dexter

Hi
One of my Red Parrot fish seems to have some black coloring on his fins he had it when i got him and i thought it was just his color but there seems to be more black now, any idea what this is?

TFA101

I could only imagine it would be coloration. I don't know what else it could be.

lilFishyfish

Hi! I wasn't able to see the pic but it might just be from maturing. Was he little when you got him and now an adult? Or is his the same size as when you bought him. Does he seem sick, clamped fins? Also are his fins in good shape, no fin rot going on? If he seem in good shape it didn't appear over a only few days, It might just be his coloring..

dexter

i will try to get a close up of the area I'm concerned about, I'm going to follow this more closely and post what i see, atm it seems like some days there is more black and some days there is less. It's not easy to get a close up as every time i bring the camera to the aquarium he takes off. I hope you can see the photo now that i posted earlier.

TFA101

A fish's color will fade depending on the time of the day. My fish are pale when I turn on the light, and color up in a few minutes. Their color reduces during the night as they "sleep" and they will also fade when under stress. When there's more black on him, he's probably just relaxed, when he has less black, something might've spooked him or he might've been nipped by another fish

dexter

thanks for getting back to me like i said i will watch him/her closely.

COBettaCouple

His behavior and appetite are normal?

dexter

it seems now all the black is gone, i did a half water change and put some Hagen Nutrafin "Aqua Plus" Water Conditioners with P.H.E and Hagen Nutrafin Cycle Water Supplements but now these seem a little more territorial i did add more places for them to hide and relax, maybe that could be the reason for them being more territorial. Thanks for everyone's comments and i will keep posting their progress.

dexter

oh yes behavior and appetite are normal

Malden

I appreciated your question because my red parrot fish is doing the same thing. It has a black spot on his nose and the fins are turning black. He also has taken up hiding in one of our aquarium decorations. We have a yellow parrot also and it is fine. Would really like to know what is going on with him and if I have to treat it somehow..I too am a beginner with this type of fish, but I really like them and dont want to lost them....HELP

capekate

Hi Malden
I also have parrot fish and they are wonderful fish!
My parrots were juvi's when I got them. They had marbling black pattern with orange on the tail fins. Now as they are growing one of them is turning more orange with wonderful patterns. It seems to me that the parrot fish start off with the darker coloring and as they mature they start to loose the black and go to a solid red/orange color.Personally I love the different color pattern on them and wish they would stay that way instead of going to a solid orange.
I have some photos of my two parrots when I first bought them and a photo that I took the other day.
I dont believe there is anything wrong with your parrot fish as the same with the OP where the photos showed the dark tail fins. BTW they love to hide in caves or in your case a decoration. If you had a terra cotta pot you would find that they love to go in and out of them. They are so playful and I just love these fish.
first photo was taken on nov 8th and the second photo was from a few days ago, so you can see how much they can change in such a short time.

Attached Images

	Nov 8th New fish Parrots 018.jpg (222.0 KB, 41 views)
	Nov 28th, fish photos 006.jpg (226.4 KB, 40 views)

PepsiGirl71

If Red Parrots are the same thing as Blood Parrot cichlids then, when one of my fish starts getting some black on it I'll notice eggs in the tank shortly after. Don't know if that's what is happening to yours or not. But maybe? And I do a lot of water changes as well to keep them healthy.

capekate

Hi,
have your parrot fish ever spawned successfully? I hear that they go through the breeding ritual taking care of the eggs, but the eggs turn white and die and then the parents eat the eggs. Tho there are cases of successful breeding, for the most part these fish are infertile and will not produce fry.
The red parrot, the blood red parrot are the same fish.
They do change color often, one thought is that they are a mix of the midas cichlid (and Severum) which seems to change its color from time to time.

-pinky-

My little sisters coldwater goldfish was gold when she got it, but now it has lots of black on it...its probably just his colour starting to come through =]

I'm not sure though, i don't know alot about parrotfish

Malden

tks to all....I do believe that the little girl did lay some eggs...this is really neat...glad that there is nothing wrong with them. They are fun to watch

PepsiGirl71

No, my fish are infertile. Doesn't stop them from laying the eggs though. I do so many water changes that I just vaccuum them up, don't want a chance of a fungus or something.