another stress maybe hard metals such as lead or copper?

I always ensure i feed them white fish, ie talapia, plaice, haddock, sea bass, sword fish etc and its always fresh from the local fish monger.

Any ideas what can cause this??

Its about the 10th time in the past few months i have woke up to bits of fish everywhere in the tank, massive oil slick on top, fish looking bloated around the face, lips etc.

So i do a 50% water change, and it gets things back stable again after a day or so and gets rid of the horrible smell.

When i add water i put through a double carbon filter, and then to be sure add aquasafe to add a stress coat and get rid of heavy metals???

Not sure what i am doing wrong though.

The setup is 12 reds, all 10" - 13", 370 gallons, 3 fx 5 filters all with bio

Any help, much appriciated.

Thanks


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

are all the fish doing it or just some? also sounds like your saying the fish look a little different now if possible can you post a picture? lastly we need to know numbers on the water quality so we get a idea of where the tank is at just saying the water is ok doesnt help us rule water quality out. but i dont think this is related to the water. it is possible that something could of gotten stuck like a bone which is causing them to not get the food down but i dont think that is the problem either. post the info i asked if you can and see what others say.


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

I've had this problem with one of my reds for the longest time. He would constantly regurgitate his prior night's dinner making a mess of the tank and forcing me to do a water change at 6:30 in the morning before work. Such a PITA....

I found the only way to prevent this from happening was to feed them smaller pieces of fish. Instead of throwing big chunks in there and letting them go wild, cut the pieces small enough so that the fish could easily swallow it in one bite......

This has helped tremendously!


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

> I always ensure i feed them white fish, ie talapia, plaice, haddock, sea bass, sword fish etc and its always fresh from the local fish monger.


One common piranha feeding conception I don't buy into is "they need a variety of foods". They don't. In your list of offered foods, you have some foods piranhas don't naturally eat. Especially sea foods. Try sticking with one kind...especially the freshwater fish. 
Then again on the flipside, you have 12 fish, one puker everytime you feed doesn't necessarily mean your're feeding them something wrong. Just make sure to net out the puked up debris and do a water change.


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## pirairtool (Nov 12, 2005)

Thanks guys, yeah recently i have been feeding little and often, like a smaller fillet every 2 days rather than larger amounts every 4-5 days and so far so good.


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