Piranhas have White Film over Eyes/Body

[Shatz]

I have had these piranhas since about last March since they were really little babies. They have grown up into quite vicious monsters, and are now about 6 inches in size. The biggest one is definitely pushing 7.

They are now in their third home, a 120 gallon tank. They started out in a 30, moved them to a 55 when the time was right, and now about 2 weeks ago were moved to the 120. They were fine at first, but now have developed this mysterious condition, and haven't been eating. Its been since about Thursday, 8/4, that they started showing signs of the white film. Their tank mates consist of 3 plecos. probably a 9inch, 6 inch and 4 inch. They are acting normally and have already claimed their own areas of the tank.


I did a chemical test Saturday, and the ammonia was high, around a 1.8 and the ph was right around 7.1 The rest was close enough to normal to be called okay. I will be doing a chemical test again tomorrow morning once i run to the pet store, I will post the results.

From what I have researched most people seem to tell me that it is ammonia burn.

I'm running 2 hob 60 gallon filters as well as a 30 gallon in-tank one. I know i need to consider a canister filter, but i'm not spending cash on these guys until they look okay again.

I would really hate to lose these fish, as iv'e been quite attached. This is the first problem that I have had, they were healthy all summer.

Please let me know if you have had any experience with this or can send some word of advice my way. Thanks.

 

[jpappy789]

How was this tank originally cycled? What is your maintenance like? What test kit are you using? Specific nitrite and nitrate?

Ammonia that high is an immediate issue. I would be doing as many water changes as possible to get that level down ASAP. Adding a product like Prime to "neutralize" it would only help as well.

 

[Shatz]

okay. its been awhile since iv'e updated, but ill update the thank statistics. amonia is still high, but not quite as much. waterchanges have helped, and have been continuing to do them. the fish seem to be dieing. most of the white has fallen off if this fish, but some have burnt themselves on the heater because of what it seems like they are blind now. they have lost most of their color, and seem completely uninterested in any food that is put in. the algae eaters in the tank seem to be acting normal, and not showing any problems. the piranhas aren't spooked by moventments in the room like they were before, and if you wave your hand in front of the glass they don't react, but tapping it spooks them.

i fear whatever damage that has occured is beyond repair. if anyone has anything they can contribute, it would be greatly appreciated. it seems that the tank is re-cycling, and has destroyed the fish.

 

[Dangerdoll]

the problem may be that you went from a well maintained tank to a tank that has ammonia issues. The condition they have is called cloudy eye. You have to get that ammonia down to zero.... I would up your water changes to being more frequent but at regular quantity. Instead of waiting to do a weekly change, you may need to move to doing it daily at 25% or whatever is your normal change. The issue is that your tank, regardless of the volume has high bio-waste producing fish...

 

[Shatz]

yteah. there old tank was pristine. i think i moved them over too fast, but i feel like doing such frequent water changes will interfere with the cycle that is currently happening? or would it matter.

 

[Dangerdoll]

What you have is what's called a "Fishy-cycle" going on. In order to keep the cycle moving since there are fish in there, your work should be harder than when there are no fish. The difference now is that you have the fish in the tank and are gearing toward keeping the ammonia level at 0 and continuing to maintain this until your nitrates and nitrites start doing their job. There's a lot more work involved when the fish are in the tank. Ammonia is toxic to the fish so keeping it at a certain level in the tank would not be safe for the fish. You could have boosted the process if you used the media from your 55 gallon tank with this one.... or have you done that?

 

[Shatz]

okay. yes that using the old sand would have helped but there wasn't enough so a new media was used. causing the problem im guessing. is there anything i can do to help them make it through until the tank recovers? should i do water changes and how often?