Re: [tropical fish club] Sick Parrots

 

Hi. I have just spoken to my friend again on the phone and I got a lot of the info wrong so I will start again.
The fish are actually blood parrot fish which are smaller than parrot fish and are nearer 8 years old.

Originally he had 3 blood parrots and a plec in the tank, one of the parrots died and the tank was in a bit of a mess so he decided to move the remaining fish to a temporary tank and completely empty the tank wash and renew the substrate.

He used the water and filters from the original tank for the temporary tank, after cleaning the original tank with just water he filled with clean water added de-chlorinator and brought the tank up to temperature.

He then added bio-clean which for want of a better term is an instant cycle, I know most fish keepers don't believe it works but he's results seem impressive to a novice like me, and as he said the water tests all show zero's that's ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

In case you're not familiar with bio-clean it is expensive, you get 12 small glass vials 6 clear and 6 brown on he's size tank you put two of each in and you must add the fish within 1 hour.
Then he added the fish, he did a water test on day 3 and day 6 with 3 zero's both times.

The plec died on day 5, and the parrots seem to be getting worse since then, covered with this cotton wool type wisps hanging from them.
Sorry for the bad info on the first post, I love tropical fish but what a massive learning curve, 1year in and I still know very little about them.
Thanks Chris.

--- In tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com, Dawn Moneyhan <dawnshungryeyes4u2c@...> wrote:
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> 120 liters is just over 31 gallons... way too small for even 1 parrot fish.  If they can still fit into that tank after 3 yrs that says a lot about their overall health/condition.  I'm not sure what you meant by tests showing zeros across the board?  Does that include nitrate?  If so then I would say there is either something wrong with the test kits or the tests were done after a large water change and not giving accurate results. 
> It sounds like there could be 1 of any number of potential problems going on... fungus is one possibility, sloughing skin due to water conditions is another.  Considering the tank size and questionable test results I would not suggest putting any kind of medication into that tank.  Medication and poor water quality tend to make for a toxic mix and would do more harm than good.
> Just because the fish have lived in those conditions for 3 yrs does not indicate someone is doing something right.  There is a lot of damage that can be caused in that amount of time frame and I suspect your friend is now seeing the end result of it.  2 adult parrot fish should have a minimum of 75 - 90 gallons, and even that would take multiple water changes each week to keep them healthy, along with good filtration. 
> There is a good chance that all these fish need are proper conditions if they are still strong enough to survive their ordeal. 
> Still a lot of unanswered questions to go on here... especially concerning the water chemistry and testing.  25 degrees Celsius is 77 degrees Fahrenheit.  Under better conditions I would suggest raising the temp to about 80, but with such a small tank then I would be concerned about lack of oxygen in the water. 
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> Sorry there isn't much more to offer.  Saving those fish is going to be dependent on properly housing them.  If they remain in that size of a tank there isn't much hope to offer.
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> Dawn
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> Dawn Moneyhan
> Aquatics Specialist/Nutritionist
> To learn more about me go to
> http://www.helium.com/users/449334
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> --- On Sat, 6/30/12, Chris <cris.1117@...> wrote:
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> From: Chris <cris.1117@...>
> Subject: Re: [tropical fish club] Sick Parrots
> To: tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Saturday, June 30, 2012, 3:19 PM
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> Hi. The tank is 120litre water test have shown all zero's the fish are quit large, now only two in the tank, he had a big plec as well that is now dead.
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> He did a 50% water change a week ago when the plec died, he feeds them every two days not sure what, probably just flake, temp 25c.
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> He has had the Parrot's for about three years so I would guess he must be doing things right for them to have lasted this long.
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> They just look really strange like they are covered in wisps of cotton wool hanging from their fins; I would guess some sort of fungus.
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> --- In tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com, bill 1433 <warrenprint@> wrote:
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> > Hi Chris,
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> > The tanks temperature might also be a handy piece of
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> > information to have.
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> > bill in pa
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> > --- On Sat, 6/30/12, Dawn Moneyhan <dawnshungryeyes4u2c@> wrote:
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> > From: Dawn Moneyhan <dawnshungryeyes4u2c@>
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> > Subject: Re: [tropical fish club] Sick Parrots
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> > To: tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com
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> > Date: Saturday, June 30, 2012, 2:21 PM
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> > Chris,
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> > The first thing to check is water quality, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH.  I'm wondering how large the fish are, how many there are, and what size tank they are in?  As well as how often water changes are done and how much water each time?  Also check into how often they are fed, what they are being fed, and how much at a time? 
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> > Without answers to these questions and possibly more, there is no way to offer you much in way of help. 
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> > Dawn
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> > Dawn Moneyhan
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> >   Aquatics Specialist/Nutritionist
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> > To learn more about me go to
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> > http://www.helium.com/users/449334
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> >  
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> > --- On Sat, 6/30/12, Chris <cris.1117@> wrote:
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> > From: Chris <cris.1117@>
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> > Subject: [tropical fish club] Sick Parrots
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> > To: tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com
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> > Date: Saturday, June 30, 2012, 12:43 PM
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> >       Hi. Just came back from a friend who has a problem with he's parrot fish.
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> > The best way to describe it is it looks like they have been sunburnt and are starting to peel, white skin looking stuff hanging from them one has also a couple of largish white lumps on he's face.
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> > The other one doesn't look to good spending most of he's time upside down. 
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> > Any thoughts gratefully received.
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> > Chris
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