Diva51

I have a 29 gallon tank with:
1 Blood Parrot
1 tiger Oscar
1 Angel fish
1 bamboo shrimp
4 corey cats

The Blood Parrot (Budah) seems to have trouble eating. He will swim right up to the pellets and then acts like he doesn't see them. Do the fish have trouble eating as a result of their genetics? I don't want him to starve! Help!

Shawnie

im sorry your fish baby isnt doing welll...but you have a severly overstocked tank unfortunately the oscar alone needs 55gals or more...do you know your ammonia/nitrite readings? its hard hearing this i know, but allot of us have been there

your parrot and oscar need to have a much larger tank ..your angel and cories are ok and your shrimp should be fine with allot of hiding spots....

Diva51

Right now both the oscar and the parrot are very small. They are only about 2.5" each. They are going into a larger tank when I am done remodeling the living room. So this tank is just temporary. I should be done in a couple of months. The water tests ok, like I said all of the fish are really small......now.

Shawnie

small fish still have a HUGE bioload like oscars and parrots so you almost have to double their size with the amount of poo they release every day ,,,what test kit are you using and do you know your readings?

Diva51

Nitrites and Nitrates were 0 , the pH was high so i am treating the water for that. The test kit is a liquid, i can't call the name right now and I am not at the aquarium.

aquarist48

Hello Diva. Your Bloody Parrot needs really small pellets (if that is your food of choice) until he grows up. Too, they like freeze dried krill (pre-soaked) When your Bloody Parrot is facing you, look down it's throat so to speak. You'll see that his actual mouth is inside the parrot shaped beak. The food has to get past the beak to reach its mouth.

I do not recommend using chemicals to adjust your pH levels. Most fish will adapt to the pH right from the tap. What is your pH level? Here is a link on pH you may find helpful with natural ways of adjusting it.
Properly Maintaining the pH in a Freshwater Aquarium - Rate My Fish Tank
Hope you can share some photos sometime.
Ken
I've moved your thread to the "hybrid/parrot cichlid " section of the forum.
Thanks!
Ken

Diva51

Thank you!!! I've been using chiclid sticks and breadking them up before I drop them in. I will break them up smaller now. I'm glad to know he's not retarded! LOL

aquarist48

LOL...morning Diva. Nah...your Bloody Parrot is fine. They are a very unusual species to say the least. I use cichlid sticks as well and I break them up. Here is something you may want to consider feeding them as well. Mine seem to love it:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...4&pcatid=12144
this food comes in 3 sizes. I order from DrsFosterSmith often and they are very reliable and I highly recommend them.
Have fun with your parrot. Maybe one of these days when you you can get a larger tank you can get him a buddy of his own kind. You'll see an amazing change in his behavior.
Best wishes!
Ken

Shawnie

hmm if its liquid, does it have an ammonia tester? unless you do daily water changes, i find it hard to have 0 nitrates in a tank with those type of fish..could you be getting false readings? i wouldnt mess with the ph either as ken recommended..thats more harmful than good...

Diva51

I do weekly water changes, I'm not sure abut the false readings but I will definately check that out. thanks for the tip on the ph.

aquarist48

Hello Diva. Please keep us posted.
Ken

Shawnie

and definitely dont forget to get an ammonia kit..thats very important ..ammonia can sneak up fast and kill very quickly