I hope it's ok to ask different questions about different fish in one post, seemed better than 3 or 4...anyway here goes.
BigGame told me that the pretty black marks on the rescued Red Parrot are caused by bad water. It seems to be getting worse.
When I got him he looked like this:


Now he looks like this:

I can't find much info on this online, most of what I find is just people's opinion and I trust ya'll more than strangers. The other RP is starting to get a very small amount of black on his tail. Could it be stress? I put them in with the O's and TinFoils 2 days ago but no one bothers them at all.

The rescued white tiger O doesn't have dorsal fins, any idea why? I can see 2 pieces that look like it's been shaved or something. She/he was like this when I got him/her so I know none of my fish did it.


Mommy and Daddy Sev laid eggs again yesterday but I'm not gonna get all excited this time and I'm just gonna leave them with the parents weather they eat them or not since moving them last time killed every last one of the poor things


Thanks for any and advice on these problems.

I forgot to give water stats for the RP's...PH is 7.2, everything else is 0.

ok where to start.

the severums and their eggs- personally iwould leave them in with the parents. sevs are good at caring for and raising their fry so i would suggest letting them do their job and see how it turns out. since they bred once you know that even if it doesnt work this time they will breed again.


the albino with no dorsal fin- you got me on that one. but perhaps it was done by a tankmate prior to you getting them.

the black on the parrot fish- i personally have not kept parrots but a close friend of mine does. when i querried him on the subject he told me that most of the time the black is caused by stress. since your water parameters are good the cause of the stress could be a tankmate. i would suggest keeping an eye on things and monitor the parrots interaction with the others in the tank. also jsut having larger tankmates might be enough to stress the little guys out so whatch carefully.

hopesome of this has helped you sins

Yes it was
No one bothers them but they stay hidden in a hollow log most of the time. They are even more shy than the Silver Dollars. I'm going to try to get rid of the plecos and catfish this week, if I do then I can put the RP's back in the 55 with smaller fish. Maybe that will de-stress them a little. They fight hard against the net, I know that can't be good for them. I just found out that they're a mixed breed and a breed that get dyed often. I can't believe how cruel some people can be. I thought they're mouths were cute till I read that they have trouble eating and chewing.
How big are the ones your friend has? Mine are only about 4-6 inches but one article said they got much bigger.

my friend has 2 of them and they are about 8 inches long and quite wide now. when he got them they were both about the size of a siver dollar.

oh ya he has had them now for about 2 years.

i had limited experience with parrot fish, thus, i will be useless.
but the dorsal fin of your oscar caught my attention. since when it
lost the fins? if it has them previously, that would be a concern,
you have problem in your tank, not for ammonia & nitrite things but
fin rot bacteria. it requires medication.

It was like that when I got her/him. I was just wondering if some people shaved or cut it off on purpose for some unknown reason. The fish looks fine otherwise and eats good but both of the rescued ones move slow. I don't think they're used to having room to move yet. I was afraid they'd be mean because they're so much bigger than everybody else but the most gentle ones in the tank.

I don't know much about parrot fish I am sorry but with the oscar have a fin missing is weird, If there are no visible scars, Indicating that someone cut or anouther fish did this , I am curious if it is a genetic breeding mishap. I have seen some sad looking oscars because of genetic breeding to create new species.

Half of the eggs got a white fungus, is there anything I could have done to prevent that? They ate the other half ...maybe to save them from the fungus?

As a preventative, keeping developing eggs in a dilute (medium blue) methylene blue solution with aeration for a few days (remove before hatching is expected as methylene blue may harm fry) seems to work. Most often, unfertilized or injured eggs are attacked by fungus. If the parent cares for the eggs like many cichlids and the fathead minnow, then the parent in charge will remove these eggs. Otherwise, you must do it. Methylene blue can aid in the process. Those eggs taking on the blue dye are compromised (infertile or have holes in them) and need to be removed. Without the dye, remove any eggs that are clouded (white) or obviously fungused. Tweezers work well for attached eggs while glass or plastic pipets work well for free (scattered) eggs. If the fungus gets out of control (when methylene blue is not used), all viable (usually clear with small eyes forming; some species like some cories may have colored eggs) eggs should be removed to a fresh setup with water of similar temperature, pH, etc. Fry should be removed to separate quarters as well because young fry can die from the egg fungus.

That sounds real good....have you ever put your hands in a tank with Mommy and Daddy Green Sererums?? I did it once, I learn real quick !!

Sinstinna wrote:


you think thats bad try it with jags every bite draws blood now