Sorry me again still worried about Cyd. Last time what I thought was white spot did turn out to be finrot and fungus - very obvious signs. I treated him with a gentle finrot and fungus treatment . . . ie I had a long chat with the manufacturers about the best way to treat him. I treated him for two weeks and slowly the evidence vanished. His eating dropped off and has now stopped. He is sitting on the bottom of the tank always in one of two places - one in particular being by the inlet pipe to the outside filter. His mouth is obviously moving and not just the inside as is usual. Otherwise externally he looks ok with no obvious sign of illness.

I have done a 30% and a 15% water change to remove the medication and put back the carbon in the filters.

Cyd is in a 250 litre tank - on his own.

Filter is a Fluval 350 - flow rate 3.7 per hour -
Plus fluval U3 as a 'bubbler' . . . ahem don't know flow rate . . . hangs head.

I change one sponge a week and rinse the rest and the substrate where necessary in water from the tank.

The lighting is a bit of a make shift at the moment from my old 125 litre tank, but seems to be ok - tank lit, bit not hugely brightly, but then Cyd doesn't like a lot of bright light - never has.

There is no salt in the tank.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
PH 6.5
Temp 27

The water comes off the hill ie I live in rural Scotland with own water supply - the supply is filtered and then zapped by a UV light before it come out of the tap.

food salmon with chicken once a month as a treat - he won't eat prawn anymore. Usually fed every other day. Food is dropped straight into his mouth and never left in the tank.

Cyd is two years and eight months old and only has one eye. He is ten inches in length

So what is going wrong . . . any ideas anyone . . . is there something I am being completely dense about and missing . . . could it simply be that he has reacted to the medication - this happened when I first had him and had to treat from an ulcer.

Thank you for your time.

One other question - how do people who have to do huge water changes get the water to the right temperature ie the same temperature in the tank so as not to stress the fish. I can't use heated water from the boiler even though it is a combi boiler because of the copper piping. So I end up heating water in a kettle and adding it to my buckets. Then again my kettle is a metal one . . . stainless steal? So how do other people cope?

Hi mate, can't see any problems with your water conditions. One thing you could do is remove the carbon from the filter as its only normally used to remove medication . Another thing about carbon is that it is suspected of causing hith because it removes the essentials from the water. Its not an old fish at under 3 years, in fact its about the same age as my breeding pair, and funny enough both of mine have one eye each on opposite sides. My 2 are prone to sit in one place for long periods, just above the sand at each end of the tank. You shouldn't have to clean the filter once a week and certainly don't change the sponge, as it is home to beneficial bacteria. Most of the guy's on this forum only clean the filter when the flow slows down significantly. Try changing the routine, do a 20% water change once a week, don't clean the filter. Cut out the chicken, feed salmon once a month at the most, get some lancefish/smelt or cod fillet and try him with that. Don't worry about the lighting, unless you have a lot of plants, they don't care too much for bright lights. One thing to consider is the fact that Pygocentus are a loose schooling species so being on its own will change its behaviour, I think its bored, do you get a good flow of water, perhaps it needs some exercise.

Brilliant lots of info.

I will remove the carbon after I do a water change tomorrow - although currently it is there to remove the medication. Can I just leave the three carbon chambers of the filter empty - this is my first external filter so I am learning.

I use polishing pads in the 305 and do need to change those once a week, or maybe I don't need them at all, but they do get really filthy. I also have four sponges in the 305 plus two in the U3 - so I have a routine of changing one a week with a two week rest which means each sponge gets changed once every eight weeks which seems to work out about right with the flow rate and what the manufactures suggest - but you guys in my opinion know better. I rinse the dirty end of the sponges each week and that way I still keep everything seeded and never get a drop in my flow rate - but always willing to learn and change my routine. Interestingly the carbon sponge is glued onto the unit with the U3 so you have to literally tear it off . . .might go back to the plain old U3 . . . it is really only in there for extra water flow. because I had read Piranhas like a good water stream . . . so it provides an extra 'current' in the tank.

Will do as you suggest re the food although not easy to get that type of fish in a Highland village

I do worry about Cyd being bored - and have discussed at length what to put with him - but I am concerned about how to introduce another fish with the risk of injury and stress . . . to both Cyd the other fish and possibly me . . . To be fair normally he seems ok - he is in my office - I work from home and gets alot of attention . . . I ended up with him because in the shop where he was for sale he got bullied by the other fish . . .I suspect because of his one eye. What I need is another one eyed Pirhana . . . . or are there any fish you could suggest I could put with him?

Were your fish both born without an eye . . .

Sorry tons of questions - typical female . . . will zip it and go now. Need a red faced emmoticon.

Whatever empty chambers you may have, fill with bio-media, the little tube things. The sponges don't need to be replaced, just washed in tank water, should last for years. Some of the guys use the Tesco seafood variety packs, contains squid, mussels etc, comes frozen so just thaw what you need the day before. Also cod fillet cut into strips is popular. I got mine as a threesome almost 3 years ago mixed with 4 pacu These 2 only had an eye apiece when I bought them, the third one was perfect but died for no reason I know of. So I was left with this breeding pair that have produced several spawns.
Regarding your other post, must have crossed at same time, I use my thermostatic shower valve. I have a hose that screws directly to it. I adjust the temp to within a couple of degrees and just fill them up. I have never used water conditioner at any time. Copper piping should not be a problem as most houses are plumbed with it. I have 15 tanks and change in the region of 300 gallons per week. You may be being too fussy with the water, don't forget, piranhas live in areas subject to extreme drought with high temperatures, and when the rains come and fill the rivers, its very cold. So they are used to temperature swings. If you use boiled water all the time you may be destroying the nutrients that occur naturally in water.

Groan . . . you mean I could have saved myself a fortune on sponges - I suppose the manufacturers recommend replacing them every couple of months when they get discoloured to make money. My foam blocks get all discoloured and greasy - I guess bacteria wise that is good as long as the foam pores aren't blocked. I will replace the carbon with the bio media . . . how often do people rinse/replace their bio-media - remembering I am new to external filters and does anyone else use the polishing cloths - or is this just another money making scheme.

I will look out for the Tesco packs - although maybe a problem getting them home frozen as I live a long way from the nearest supermarket and I couldn't re-freeze.

Were your one eyed pair born like that?

Berlimey 300 gallons a week . And what do you do with your spare half hour each week . . .

Yes I know I am being fussy re temperature at the moment - but that is mainly because Cyd was sick and stressed and I was trying to avoid more stress for him by varying temperatures. Eeeeek no I only boil a little bit of water just to take the chill off and I set the water up in buckets the day before, because water straight off the hill really is very cold.

So I have a shower straight off a combi boiler and it is safe to use warm water from the shower?

Thanks for all your time and advice.

Any ideas what I could try putting with Cyd for company . . .


ONE LAST QUESTION

I don't have a power head in my tank - should I get one and if so what . . . I am using my old U3 which is moving the water about, but may not be powerful enough.

Not really advisable to add any other fish because eventually they will be eaten. I lightly rinse bio-media about once in 2 months, you could possibly go longer as there's only one fish. No, my one eyed pair were damaged when they were fry, mine are wild caught, that's why the pacu were mixed with them. Using hot water from your combi is fine, don't know if you use water conditioner, if you do fine if not let it stand overnight. Sounds like you have ample water movement, they don't like too strong a current.
By the way, what's your name, I am assuming cyd is the fish

Yup that is what I thought re Cyd eating any companion. When he is well he seems very happy and sits watching what is going on in the room . . . Ah I understand now re the Pacu. . . lol. I think Cyd was born the way he was hence the bullying by his peers leading him to end up on his own in the shop and then with me.

No to water conditioner - after all I have genuine Highland Spring water which is cured of bacteria and fit for human consumption . . .

Ahem . . . Cyd is called Cyd Phishus . . . after well . . . Sid Vicious . . . not that Cyd is . . . vicious . . . my daughter named him . . . Cyd that is . . .not Sid . . . if you follow me and few do. I am Gill.

Your so lucky to have that water. Does it change at all, like chemical composition, or stay constant.

It varies ie in PH when we have a lot of rain and the burns go into spate. We get a lot of silt coming down from the hill then - although this is only really bad when we have had the hill pipe in the spring - this is more likely if we have weeks without rain and we do get them now and again in Scotland . . . no really we do. Mostly the water comes from an underground spring which comes up through rock so it is pretty clean - but even so we run it through a filter as it comes into the house and then past a UV light.

I do test it incoming with a five in one strip and it always seem spot on.

I popped down to the village and managed to get some frozen cod for Cyd and fish sticks - to tempt his appetite. The latter I only feed once in a blue moon, but they are very smelly and they might just get him eating again.

He is slightly more perky - I am sure it is the medication that has made him feel off. So fingers crossed. I know you know what it is like to loose a special fish - so sorry to read about your loss.

With BIG Den, btw mate i think you`ve pulled

this may have been answered already but i didnt read the whole thread

on my 5x2x2 when i do a 50% change i just use the hose pipe straight into the tank, no need to heat it , the temp will only drop by a few degrees... the fish will be fine
i do this one all my tanks without a problem

i couldn't be arsed to do what you do with the kettle... must take you ages

Yeah i just fill from the bathroom hot n cold taps , feel it with your hand to get a rough temperature

Thank you . . . . yup running up and down stairs with the kettle keeps me fit. But as long as I am not risking Cyd with copper poisoning then I shall use water from the shower . . .

Pulled eh . . . never forget the piranha has teeth . . .

Do you not treat the water first for chlorine/chloramine or do you treat it after it is in the tank?
If your water has chloramine it will never dissappear from the tank by itself and it is there to remove bacteria.

That is a good question - I don't have that problem because my water doesn't have chlorine in it - so what do you other guys do re the chlorine if you are feeding water in straight from the tap . . . . :uhm

I do nothing Gill, I have never, and never will use any water conditioners.

Eeeeeek sorry another question . . . .Cyd does actually seem a bit brighter this morning. However the little bit of fish he ate last night was in the tank this morning covered in a yellow slimey gooooo Hope any one reading this has had their breakfast. Does the yellow goo give any indication of what is wrong with Cyd and should I just not feed him for a few days. I have seen him go five days without food - what is the longest that anyone has had their fish not eat and survive.Really! Well you are an obvious expert on fish and you have a lot of very healthy fish - so why then is there so much made of getting rid of the chlorine before you put the water in the tank . . .

The yellow goo is probably where the food has started to go off , if he doesnt take it after 5 or 10 minutes that that usually means they arent that hungry so you can take the food out, better to keep them slightly on the hungry side i believe rather than always full of food.
I think someone on here had a fish go 6 months without feeding. I had one that went about 6 weeks, they are probably naturally accustomed to periods where food is scarce .

same here... i dont use water conditioner... havnt done for a few years now

The yellow goo food definitely came from his stomach. To feed Cyd I drop food in the tank one piece at a time and if he is hungry he takes it straight away - exactly as in your Avatar. If he doesn't take the food then I take it out straight away. The food wasn't in the tank last night - I checked on him last thing . . . but it was there this morning!
There was no smell to the food . . . do fish have stomach bile?

Sorry misunderstood , it sounds like he threw it up, it happens sometimes.
I use prime which is very concentrated , you only need a drip per about 3 gals of water, it supposedly removes chlorine/chloromines.
Im not sure if i really need to but i do it.
The good bacteria in your filter is different from the bad bacteria that might be in tap water. You use water that has been passed through a uv filter so you dont have any concern there.

Thank you Chris . . . I wonder how much other stuff we all do because the manufactures recommend it . . . look at me and the fortune I have been spending on sponges . . .