# BLOOD PARROT - very sick - help!



## hugenerd (Jan 8, 2009)

Hi there,

I need some help. 3yr old My blood parrot has started to get the following;

Cloudy Eye
Rapid Breathing
Color loss (half his body is now a pale pink instead of the dark orange/red)
No slime coat
Scales seem wrinkled (his beak is almost shrunked around his natural bone structure)
Scales in one spot are raised and very slightly bloody
Not eaten in a week

All of the above symptoms have come on in the last 24/36 hours aside from the cloudy eye which started on and off since his appetite went.

I recently started feeding him Krill as treat but aside from that he usually eats cichlids sticks and dianichi

My water parameters are fine - Ammonia 0 - nitrates 0 - 0 PH 7.9 Temp 78.
I do weekly 30-40% water changes & treat with Stress coat+

He is in a 55G with other Cichlids who are all fine........so far. He is my favorite fish and I don't want to loose him. I have put him in a hospital tank for now with 75% his tank water and 25% new water. No medication yet. I have clout & Mardel coppersafe just in case.

I did a google search and could not find anything really matched what he has.

HEEELLLLPPPPP!

Thanks guys in advance - you have helped me save one of cichlids in the past - i hope we can do it again : )


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Is there a chance he lost a fight? That would explain just about everything but the rapid breathing and skin problem. Can you post a picture?


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## hugenerd (Jan 8, 2009)

He is now swimming upside down in at the bottom of his hospital tank. He is the biggest fish in the tank and none of my other Cichlids mess with him. He dominates them and they never get in his way.

I have never had much luck posting pictures but will try now.

http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa477/favo1984/


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## hugenerd (Jan 8, 2009)

Found this - http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/ ... amita.aspx

I need an expert here, from what I have said so far and from the pictures you have seen could it be Hole in the Head disease? Anyone have experience with hole in the head at all???


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Thank you for the pictures- unfortunately your fish is likely too sick to recover. I think we're looking at dropsy- well advanced. At this stage, I might suggest that you euthanize the fish to cut short suffering.  When I have a fish that I know I can't fix, I place them in the freezer (without water).

If there was no source of infection, organ failure can cause these symptoms in fish, and there's nothing we can do about it. If there is a source of infection (poor water quality, bad food, open wound, GI tract issues) then sometimes metronidazole combined with epsom salt and frequent large water changes can help.


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