I have had my blood parrot for around two years now and he is a great fish. Ive never had a problem with him at all.. The last few days he wont eat any of his food. Ive never had a problem with him eating food before.. in fact he seemed to really enjoy eating.. I usually feed him some cichlid pellets and occasionaly freeze dried brine shrimp kinda like a treat. He is the only fish in his tank. Other than not eating he seems fine.. Hes swiming and following my finger and things hes always done.. I dont know what to do.. im worried about him.. Any one have any ideas or thoughts?
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Comments
Re: Blood Parrot not eating
That's great. I'm so happy he's doing better.
Please do try the peas. A blockage can cause a loss of appetite and the more he eats the worse the blockage can get. Once it gets to a point it is hard for the fish to recover from.
Happy New Year!!
Hi Randall, The first place
Hi Randall,
The first place I'd start is your water quality. Almost all aquarium problems start with poor water quality and/or diet. If your ammonia, nitrite are zero and your nitrates are 20 or below. Then, that's not the problem. If not, you'll need to do water changes until you hit these numbers.
Since you have a BP and you see no visible problems, I would then suggest a blockage/swim bladder problem. Fish in the wild will eat a lot of fiber by eating greens. Most fish in our tanks, do not get enough fiber. If BP's do not get enough fiber it can cause constipation/blockage. The food we feed them will swell inside the fish causing a blockage. If you soak the food a few minutes before feeding him, that will help. It will swell before feeding.
Try not feeding him anything but thawed, shelled, cut up, frozen peas for a few days. If he won't eat them either, fasting can also remove the blockage. But, it would be better if you could get a few peas in him.
Once this clears up, I would feed him the peas once or twice a week as part of his normal diet. Mine love them.
When a fish uses the bathroom it should pretty much fall from the fish immediately. If you see a long stringy stool hanging from the fish, this is a sign of constipation.
Please let us know how your fish is doing or if there is any change in appearance or behavior.
Happy new year!
Re: Hi Randall, The first place
I ran a check of his water and everything came back ok except the nitrate was high.. around 40... so i been doing water changes and checking often.. he seems to be feeling better.. hes back to swimming fast and interacting with me and instead of ignoring the food hes eating some.. not like he did but a little.. im still going to try the peas though i havent yet.. thank you so much! Im glad i found this site I love reading about parrots!