llmarshll

Please help me. I created this account here in hopes the somebody may be able to save my piranha. I have 3 red Belly piranha. I have done a water change today and they have been w/o a heater for a couple days and just got a new one today. Now all 3 fish are floating face down on the gravel. its like they cannot swim because there heads are to heavy. I am in fear that they may not make it through the night, so if anybody could give me any advice it would be greatly appriecated. pH levels are fine and so is the temp. i took a picture to show you how all 3 of them are acting.
Please help my fishys. ive had them for 2 years and love them guys more than most people. i love my fish and am about in tears just watching them die.
Thank you very much


http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...ll/Photo75.jpg

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tomchitown

did you check your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate level ?

Lucy

Hi welcome to Fish Lore

I'm really sorry your fish aren't feeling well. We know how upsetting it is.
Do you know how low the temp went while they were without a heater?
How quickly was it raised once you got a new heater?
What size tank are they in?
Do you know your readings for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
I'm sorry for all the questions, the answers might help the members figure out what's going on.

Also, Fish Lore is a public forum and easily accessed through search engines. For your safety and privacy it would be a good idea to change your user name to something other than your e-mail address.
Here's how to request one:
How Do I: Request NEW UserName

I don't know enough about your type of fish but the members have a wide range of knowledge, I hope they can help.

Good luck, I hope they feel better soon.

llmarshll

No, i havent checked my nitrate or ammonia levels, but have never had a problem with them before with the distilled water i use and i did a 50% water change and clean earlier today. It is a 30 gallon tank. The temp went up from 68 to 80 in about an hour or 2. The fish are still moving there back tail but there face down in the gravel, gills are going at a normal pace. They cant stay horizontal, they try to staighten out but their tails go up and there faces go down and they sit like that.
I will go to the petstore first thing tomorrow to get ammonia and nitrate testers. but i dont believe thats the problem. maybee just shock from the water change and change in temp? i took the heater out for the meantime until they regain normalty.

Lucy

I just did some reading. Head standing is a symptom of a few things. Swim Bladder, poor water quality (in your case, that could mean sudden temp changes, not knowing your readings at this point) or kidney damage.
It leads me to believe it was the sudden changes in water temp that shocked them. Which can also lead to swim bladder issues. It would be a good idea to put the heater back in and slowly bring the temp back up (1 degree an hour)

I could be off so, let's see what other members have to say.

AlyeskaGirl

A sudden change in temperature can be very stressful on your fish. Your fish are very stressed right now. I'd turn the light off if not. How are they breathing? Hard or normal?

llmarshll

They may be breathing a little harder than usual, but they are not gasping. I've seen them lay on their side when they get very stressed, but they have never done a headstand which leads my to believe swim bladder may be the case. There buoyancy is not normal like there heads are heavy. I have put the heater back in and the temp is 74, so i will maintain it at that. I'm so scared for my little buddies, i hate seeing them like this

llmarshll

So i've been watching my babies for a couple hours and they do not seem to be getting any better. They try to wedge themselves under the driftwood or plants to prevent themselves from head-standing. There will be no sleep for me tonight. I was just wondering if anybody has any advice for their buoyancy problem? I've read lowering that tank water then raising it again or taking them out of the water for 10 seconds, but im kind of afraid to do anything with them right now, but not if it will help. I know when i go to the pet shop tomorrow they will have no advice and give me some expensive Swim Bladder medicine, which may not even be the problem because I cannot find anything online about piranha getting swim bladder or doing headstands. Errr i hate this, hang in there fiesty fellows and I promise you will be happy again.

llmarshll

The termoil... So sad
Recorded on my laptop

bluealuefish

oh that's so sad to see. =( i don't have any advice but hang in there! best of luck.

AlyeskaGirl

Temperature change that fast stresses fish out and their immune system is weakend and they are an open door for disease. Oh, I hope they make it.

I have a Silver Dollar and when he gets stressed his gills pump fast and he sometimes lays on his side or is propped up by the silk plants or decor. Then is fine a little while later.

llmarshll

Well they have made it through the night, but i have not noticed any bettering of the symptoms. The biggest one is now able to swim w/o too much misdirection. but they have started to get a scab-looking black crustyness around there gills. what is this a sign of? i took a water sample to superpets today and all the levels are fine. must be some sort of internal ailment. They had no cure for it, but what ive read is feeding them peas. I know they wont eat, but maybee if i force feed the 2 that are very sick peas that would help, but i dont want to stess them out even more by jamming peas down there throats.... hmmm what to do, what to do

Lucy

That must be so hard for you to watch. Sometimes thawed frozen shelled peas will help swim bladder issues.
I don't know whether force feeding is a good idea. Perhaps they'll try and go after them if they're hungry enough.
Maybe they've hurt themselves, keep the water pristine and see if the marks improve.
Two of them look pretty good considering what they've been through.

Sharkitty

Oh god that is awful. I almost made me cry! I don't know what to do, but I think you should call around to various aquarium stores - not general pet shops - and see if you can't get some more idea. Poor babies. I hope they recover soon!

AlyeskaGirl

Yeah, those two look good. oh, I hope the other one pulls through. Does look like Swim Bladder problem. Poor guy.

Link below is good stuff; fungus and bacterial infections. Not sure about the gills, could be parasites or not.

http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=TB631

Blub

That is DEFFINATLY swim bladder problems! I put it down to the sudden extreme temperature change and the stress it involves. I've had swim bladder problems in my tanks before - it can be very hard to cure. Keep the water pristene! The pet stores may be lieng to you about the water levels being 'fine' - you should always ask them what the exact levels are because often they will tell you they are fine when you have 50.00 ammonia!

Poor pirahnas! I hope they make it.