Clarabell is a blood parrot that has been in my care for about 10 months. I don’t know her exact age but her body (without counting fins) is over 3 inches around.
When I got home from work yesterday she was floating head up in a corner and appeared dead. She was pale and showed no sign of movement when I stuck my finger into the tank to see what was happening. While I was getting the big net out to get her, my husband actually touched her and she didn’t respond. When I put the net into the water to get her, it became obvious she was alive, but barely. I immediately stuck her in a one gallon jug I have for such occasions and floated it in a 20 gallon hospital tank I keep nearby, which has the exact same water parameters. She kind of floated on her side most of the time and didn’t flip out at all like you’d expect until I let her out 20 minutes later. She righted herself and went about exploring the tank like a healthy, normal fish. An hour later she ate some pieces of thawed shrimp (her absolute favorite) and showed no signs illness or distress. I saw some weird brown colored streaks on the lower body (see photo below) that were definitely not there Sunday, as I’d given her a long look-over that day because of her history. I dosed with melafix right away until I can figure out what this is. This morning she was alive and well, actively swimming and ate a few cichlid pellets with her usual vigor.
She was given to me by a moving neighbor. She had advanced gill disease and was in an overcrowded tank with aggressive tank mates. Additionally, all were infected with some type of fluke like external parasite and three of five tank mates had fin rot. All five, including Clarabell are alive and thriving after long, careful treatment.
After months isolated in a hospital tank, she has lived happily with a former tank mate, a mature, female EBJD. It’s 55 gallons, with sand. They are fed a wide variety of appropriate foods, including high quality cichlid pellets, dried seaweed, fresh veggies, dried krill, frozen shrimp and occasionally guppy fry, which she chases but can’t catch due to a blood parrot’s deformed mouth. The tank received a 25-50 PWC weekly and is properly filtered and tested. Natural ph is 7.6, nitrates last tested at barely 10, but goes as high as 20, never over. Temp is 76. Neither she nor any tank mates has been medicated or treated since late August, last year.
She has been healthy as can be since last October. Eats well, is an active swimmer and shows a great deal of interest in food and is very responsive to me and others when near the tank. There is very little aggression between her and the JD. There is a 10 inch common pleco in the tank that is still very pale sickly looking from fin rot and intense parsitic infection though it looks 1000 times better now than when it came into my care. I don’t know why it’s still alive except its obviously a very tough fish who has responded well to a proper diet and clean water conditions.
I’ve grown to love this fish.
Any suggestions?
