# Red blood parrots; swimming sideways at top of tank



## cailabrown (Apr 16, 2013)

I have two juvenile blood red parrots in a 20g (will be getting a 75g soon) & for the past few days they have both been swimming at the top of the tank tilting sideways.The tank has yet to be cycled, could that be a problem? They are eating normally though.

Ammonia: .5 
Nitrite: .5 
Nitrate: 20ppm
Temp: 80
Ph: 7.9

I've been doing 25%-30% water changes every other day to keep the ammonia/nitrite down.
Is there anything I can do to help them? 
I don't want them to die :-?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Your best option would be to return them to a cycled tank until your tank finishes cycling. It's best to fishless cycle your tank as described here.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Yes, it could be due to the uncycled tank. Every other day water changes are not going to cut it. If you don't have a cycled tank to move them to, you will need to monitor the water a couple of times a day and do a water change anytime you see a hint of ammonia, even if this means a couple of times a day. This will drag out the tank cycle somewhat, but it's really the only thing you can do once you've added fish to an uncycled tank. Make sure you aren't overfeeding, which will contribute to the spikes.

Hopefully, these are the only two fish in the tank???


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## cailabrown (Apr 16, 2013)

Will start doing water changes everyday then. If I'm still getting a slight trace of ammonia after the water change does that mean I didn't do a big enough water change? I've been doing about 40% water changes. I've been feeding them once every other day to keep the ammonia down too. 
This is actually my boyfriends tank, & he doesn't know ANYTHING about fish really. I'm the one who had to read up on the nitrogen cycle and the toxicity of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. And I know just from reading that our tank is overstocked. But he doesn't seem to understand. We already lost 2 tiger barbs & a tiger oscar  
Now we have 
4 small cichlid convicts(around 2")
2 bloodred parrots(3"-4")
2 Jack Dempseys (he will be taking these 2 back; they are more aggressive than all the other fish, & our new tank will STILL be WAY too small for these 2 to fit.)
1- Electric blue fish(I don't know the name, but looks like he has 2 whiskers; I think this fish is a peaceful community fish, so I'm scared the convicts might kill him when they get bigger  )
1- Plecostomus (about 3" long)

Can you give me an estimate of how big of a tank we need? He won't listen to me so I'm just trying to get advice from people that know what they're doing.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Yes, you are WAY overstocked.

The convicts will pair off once they begin to mature, and things will get really rough.

We need to identify the 'electric blue fish' to check for long term compatibility, and then we need to decide what you want from the new tank. Cichlids from different locales have different needs dietary, breeding and water wise, so without knowing what you have and what you want from the tank, it's hard to say what size tank you need. I do agree that the JDs need to go, as well as a couple of the convicts.

A 4 foot tank (length wise) will allow you to keep cichlids, just not the larger or more aggressive ones, so I would say getting rid of the JD and two of the convicts would allow you to work with a 55G, but you will still have to be very careful in your choices.


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