Pirahna - Change of Colour

[pompies]

Hi,

I have two 10" piranhas in 55 galon. The one has suddenly gone dark in colour. They both are still eating and my water paramaters seems fine. Temp around 25 celcius. Is this normal?

 

[CFC]

When you say water parameters are fine what exactly are the test readings? A change in colour usually indicates a water quality problem or some other stress causing factor, have you recently added or removed anything from the aquarium?

 

[Perky]

What are the parameters? How often do you change water? How much water do you change? Do you use hair spray or deodrant or air freshener around or near the tank? Have you added or removed anything from the tank? How long has the tank been set-up? What are you feeding and how much?

 

[fishfever]

I would carefully check ammonia levels, especially if they are turning dark. It sounds like ammonia poisoning. We had 2 red belly piranhas (our first fish) that we got from a friend. He did not know anything about keeping fish, and he did not clean the tank of leftover fish heads, etc. so the ammonia was sky high. By the time we were able to intervene, one only lasted 3 days in a hospital tank. He was literally burned by the ammonia. Piranhas have delicate skin, so water quality is key to their longevity. They also prefer not to be the only one. We had to give our guy to someone who had a piranha setup. Our guy did not do well alone.

Your color change could be a bad sign. Even if behavior is normal now, it doesn't mean your fish is out of danger. I would take a sample to a lfs. Piranhas are illegal where I live, but your lfs most likely won't turn you in. lol. Keep us posted

 

[pompies]

My water parameters are as follows:
PH: 6.5
Amonia: 0
GH: 8
Nitrate: 0
Temp: 79
I do a 25% water change every week and feed the fish every 2 days. I feed them frozen mussels and frozen lance fish. We do not use any hairspray etc. near the tank. The tank has been set up for more than a year. I use to have 4 discus in the tank but changed them for the pirahnas at my lfs.