File :-(, x, )
A stupid person in need of help =( Anonymous
I was pretty dumb and irresponsible with my little Pacu, and now he's got this crap on his head.

Yes, I know, I'm a dumbass and probably should've watched the tank more and taken better care of the water in general, I know.

I want to fix this, but I can't figure out what this discoloration on his head is. Can anybody help me out with this? What can I do to help him out, he'll barely eat and freaks out a lot.
>> Anonymous
Looks like a pacu to me.. Clearer picture and, yes, setup information would be nice.
>> Anonymous
OP here, okay, he's just been moved into a clean 29gal set up, the Pacu is by itself with plenty of room inside the tank and is at most, 7" long.

The picture I posted "is" my Pacu. First I've noticed how even when I bought it it was never truly a dark color like it usually becomes as it grows older, I figured that was just from what it was fed or from what I had fed it, (algae wafers, cocktail shrimp, couple vegetables every now and then.), but then he developed that green almost transparent discoloration around his head and I just don't know what it is.

Other than that picture I really don't have anymore, I'll try and take some more pics tomorrow, (left my cam at a friends house, silly me.).

Also, the problem developed when I had to put him into a temp 10gal tank because of some retarded shit. As of now I have a 150gal tank waiting for him but it's old and needs upgrading, (filter mostly), and I'm working on that atm.
>> Anonymous
>>161424
what kind of tech do you have?
filter, uvc cleaner, etc.?

Never heard of green skin disease, but could be any kind of infection or fungus.
>> Anonymous
>>161427
I had a basic Whisper filter for it at the time and an air pump. =\ It was a temp 10gal tank until I could get him a bigger tank.
>> Anonymous
>>161429
And I bet you didn't change his water regularly either eh?
Get a good, big filter and change half his water every week.
Go to a good fish petshop, ask if they know this disease and get a remedy.
Or grill him and have some dinner.
>> Anonymous
That's a red bellied piranha. Pacu's, while similar in appearance become much larger, and lack the red belly and anal fin. Pacu's teeth are much smaller and more molar like.

There are a number of causes but it is most likely limited to bacteria or fungal.

You always need to have care with fish that you'll feed live things to - live things bring disease.

Do a partial 25% water change and a don't change your filter cartridge just yet - wait until a qualified individual at your local pet shop identifies the disease and recommends a treatment plan. Most of the time you'll end up removing any type of carbon insert entirely as carbon removes needed medicine from the water.

Make sure you do a gravel clean with that water change as well. It will help you head off any follow up infections of Ich. (Cleaning the gravel removes a great portion of Ich eggs, thus breaking their reproduction cycle.) This is important because in their weakened state after an infection, fish can succumb to this parasite and THEN die.
>> Anonymous
Try QuICK Cure, its cheap and works on most Protazoan Bacterias.
>> Model Dictator Fabio Castro
>>161483
protozoans are not bacteria
>> Anonymous
>>161430
OP here, yeah I did do water changes but not nearly enough. =\ once every couple weeks if that. Haha, he's too small to grill, believe me, the fillet you would get out of this fish would only give you a couple nuggets. Anyways thanks.

>>161482
I don't think it's a Piranha, its jaw doesn't just out nearly as much as a Pacu, but, I could be wrong, got it from a Petco and they might've marked it incorrectly. I doubt it though.

And yeah, I think the main problem came from guppies. I've only give it a couple of guppies in the time I've had it as an occasional treat for it to hunt down and have fun with basically. Unfortunately, I would just dump the guppy in there. Oh and yeah I won't change the filter any time soon it's brand new. When should I change the filter though? Every month or more?

Anyway, thanks for the info, I'll check around a couple fish shops I have around here and find some info.
>> Anonymous
OP here, I was told it may be lice, or to use StressCoat. Anybody know anything on either subject? StressCoat good at all?
>> Anonymous
stress coat will do shit for him, it's a water conditioner that says it aids in building their slime coat

is the green discoloration fungusy? excessively slimy looking?

if it were lice, you should be able to see them on the surface of his skin

google is your friend. google "fish disease symptons" there are sites who list every disease known to fishy kind
>> Anonymous
Also, if you get a new filter, remember that it will take at least 2 weeks until bacteria have settled in it.
Meaning: Until then it will only filter mechanical and not chemical.
So, let the old filter run along until the other is ready.
>> Anonymous
>>161669
OP here, it does look kind of fungusy, and google was the first thing I used. I visted a few sites that had lists of diseases but none of their symptoms nor discriptions fully matched.

The new tank I let cycle for almost a week, unfortunately, my Pacu is already in it. His previous tank was pretty dirty. I took out one of the light bulbs to give him so mild darkness for cover because it was only a 10 gallon, problem was, because of that I didn't notice how dirty it was getting nor was I able to notice the growth on him (stupid me) so I completely dismantled the tank the other day when I put the Pacu in the new tank.

One good thing I've noticed is that his scales have toned down, that giant orange area under his gills has almost completely faded away and he's started to go back to his original color. However his head is still the same color.

Anyway, I'm going to try that stress coat stuff on him tomorrow. He's the only one in the tank, so is it okay to just put the chemical in the tank or should I tank him out and put him in a quarentine tank so I can administer the chemical there?
>> Anonymous
>>162266

stress coat is not a medicine, just a water conditioner that has some shit in it to reinforce the natural slimy coating of fish. as>>161669said. people use the stuff all the time in tanks and it isn't something you have to be careful with.
>> Anonymous
>>162282
Ah okay, my bad, anyway thanks for the advice /an/.
>> Anonymous
When you buy a fish, ALWAYS write down the latin species name.
You'll spare yourself confusion later on.
>> Anonymous
sounds like "hole in the head" disease or velvet. It primarily affects the head but can also spread to other parts of the body. look it up and compare. good luck with your piranha.
>> Anonymous
Op again, I noticed something last night and then today, figured it was important since I still don't know the exact problem.

If you look at my picture, the redness its supposed to have is there on its belly and around its lower gills. In that picture its pretty prominent but last night it almost completely disappeared, 75% of it had faded away to white, and now its returning. This sound familiar to anyone?
>> Anonymous
>>162385

in a lot of fish, color will fade and strengthen with mood, stress levels, health, stuff like that. i had a bumblebee cichlid who could go from bright yellow to solid black, depending on how she felt.
>> Anonymous
>>162404
Oh I see, so then most likely thats just normal and I don't have anything else to worry about besides that little defect on its head. Alright good.