Is my fish sick?

[silvers]

I've recently introduced a Red Parrot Cichlid to my classroom. I've had a similar fish at home for about two years without any issues. However, the new addition has been experiencing some problems. Initially, I think the fish was intimidated by the kids - 75 pairs of eyes can be overwhelming. Lately, though, the fish has undergone a color change from orange to almost red, and it's developed white spots on its lips and tail. At first, I thought these spots resembled air bubbles, but now I'm not so sure. The fish's behavior has also been quite odd - it swims for about 30 seconds, then remains still for several minutes. There was even an instance where it was leaning against the tank wall. Nevertheless, as the day progresses, the fish appears to recover, and once the kids are gone, it seems to be fine again. In fact, it's swimming peacefully right now. I'm unsure if the kids are causing stress, or if there's a pH issue, or something else entirely. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[shinobi_ku]

Hiya silvers,

Sorry to hear you're having some trouble with your Red Parrot Cichlid. Hopefully, we can get to the bottom of this and sort things out for you.

To better understand what might be going on, could you tell us a bit more about your tank and the fish's environment? We'd love to know the water parameters - ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, pH, temperature, hardness, and so on. Also, a more detailed description of the fish's symptoms would be really helpful.

It'd be great to know how often you do water changes, and how much water you replace each time. Are you using any chemicals or treatments in the water? And what about tank mates - are there any other fish in the tank with your Red Parrot Cichlid?

Also, what's the tank size, and have you added any new fish recently? Oh, and one more thing - did you cycle the tank before introducing the fish, and if so, how did you go about doing it?

[silvers]

I don't have a way to measure the chemical levels in the tank. I just set up the tank about a month ago, so I haven't cycled the water yet - I figured the filter would take care of that. I did add pH balance when I first set it up, so I'm hoping that's helping. The fish is by itself in a 10 gallon tank - I've read that Red Parrot Cichlids can be pretty aggressive, so I didn't want to risk adding any tank mates. From what I've researched, they tend to attack most other fish, which wouldn't be ideal for a classroom environment.

[calmwave]

I was just thinking about the temperature in your tank, do you have a heater in there. Maybe the reason your fish seems to perk up later in the day is because the room warms up a bit.

[shinobi_ku]

I'm going to take a guess that the tank's not being cycled is a major contributor to your fish's behavior. When did you actually bring him home - was it right after you set up the tank? As for water changes, how often do you do them and how much water do you replace?

I think the ammonia and nitrite spikes are causing all these issues. To be honest, a 10-gallon tank is way too small for a Red Parrot Cichlid in the long run - they really need something like a 55-gallon tank.

I'd strongly recommend getting a liquid test kit as soon as possible to keep an eye on your water parameters. In the meantime, I'd suggest returning your fish to the pet store and doing a fishless cycle on your tank. There's a great article on it that I can link you to.

Also, I'd ditch the pH balance stuff - it's not necessary and can actually cause more harm than good. Your fish can adapt to the local pH just fine, and messing with it can just stress them out.