Red belly piranhas

Hi! I really need some help with my fishy. Could someone please help me with something? I will try to explain as better as i can since my english isnt very good....

I have recently bought a 35 gallon 6 months old tank with bio filters. I have no idea about fish but my son loves them. So my hubby and son got some fish but the guy at the store did not advise them about compatibility. So now i have 1 silver dollar, 1 red parrot fish, 1 very large convict cichlid , another cichlid (dont know what lol), 2 of those flat fish that clean the tank(only know their names in greek) and a red belly that is just growing teeth... I have them all 3 weeks now and since last night that i fed them everything was good... In about 6 hours time my red belly appeared with tail and fins bitten or torn and on the one side of the body, :cry: it has kinda like an oval shape of white and it appears as if skin is missing. It didnt eat the last 2 meals but it does swim around and spends most of the time out of his cave, although it was the other way round before. The convict chases him sometimes but red belly swims so much faster and gets away.

How would i know if the fish is sick or is this part of piranhas growing up?
I'm making another tank just for red belly but i need it to stay alive till its done lol
Please help me, i love my little guy

Thank u and sorry about this long post

 

It sounds to me like he's getting beat up by something in the tank. Watch for white fuzzy stuff growing on his body near the wounds. Also considering that your tank is overstocked, it's no suprise that they're getting territorial & aggressive and it's not going to get any better.

You say you just added the fish. Did you properly cycle the tank before adding them (and I don't mean just letting it run for a couple of days)? What are your readings for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte? If you didn't cycle the tank, chances are those levels are going to get dangerous very soon and you risk losing all your fish. So I'd recommend returning them all and doing a proper fishless cycle (http://www.flippersandfins.net/cycling.htm).

If you did cycle the tank, then you're still overstocked so you'll have to get rid of some fish.

I suggest returning the silver dollar since they need to be in groups and 3 silver dollars need at least a 50 gallon tank. Piranhas also do best in groups so you should consider returning him.

I really need to know what that mystery cichlid is. Could you describe him? And what is the greek (or maybe latin?) name of the cleaning fish? Is it Plecostomus? Pleco?

Of the other fish, you could keep either the parrot fish or the convict, but not both.

-Chelle

 

Thank you very much for replying.

I have checked everything just now. Heres the results i got:

Ph 6,5
nitrite was color between 0,2 - 0,4
Amonia was 0,2 - 0,4

i didnt find nitrate kid at the local store but i will let u know when i do that too. The tank was in use and had tropical fish 6 months prior to the date we tranfered it home. We empty it for transfer and filled it as soon as we brought it home and was told to put the fish then wait 2 weeks till we put more but we didnt add any more.

Yes my cleaners are Placo (it means flat in greek) an adult one and a small one.

Here once stores sell you fish they dont take returns so I cant return any fish. I can only transfer them in another tank but tank isnt ready yet for fish.

I hope that info is useful

 

chelle has a good point with the tank.
i think it could be overstocking and also your tank is to small for most of the fish included in your tank. Yup the silver dollars need about 50 gal and up. Watch the baby pleco, my sister had one and it was picked on by all the other fish untll it died, all the fins where missing.

 

So you got the old filters too, right?

If so, then your tank is mostly cycled, but the presence of ammonia & nitrIte indicates that it's overstocked so you really need to hurry up and remove some fish.

You'll need around a 60 for the piranha if you plan on getting him a couple friends. 20 - 30 if you keep him by himself.

I still need to know what your mystery cichlid is.

I would get a 90 gallon for your silverdollar (+ 2 more silver dollars). I would also put the parrot and the plecos in there and maybe the mystery cichlid depending on what it is.

And leave the convict in the current tank. You might be able to put him in the 90, but they can be pretty aggressive.

And for the time being, do 25% water changes at least twice a week in order to keep the ammonia & nitrIte down.

-Chelle

 

I will see what i can do about the separation of fish.

Yes i do have the old filters so i guess thats good.
Our water here has chlorine if that makes any difference.
I will look the mystery fish in picture galleries to see what it is.
I was told the tank is 30-35 gallon but i cant be sure.... the mesures are 45cmX100cm long and 65cm high, and i am not too good with maths :roll: I changed water yesterday 25% so i need to do that again at the end of the week.
I was planning on giving the red belly a mate in a new tank and get a third tank for a school of silvers, they are so cute.
I will post again when i know the name of the fish.

tyvm

 

Do you use dechlorinator?

Also, your tank isn't 30 gallons, it's 77 gallons. So you could keep the piranha & a couple buddies in it. And if you could afford it, get around a 120 gallon for the other fish. Again, depending on what the mystery cichlid is, a 120 gallon should be enough space for the rest of the fish w/o the convict getting really territorial.

-Chelle

 

No i dont use dechlorinator.

The fish looks exactly like a Aequidens rivulatus (south american cichlid) and 'hangs out with' parot fish.
My red belly swims with the silver, and the convict only chases the red belly around, but is friendly with the other fish.

My piranhas wound seems a little better, the white part looks like its healing and the teeth are growing very fast but he still wont eat anything.

 

First off I just have to say that I love your signature! Made me chuckle.

If your mystery cichlid looks like Aequidens rivulatus you could be in a bit of a pickle. First off, it could be an actual green terror (not good with scientific names, but I think this is the common name for Aequidens rivulatus) or a blue acara. Green terrors really live up to their names and get about 12" long..........

I also really recommend you invest in a good dechlorinator. I really like Aquasafe made by Tetra. Fish do not like chlorine in their water and anything you can do to get it out for them should be a staple for whenever you do a water change.

Good luck,

 

Yes, definitely start using dechlorinator. Chlorine can burn fish's gills and kill off your beneficial bacteria.

Aequidens rivulatus is a green terror and they tend to be pretty aggressive. I'd keep an eye on him, but be prepared to get another tank (at least 50 gallons) if he starts getting aggressive towards the other fish.

So some stocking possibilites:

77 gallon: piranha + a couple more friends
150 gallon (the green terror bumped up the size a bit) - all the other fish.

or

77 gallon: Green terror & convict (they're both aggressive fish so they may be okay together)
60 gallon: piranha plus a couple friends
90 gallon: parrot, 3 silver dollars, 2 plecos

EDIT: I had forgotten that this was a tall tank rather than long so that may change stocking levels a bit (tall tanks have a smaller foot print so that's less territory for the fish).

I still think 3 piranhas should be okay so I'm leaving my first option. For the second option, I'm not sure a tall tank would provide enough territory for both the gt & the con. They may be okay so you can still try keeping them together, but be prepared to move the con if they start getting violent towards eachother.

-Chelle

 

when choosing fish like that, always get bigger then the amount they say you should have them in.