Fish Dying?

[butters]

So now one of my Piranhas is acting funny. He has his mouth open constantly and just kinda floats around, he's not swimming. He's floating slowly up to the surface, but not gasping at the surface. I nudged him a bit and he doesn't care. I think he's dying?

[butters]

[BettaFishMommy]

how old is the fish? have you noticed a difference in feeding behaviour lately? what are you feeding?

the mouth open sounds to me like he may have something stuck in his throat? but you would think he'd be gasping if that was the case.

the floating to the surface says swim bladder problem. is he always vertical like that or does he go (float) on his side?

[butters]

Nothing irregular when feeding him. I normally give them shrimp but sometimes goldfish as a treat.

I thought about something being stuck in his throat. I can see pretty far down when he's near the surface and I don't see anything.

He is floating all sorts of ways, on his side, sometimes almost upside down.

I've moved him to a seperate tank for now.

[butters]

Nothing irregular when feeding him. I normally give them shrimp but sometimes goldfish as a treat.

I thought about something being stuck in his throat. I can see pretty far down when he's near the surface and I don't see anything.

He is floating all sorts of ways, on his side, sometimes almost upside down.

I've moved him to a seperate tank for now.

Oh, and he's a year and a half only.

[BettaFishMommy]

it's possible he picked up a bacterial infection from the feeder goldfish, and that is what's causing the issues. feeding goldies isn't a good thing, they are so disease riddled.

if this were my fish, i'd try a round or two of API General Cure (metro and prazi combo). When my paratilapia polleni was having swim bladder trouble (floating sideways, buoyant, etc) which i believe was due to a bacterial infection, i did two doses of the General Cure over a 48 hour period, with a giant water change in between doses, then kept him in the hospital rubbermaid for about an additional week with daily huge water changes. he's perfectly fine now.

Edited June 21, 2011 by BettaFishMommy

[laurensdad]

when was his last water change? that is the biggest thing you can do to help any fish is water changes

[butters]

I change about 25 percent of the water on a weekly basis or so.

I just got home from work and I thought he was dead in the hospital tank, he's laying completely on his side on the bottom, still with his mouth open. But he is moving slightly.

[BettaFishMommy]

a 25% water change weekly isn't nearly enough when dealing with bigger fish. i'd be doing minimum 50 to 60%, along with a good gravel vac (if you have substrate in there) to remove waste.

i'd try the med i suggested, if it isn't already too late for him.

[butters]

I thought changing over 50 percent risks cycling the tank?

[laurensdad]

I thought changing over 50 percent risks cycling the tank?

nope you could do 99% changes it is your filter media that is the important part. long as you live it alone and do not change it your tank will stay seeded and good to go. the last tank i set up i removed 2 trays of media and put it in my new filter bang instant cycle. You could do 75 % changes on your tank once a week and your fish will love you. do you have test kits if so have you used them to see what your tanks doing?

[BettaFishMommy]

the beneficial bacteria do not live in the water, they live on surfaces in the filter and in the tank. removing large amounts of the water and replacing it with new will not harm your bacteria, it will just reduce your nitrates, TDS (total dissolved solids) and DOC (dissolved organic compounds). those three things you don't want to have build up in your tank, as quite often it will lead to 'old tank syndrome'.

i wouldn't do a big water change, deep gravel vacuum, and a filter cleaning all on the same day though, as that could possibly put a good dent in your bacteria numbers.

[butters]

Awesome, good to know. I do have test kits and I check regularly, I've had a couple odd ammonia spikes within the past few months, but it's always came back to 0 within a few hours, I narrowed it down to most likely rotting food. My pH has been abnormally low for quite a while now, even after trying more frequent water changes. I gave up trying to fix it a while back because the fish are completely fine with it it seems. Otherwise, nitrates, nitrates, etc are all in check.

Also the Piranha is not looking good, his mouth moves a little bit but otherwise he lays completely still. I don't expect him to make it through the night. The rest of them in my main tank look fine but aren't eating this time around.

[laurensdad]

odd thing to ask do you quarantine your feeder fish? or what do you feed this guy?

[BettaFishMommy]

your ph being low tells me that your tank could be experiencing 'old tank syndrome'. what is the ph in your tank? do you add peat or any other buffers to lower your ph?

the other fish in there may be experiencing the effects of this, and are lethargic and not wanting to eat due to it.

i'd be doing daily water changes of 25 to 30% for a week, then do a larger water change on day 8 of about 50 to 60%. this will bring your tank's parameters back into check slowly, and will reduce the 'shock' your fish may experience by having a large change to their environment/parameters too quickly.

are you using Prime for dechlorinator?

and filter cleaning, how do you usually go about that?

another thing to consider is to add more variety to the diet. piranhas are omnivorous, and would appreciate a little vegetable matter in their diet. the insides of peas and bits of zucchini would be good for them. you can also try to get them on a good quality pellet food as their staple. NLS is wonderful food! Omega One is a good one too.

stop feeding feeders. they are notorious for bringing disease into your tank, and are high in thiaminase, which can block the uptake of vitamin B1. they are also fatty and not a nutritional feed choice.

as for the sick guy, have you tried medicating him at all?