# Black Piranha always at the top of the tank?



## BATISTA (Aug 26, 2007)

I have checked the ph, Nitrate and nitrate all is well and reading 0 aswell as ammonia, any ideas why he is looking for air? going to do a water change,last one done last week and see what happens...?

Thanks


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## cbreakenridge (Apr 27, 2009)

Its dead.
Lol.. Im kidding.. I dont know anything about fish, i could just imagine it being like a goldfish floating at the top dead, and someone being confused that it wants air.. Ill stop now


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## lolly (Apr 2, 2008)

our big tank had this problem, 
the water parimenters were perfect, it was well planted aswell and oour fish were ALWAYS at the surface.
We lost quite a few fish to the oxygen just suddently and randomly dropping. We couldnt find a pattern tbh, it woudl just happpen either really ofte or once a month or something
I would reccommend getting an air stone in there asap and boost the oxygen levels up.
You can get kits to test the levels, i think its best if you do it in the morning as it drops through the night?
We now have internal filters in our large tank, small tank and medium tank which have an air line attached to them so they filter and put air into the water at the same time 
It takes away the "chance" of any of our fish dying on us!. 

That solved my problem which sounds similar to yours, however someone on here will prbably be able to give soem better advice,
but if you havent got an air stone  you could give it a try 
better safe than sorry!


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Well Im hoping you have mistakingly put that your pH is reading 0. Ideally it should be around 6, or 6.5. You can achieve this with bogwood. This will also stain the water recreating the natural habitat. Piranahs should have plenty of places to hide if kept singly.


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## BATISTA (Aug 26, 2007)

Ph is 6.8 

I have done a 15% water change, and cleaned the foam filters (running an internal filter) i cleaned them out in water i have taken from the tank,

he is instantly went back to the bottom, from what i can gather the filter foam must have been blocked and not allowing enough oxygen back into the water? the tank is new and i wasnt sure if i should have cleaned the filters as soon (after two weeks) they were extremely gungy mind !


Thanks for the help


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

If its gungy, its because its new. You need to get some bacteria in it. Do you have another fish tank you could swap the media with?


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## BATISTA (Aug 26, 2007)

I dont unfortunately


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

BATISTA said:


> I dont unfortunately


 
Basically for a filter to work properly. Ie, process all the waste, it needs bacteria in it to break down the crap. Without it, the crap will gather on the sponges and slow down the water flow. 

How long have you had everything set up with fish etc? 

If iwere you i would go get either King British 'Safe Water', or API 'Stress Zyme'. This will help you build up your bacteria. Dont change any more water until the filter is working properly. Dont feed the fish quite as muchas you have been.
When you clean the filter media, only every do so in water you have taken out of the fish tank.

Could you put up a pic of you Piranah?, I'd absolutely love a black, or even a group of them! They are stunners! Hope this helps, Ben


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## MJ75 (Feb 5, 2009)

Sounds like low oxygen levels to me. Do you use a disposable "pre filter"? If so, bin it and replace it (Not the biological filter media!!!!!!!!!) and make sure your filter is running as well as it can be. You could add a spray bar if you don't already have one?


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## TUBBS (Mar 16, 2009)

just get a decent filter, like an external, you'll need it for a black piranha

then ur outlet will go above the water ensuring maximum oxygenation seeing as thats the only real way through surface area, plus you see when its blocked


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