Blood parrot help!!

[Lydia]

Ok so I got a small parrot cichlid a few weeks ago. He was fine for the first week or so but has since then developed black markings on his body. All other fish seem fine. He is in a 55 gal community tank with 2 angels, mystis cat (that is really friendly) and some smaller fish.
I read online that these are stress markings that only blood parrots get. I checked water params and all looks great. What could be stressing him out? No one in there to pick on him and he is used to me now. He comes right up to the glass when I go near the tank. He doesn't really hide much anymore. When I look at the tank from afar he seems to be chillin near the heater most of the time. Temp is at 80 which he should be fine with. One thing I read said that the stress marks can be delayed and from the move but I am still worried as I have seen no improvement. Any and all ideas much appreciated. Thanks all!!!

 

[Fishking22]

I had the same thing with mine when I added a new Oscar lol. Yes, I think they are stress markings. After watching several feedings, I noticed that my parrot was a little smaller then the oscars. He was also shy. So during feeding time, he wasn't getting all the food. Make sure he gets fed, try keeping a more diverse diet of all of the recommended foods for them. Also try some water changes, and cleaning you filters. How long has he had the stress marks? And how log ago was the switch?

 

[Lydia]

I got him two weeks ago today and he has probably had the marks for at least the last week. They started just on his tail and have since covered quite a bit of his body. He has been eating well. He has even started to do the "feed me" dance with my angels.

 

[D-Smeezy7]

Alot of those may just be a young blood parrot markings. Don't blood parrots "molt" in a sense? They start out kinda ugly but as they mature the marks go away I think. Do you have a pic of it?

 

[Lydia]

I don't think he is molting. He was bright pink when I got him and I believe that before they molt they are a brownish grey. I'll try to get a pic later anyways though.

 

[Lydia]

Update: He looks significantly better today. He still has many spots but one side is almost clear. I still don't know what is stressing him out but he is apparently getting better. Still I would like to do my best to fix this issue so any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[BillD]

I think you will find that the black markings come from the lineage and while you may not like them it is natural. If the fish was pink, as opposed to an orangey color, than it was dyed (you may want to look into that process which should be banned) and it may end up totally different when mature.

 

[OsciTheOscar]

my parrot was the same way... started out orange, actually got all dark brown, and now after 8 months or so hes losing most all of the brown on him...

im assuming its because he got put in a tank with a tiger oscar and they had to figure each other out... but now after forever hes gotten more comfortable and more orange...