fire parrot not eating-help

[Ramrebel]

He/She's alone in a 20 gallon
hides behind rock behind air pump bubbles
had a silver dollar in there this weekend
i think it was eaten over the weekend when I found it dead
I 'm giving tetracolor tropical flakes - is this the right food?

Please help,
Ed

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

how long have you had the fish?does it have any obvious signs of injury or disease? don't know about your particular type of fish, but is it possible in the absence of the other, that he could be lonely?

 

[Ramrebel]

fire parrot

i've had her 3 weeks or so
she seems ok except for being a little skittish when not hiding
she killed her buddy the silver dollar over the weekend
i was thinking of getting a BIG pleco 5 or so inches for itsown sake

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

maybe she needs some dither fish?

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

as an afterthought--are you sure she killed your silver dollar? have you checked all your water parameters since she began acting funny including nitrate? i know if there is elevated pollution, it will be tolerated better by the fish who are already in the tank, and not as easily tolerated by new fish--the sudden change is usually to blame, and high nitrates are pretty sneaky, fish that have grown used to them are usually ok, while new additions usuallly don't make it...is your tank only 3 months old? if so, i wouldn't really think nitrates should be a problem, but some ppl have reported relatively high nitrates coming out of their tap....

 

[Ramrebel]

the deal

the silver dollar was in there first so I'm not sure of the deal

what's a dither fish?

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

dither fish=fish that swim in the open, signifies to other fish that it is safe to come out and swim around, some cichlids are like that, don't know anything about your particular fish, i have never kept one...

 

[Guest]

Hi Ramrebel

Is this the kind of fish you mean by "fire parrot"?

If so, they're a hybrid species. Ask different people what they're a cross of, and you'll get different answers.

Mine eats a wide variety of foods.. she seems to prefer pellet/stick shaped foods to flakes, but she will eat flake. She also enjoys freeze-dried gammarus, but only on occasion. She occasionally bullies my largest clown loach, and likes to ram into my hand when I'm cleaning the tank, but other than that I've never seen her show aggression.

Maybe I'm thinking of a different fish

 

[Ramrebel]

that's her

That's my fish, thanx, stargurl.

I did a water change to lower the ammonia. She's still very inactive. She just hides behind a rock and barely moves AT ALL. I'm getting a bit worried. The Ph is a little high as well. She didn't want to eat today. What does a starving fish look like?

Ed

Optimistically, once she gets better, what can I put in there (20 gal) with her (besides a medium pleco)

 

[Ramrebel]

that's her

That's my fish, thanx, stargurl.

I did a water change to lower the ammonia. She's still very inactive. She just hides behind a rock and barely moves AT ALL. I'm getting a bit worried. The Ph is a little high as well. She didn't want to eat today. What does a starving fish look like?

Ed

Optimistically, once she gets better, what can I put in there (20 gal) with her (besides a medium pleco)

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

have you rechecked your ammonia levels? how high were they? ammonia that is too high can do permanent damage to the gills...sunken in stomach area would be a sign of starvation....how is her breathing, she moving her gills rapidly? does she constantly looked distressed?

 

[Ramrebel]

levels

Ammonia is about 1 ppm. Ph is high - 7.4 - i'm lowering it little by little

She's barely moving - no noticable gill or fin movement BUT she isn't dead - she's occassionally moving around - I thought she died yesterday until I touched her tail with the net

How can you tell if a fish is distressed? Yesterday when I came into school, she darted about the tank so rapidly that she rammed into the glass and filter

I'm worried

Thanx for replying

Ed

 

[fishfreek]

Re: levels

Ammonia is about 1 ppm.

WATER CHANGE!

Reguarless of the size of the tank perform a 50% water change as soon as possible. ALso get some AmmoLock this will lock up the toxic ammonia and convert it to a non toxic form. The ammonia will still test on your kits after using this product but it will not be toxic any more.

I fear it might be to late but if the fish is alive its worth trying to save.

 

[Ramrebel]

ammonia

it was much higher before i did a waterchange last week
I put in ammo-chips too

how do I know if permanent damage is done?

Ed

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

you really do need to get those levels down, quickly! you won't know probably until it dies, but from the sounds of it she is distressed=change in behavior, rapid gill, movement, easily frightened, just anything that isn't normal for the fish usually means something is wrong...

 

[Ramrebel]

last question

also i was looking at the pic and at my fish - it's the same kind but she has black rings around her eyes - is that some kind of disease or maybe just a marking

Ed

Thanx for all your care here

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

i have never heard of a disease that gives them black rings around their eyes, but there is a lot i don't know and i have never kept that type of fish , she's still no better? what's your ammonia at now?

 

[Ramrebel]

she's a fighter

she's still hanging in there

The ammonia is gone but my tap water is very basic. It's slowly being lowered but it's still at a Ph over 7

She still isn't eating but doesn't look starved - i'm confused

Re the eye - the ringed part is a little distended as well

Parrotsa aren't the most active fish are they?

Ed

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

how long has it been since you saw her eat something?

 

[Ramrebel]

eating

I have NEVER seen her eat!?!?!??!

Ed

PS Got some penecyllin - LFS guy I trust said I might help/ couldn't hurt