Hiding Parrot Fish

[newtankgirl]

My parrot fish is not right - he's hiding, not really eating and looks like he's losing weight. He's normally bright eyed and nosey but he just doesn't look right. He's been like this for a few days - Going paler sometimes but then goes back to normal. The water is fine - i have water changed anyway in case made a difference. He's in a fluval 190 = 174 litres and has no aggressive tank mates. Any ideas?

 

[WILDER]

Going pale in colour is stress, and also desease.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
laboured breathing.
Looking bloated.
What it look like when he goes to the toilet.
Any red streaking on body or fins.

Is it possible to get a pic up of the fish.
Also check his gills over for any changes.

 

[newtankgirl]

Going pale in colour is stress, and also desease.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing. - No
laboured breathing.- No not noticably
Looking bloated.- no - i dont think so but he looks like his bottom half has lost a bit of weight- no scales sticking out
What it look like when he goes to the toilet.- sorry dont know...
Any red streaking on body or fins.- no

I can't see why he would be stressed - water quality fine, noones picking on him! He;s just hiding behind a rock on the bottom (not on one side) looking really sorry for himself. Thanks for your reply x

 

[WILDER]

Going pale can be ph swings has the ph been fine.

So all the signs are being pale then going back to his normal colour, hiding, and not eating.

What the colour of his poo.



Look some info up and not eating can be a sign of constipation.

He did lose the weight once he stopped eating not berfore.

 

[newtankgirl]

pH is around 7 - never really changes so its not something i check regulary - i will do again, i didnt realise. I havent seen him poo for a while.. but then to be honest i haven't looked.. You think he's just constipated Yes, he doesnt really have any major "fish disease symptoms" - read all the "help my fish is sick" posts i could find and none apply to him, hence stumped!

 

[WILDER]

Try and get some veg down him, peas are good, not sure what parrot fish eat to be honest.
Usually when a fish stops eating bad news.
Not much to go on really, plus I know nothing about them so makes it harder.

 

[newtankgirl]

Ok, I'll try that, thanks for your help x

 

[vancouver]

If you don't see anything on the outside it's possibly something inside. Could be some sort of bacterial infection. I've lost parrots before for no apparent reason. Lost their color, hid a lot, then just dropped dead.

 

[WildernessLofts]

Could that be a side-effect of being a hybrid? I know that wouldn't be a case a lot of times, but then I guess it would really just depend on the parents used in the cross at that time, right?

I don't think "hybrid vigor" is always a correct term.

 

[newtankgirl]

Is it worth trying some sort of antibiotic just in case? And if so what? x

 

[newtankgirl]

Can anyone tell me what dropsy looks like? Last night Wilder asked if scales sticking out and they wern't but today although he looks more interested in food his scales are more obvious - not really "pine cone like" but more visible. I cant isolate him because I dont have another tank and I dont have a digital camera right now to post any pics but from my description can anyone help? Thanks x

 

[vancouver]

Never heard of a parrot getting dropsy before.. Not sure what you mean by ''scales are more visible''. Can you see the points of the scales? They should be sticking out a bit if it is dropsy.

 

[newtankgirl]

Can anyone tell me what dropsy looks like? Last night Wilder asked if there were any other symptoms and they wern't but today although he looks more interested in food his scales are more obvious - not really "pine cone like" but more visible. I cant isolate him because I dont have another tank and I dont have a digital camera right now to post any pics but from my description can anyone help? Thanks x

 

[WILDER]

With dropsy the fish usally bloats up.
I was thinking it was a bacterial infection to parasite but there no flicking and rubbing.
If you can issolate him I wouldn try a bacterial med.

 

[newtankgirl]

Ok i mean that - best way to describe it is that he looks like his head has dry skin - some sticking out just a tiny bit but not all over. Is dropsy something that not all fish can get then? Hopefully im panicking and the peas will do the trick!!

His head end looks a bit bloated today but i'm not sure if thats cos he's lost weight on the bottom half.. I cant isolate - would it hurt the others to have contact with an antibiotic and if ok - which one? Thanks again