Dying Piranha--Urgency of Reply Could Mean Life or Death

[WackyInsertions]

I recently got a piranha even though I don't know much about them (I'm a moron); I asked the owner as many questions about caring for them as I could, including their feeding. He said that I could feed them flakes and/or pellets easily without any feeder fish. He also said that it is impossible to starve a fish.

I am very near to achieving the impossible; my fish refuses to eat, his face is now a terrible green color, and he is slumping against the side of the aquarium rarely moving. Out of desperation, I even went out and got him some feeders, but he refuses to eat them. Is there anything I can do, or is my fish screwed?

 

[loganj]

Have you checked the water for ammonia or nitrite? Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle as it applies to aquariums or with cycling the aquarium? Have you done a water change? If the guy told you it was impossible to starve a fish, he is an idiot. It's actually not that hard to do.

 

[WackyInsertions]

It turns out that there's a lot of ammonia in my tank; I asked a guy at my petstore (when I posted the question, it was closed), and he said it's probably from all the flakes that the piranha wasn't eating.

Anyway, after a partial water change and some more (successful) attempts to get him to eat some feeder fish, I think he's going to be alright. Thanks for the help.

 

[fishfreek]

feeding live foods can be rather messy.

How big is your tank? When feeding live fish it may be require more freqent water changes to maintain low to nonexistant levels of ammonia.

 

[WackyInsertions]

It's a 10 gallon tank (he's still just a baby).

I'm pretty good about partial water changes with all of my fish, but the problem is that I was trying to ween him off of live foods, and he just wasn't eating the flakes.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[fishfreek]

Maybe you could try krill or some other form of meaty preipaird food. Put it on a dull platic poker and wiggle it around the tank and the fish should hopefully go for it.

 

[reefrunner69]

I have heard of peopel feeding pirhanas hamburger or beef heart.

 

[Innes]

I have heard of peopel feeding pirhanas hamburger or beef heart.

hamburger????? :x


you can feed beefheart, what kind of piranha is it?

some fish seem to refuse dead foods, but this is more personality than species, even so flakes are no diet for an adult piranha, perhaps for the babys though.

you can try beefheart, smelt, prawns, and other meat/fish products with no addictives (so not burgers)

I also feed mine hakiri(sp) cichlid pellets, they seem quite popular with mine.

I hope that your piranha is not only still alive, but doing better