I have a red bellied piranha that is about 6 years old. About a week ago he started mkaing erratic movements in the tank (swimming around very quickly, aggitated) then he swan up and hit the tank lid quite hard. Since then he has not been able to right himself and has been upside down and side ways, fighting to right himself. He has hit his tank lid before so Im not sure if this is a trauma issue. My first thought was parasites but have treated with no improvement. He is missing an eye (old injury from original owner who thought they could have 2) and was fed goldfish by the same owners. We have been feeding frozen silversides and he was eating well up to this point. He has good colour still but spends most of his time now at the top of the tank resting (I assume) and then swimming in cart wheels. Any suggestions as to what this could be?
Sick Red Bellied
- Thread starter 1eyedJyde
- Start date
Hard to say. Extremely sunken bellies are usually a tell tale sign of internal parasites even if the fish is eating like a hog, white stringy poop, and very small red hair like worms around a swollen anus are a few others. It is possible for fish to die from head injuries sustained by hitting the lid or glass. This happens alot with other toothed Charciformes, but I'm yet to hear of this with Piranha. You can try adding salt to insure proper homeostasis within the fish however I'm yet to see an unbalanced fish survive. Best of Luck.