New Blood Parrot Parents!!

Hello everyone! My husband and I have been reading these forums for a while now, doing research on these babies before we got some of our own! We've never had fish like this before so it's exciting! We are just a bit worried.

We set up our 30 gallon aquarium this past Friday, we put in the safe start, and dechlorinator, and have been monitoring the water levels everyday twice a day. We bought 4 starter fish on that Friday, to help get the tank going, the last fish died a day and a half ago.. weve been testing with strips, and the levels have been pretty much the same.. Nitrate and Nitrites show up as 0, the PH is a little high, about an 8.0-8.4, alkalinity is pretty high, and the hardness is very hard..

We brought a water sample over to an aquarium store to have it tested, and the guy said the levels were perfect, and they were fine for the fish.. So we bought 2 of them and now they are here, and after letting their bags float in the water for a while we put them in the tank. ( we plan on upgrading to a bigger tank in a few months).

I have 2 questions.. 1) my friend thinks that the guy at the aquarium store was just trying to sell us fish, and that my tank isn't ready. Is that what it sounds like to you all? I am already in love with these fish, and I don't want them to die.

And my second question is this..I fed them a few pellets, and they acted like they haven't ate in forever! My concern though, I have gravel at the bottom of the tank, and when one of them went to get the food off the gravel, he sucked a piece in.. Maybe he spit it out, I'm not sure, but it DEFINITELY went in.. I'm not sure if this is super dangerous, but I don't think it's good.. PLEASE HELP!

 

First off congrads on your babies! I have 2 blood parrots as well and they're my joy! A 30 gallon is actually very small for 2 parrots. They can get pretty big. As with the rocks, they'll be fine. Mine will actually pick my gravel up constantly to move a spot for her home.

 

Oh sorry! I missed your plan to upgrade. I apologize for that.

 

Oh sorry! I missed your plan to upgrade. I apologize for that.

No worries! They are adoreable!! I absolutely love them! I'm just so scared that there will be an ammonia spike because I don't think the tank finished cycling.. What can I do during these next few days to ensure they stay alive? My friend knows quite a bit about fish and said do 30% water changes daily. Does that sound about right?

 

Yeah that sounds okay but you cycle a tank to get some good bacteria going that fish need to be healthy and water changes takes the waste out but also that bacteria you need as well. I would honestly just watch and test your water often and if the ammonia gets up there at all do the 30% water change. If you wouldn't mind keep me updated about your babies. I'm sure they'll be okay as long as you just check that water. They're hardy little things. If you don't mind me asking are your parrots shy? I'm just curious.

 

Yeah that sounds okay but you cycle a tank to get some good bacteria going that fish need to be healthy and water changes takes the waste out but also that bacteria you need as well. I would honestly just watch and test your water often and if the ammonia gets up there at all do the 30% water change. If you wouldn't mind keep me updated about your babies. I'm sure they'll be okay as long as you just check that water. They're hardy little things. If you don't mind me asking are your parrots shy? I'm just curious.

Thank you for the advice! We are actually going now to go get a few more hiding places for them because the one I have currently only fits one of them, and the other one tries to get in there too! I'm not sure if this is normal as well, but one of them chases the other around, and pins it up against the bottom corner.. Not sure if it's playing or bullying. Lol

They are actually quite friendly for the first day! Follow our fingers around the tank, they don't really hide, they've been swimming around. Occasionally they will go in the rock for a minute but then they come right back out and swim around.

I will def keep you updated! How do you post photos on here?! I'm excited to show them off! Lol

 

Aw I have one that's quite a bit smaller than the other and the bigger one chases my little one around. My big one is still shy but my little one has never hid. She will stare at my non stop and beg for attention. You gotta love them! For pictures when you reply to this on the left bottom you'll see "Add Image To Post". It'll take you to another window where you'll browse your photos and you can either copy and paste the here or below it will be a link to copy and paste in the post as well.

 

does that work?

 

This is a better one! I just love them!

 

Great looking parrots! I love parrots as well and just started keeping mine in a 75 gallon. They are quite the characters indeed. Loads of personality!

Unfortunately your friend was right...at least the part about your tank not being ready. And the pet store employee probably didn't lie to you on purpose, they probably just didn't know. Most pet store employees really are not all that knowledgeable about the products they carry...only repeat what some other pet store employee has told them. A tank with 0 nitrates is almost definitely not cycled. You are likely to see an ammonia or nitrite spike with these new fish which can be deadly. It would have been better for you to give your tank some more time to cycle but there is no sense in rehashing something in the past.

So here is what I would do...

1) Go to the store and purchase some prime, TSS+, and an apI master test kit (the test strips are not as accurate as you need them to be) as soon as possible.
2) Test to see what the ammonia levels are as well as the nitrites with the NEW test kit. If the ammonia levels are above 1 ppm, do a 50% water change and use prime for your water conditioner (any water conditioner will work but prime is cheaper in the long run)
3) If your ammonia was less than 1 ppm, then go ahead and poor the entire bottle of tss+ in. Do not fear overdosing as this will not harm your fish. If your ammonia was above 1 ppm and you needed to do a water change, wait 24 hours after the water change and poor all of the TSS+ in.
4) Wait two weeks without doing any water tests or water changes and feed sparingly. BP's are hogs and act like they are always starving. I assure you they are not. They can go a full week and more without food. I would feed a small amount every day or every other day during these two weeks. Do not add any other fish.
5)After the full 2 weeks your tank SHOULD be cycled. Test with the API test kit and ensure that you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and >0 nitrates

What temperature are you keeping the tank at as well? The one BP pinning the other in the corner is definitely bullying and not playing. I would try to push the tank upgrade up as soon as possible as 30 gallons really is very small for blood parrots. I would try to get a 55 gallon absolute minimum with 65 or 75 being preferred.

 

Very nice parrots!! I love you bubble wall too!


These are my babies Polly and Pebbles.

 

Tyguy- Thank you so much for all of that info. We actually went to a really big aquarium store, and it was actually the owner who told us the water was fine, even after we told him absolutely everything we have done, how long we have had the tank running, etc. we've been to 3 different places, and every one has told us something different in regards as how to properly cycle the tank. We trusted this guy because he was the actual owner of the place, and builds aquariums as well. Figuered he knew more than petco, ya know?

I really love these 2.. They are adoreable and definitely don't want them to get sick, or die.. So I'm going to be as OCD as possible to get this in order.. We originally went in to just get some more starter fish, and just speed up creating more beneficial bacteria. That's when he tested the water and said the tank is 100% ok. I'm really bummed I am actually on the way to petco now, because the place we went to only carried the strips.. When I get home and test the water I'll post the levels. I truly appreciate all of the advice! I would have NEVER bought this guys if I had known it was still dangerous. Hopefully these guys will be able to get through this..

 

They are so cute! I just love these fish! And thank you! I got that LED bubbler at petco!

 

I am keeping the tank at 80 right now.. I read tbag the water should be between 76-82.. It was 74 earlier but we upgraded the heater today and kept it at 80

 

Well I just I hate to say anyone purposely mislead anyone but if he is as experienced as you say he is then it sounds like your friend was right in regards to him only wanting to sell you some fish. It's great though that you knew enough to come online and get advice as many people just keep doing the same thing over and over with the same results.

What temperature are you keeping the tank? While you are getting the cycling issues worked out I would keep a close eye on bullying and make sure it doesn't get too bad. Decorations like Driftwood and rocks as well as caves and shaded areas in the tank will definitely assist in breaking up the sightlines and hopefully will help reduce the aggression

But right now the most important thing is getting that Master test kit as well as some TSS Plus and getting this cycle going in the right direction

 

I'm at the store and they don't know what TSS plus is.. What is it? Help!

 

Tetra safe start plus

 

We put that in with safe start when we got the tank, so we have some of that left over. We got that big test kit, a bigger hiding rock for the other side of the tank, and a hiding pot as well.. We are going to buy a bigger tank in a couple of weeks, and get that one all set up and cycled the RIGHT way.. Petco just used test strips to test the water.. She said it was perfect too.. But I showed her the results of a test strip with just tap water and it shows the same perfect reading. I feel like I should have realized this earlier.. Hope my tank gets better

 

I just did my readings with the new test kit.
Hard oh test.. 8.0
Ammonia 0.50
Nitrite-0
Nitrate 0

so pour the whole bottle of TSS in? It's 3.8 FL oz.

 

Yeah you can't over dose this stuff. Then don't test for 2 weeks as the results won't be accurate. You'll want to keep an eye on your parrots for visible signs of stress or ammonia poisoning such as hovering at the top. Gasping for breath or irritated and red gills. Scraping against the walls or decor can be a sign as well

 

Just an update, my fish are doing well.. Hiding a bit more now.. I also noticed that they aren't eating as much as they did the first day I got them.. The first day they acted as if they were starving.. Now not so much.. They also are hiding a lot more.. One goes in a rock and the other stays in a corner.. They aren't really as active as they were.. Is this normal...? I also did an ammonia check, I know you said it wouldn't be accurate, but it read at a 1.0.. Just leave it?

Thanks

 

If you have tss in the tank the ammonia that is present should not be toxic to the fish

Blood parrots ate an extraordinarily shy fish. Sometimes they week be very active at first but then become very shy. I wouldn't worry too much