Caribe sick

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yesjenks

Exodon
MFK Member
Oct 8, 2011
31
0
23
Clifton NJ
Hello,

I have 16 Caribe in a 90 gallon. They were purchased 3 months ago and 11/2-2". Presently, they're about 31/2-4". I have 2 FX5s on the tank. This tank and it's inhabitants were purchased by a partner at my firm. For the first 2 months, they were being fed live feeder goldfish. That was clearly a bad idea. . . :( For the past few days, they've been swimming normally but refuse to eat anything. They are breathing very heavily. I've been to 3 local fish stores and they all said not to treat them with anything and just keep up with the water changes. We take out about 50 gallons once a week.

What else can I do?

Thank you in advance for your help.
 
Mustardtiger101

Mustardtiger101

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Aug 1, 2013
939
88
61
Canada
Do you have any powerheads or any type of aeration? And just starve them. They'll eventually eat. They won't starve themselves.


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Y

yesjenks

Exodon
MFK Member
Oct 8, 2011
31
0
23
Clifton NJ
We have a bubble wall on the back of the tank. Other than that, no power heads. I thought the 2 FX5 inputs would suffice. I have a couple power heads lying around. Do you think I should add them?

Thanks for your help! I don't like leaving uneaten food sit in the tank. Should I leave a fillet until they eat it?
 
B

brich999

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 3, 2010
4,312
11
38
New Hampshire
Piranha are tough creatures and wont starve to death. If they get hungry they will eat eachother before starving. That being said thats a lot of very messy fish. If they are breathing heavy id assume water quality isnt great. Low O2 could be an issue but relatively uncommon especially if either fx5 ripples the water surface. Id either get a test kit or bring a water sample to your local pet store. May be time for a bigger tank or adjustment for filtration.

Last thing you want to do is try to treat for something without having any idea what is wrong. Example: if you have low o2 adding something like melafix or pimafix can bring that lower and kill your fish. If they are stressed give them the best environment possible and they will get better. No better medicine than clean water ime
 
Y

yesjenks

Exodon
MFK Member
Oct 8, 2011
31
0
23
Clifton NJ
That's for the great info! One of the FX5s is creating ripples. They looked stressed for the first time on Wednesday. I did a 50 gallon water change, and fed them frozen silversides and krill which they ate. Yesterday, they looked stressed again. I did another 50 gallon water change and tried to feed them. They haven't eat since Wednesday afternoon.

I realized I forgot to mention an important fact. We're setting up a new tank in our office. This tank is smaller. We put the hang on back filter we plan on using on the new tank on the pirana tank for a few weeks to built up bacteria. When we put it on the new tank, tons of tiny clear worms came out of the filter. We never noticed any floating worms in the pirana tank, but clearly they're there. Sorry for leaving that out of my initial post!

After discovering the worms, I was looking for something to treat internal/external parasites, as that's what I thought they needed. I was told by a few stores to not treat them and do more water changes.
 
kevbc03

kevbc03

Piranha
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2008
1,496
39
81
Cleveland
yesjenks said:
That's for the great info! One of the FX5s is creating ripples. They looked stressed for the first time on Wednesday. I did a 50 gallon water change, and fed them frozen silversides and krill which they ate. Yesterday, they looked stressed again. I did another 50 gallon water change and tried to feed them. They haven't eat since Wednesday afternoon.

I realized I forgot to mention an important fact. We're setting up a new tank in our office. This tank is smaller. We put the hang on back filter we plan on using on the new tank on the pirana tank for a few weeks to built up bacteria. When we put it on the new tank, tons of tiny clear worms came out of the filter. We never noticed any floating worms in the pirana tank, but clearly they're there. Sorry for leaving that out of my initial post!

After discovering the worms, I was looking for something to treat internal/external parasites, as that's what I thought they needed. I was told by a few stores to not treat them and do more water changes.
Click to expand...
Are you sure that's not Planaria from over-feeding?
 
SandNukka15

SandNukka15

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Nov 18, 2010
2,596
1,545
179
34
Towanda PA
16 31/2 to 4 inch caribe in a 90 gallon are you crazy?..... Rehome at least 10-12 of them.....a 90 gallon will only suffice 3 caribe
 
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