Very sad parrot – what to do?

My new tank is a “happy and healthyâ€, in it are 5 loaches 4 deacand and 3 parrots (550 litter) the tank is fairly new (3 weeks old ) and I have been stocking it gradually making a 15% water changes every 3 days. The water Parameters are perfect and all fishes are active and happy, except one parrot cichlid. He is one of the first arrival to the tank , when I bought him I knew I was taking a chance but I decided to go for it. To cut a very long story short the fish was very traumatised, displaying black marking (black spot ) on his fins, cowering and generally very frightened . He has been with me for 2 weeks now and I am not seeing much improvement, he is lying on his side hiding and for the last two days stopped eating and that concerned me
There are no white spots but I suspect that he may have a bacterial infection . I set up a hospital tank bough some meds and have to decide if I move him or not. The dilemma is that this may cause him yet another emotional trauma, which is worse?...

I would appreciate your advice!

---------- Post added at 17:11 ---------- Previous post was at 17:11 ----------

I forgot to mention that some of the black marking disappeared

 

Bump a fellow fish keeper in some need of info i know its a parrot but atleast help a fellow out.

Hows he doing now

 

The problems with parrots is that they are often injected with dyes and "tattooed" damaging them and causing stress. How are your nitrites? These can affect the fish badly. How long has your filter been going for?
I suggest keep doing the water changes but maybe move to a 20% water change. It could be a bacterial infection- does the fish have any fin-rot or fungus on it?

I read that if we were tattooed with a needle the size of the ones they use, it would be like using a pencil.

Hope it helps a bit.

 

Hey natnat - sorry to hear bout your Parrot...
Not sure what is affecting your fish exactly,buthere are some observations....
Have imported thousands of Parrots in the past - most of the little guys arrive here in bad shape,exibiting that lying on the side behaviour...Usualy comes right in a shorter time than what yours is exhibiting...
Is he being bullied by the other guys maybe?
Know you mentioned from the start that this little guy was "shy" and hiding - what was his behaviour like in the LFS? What do you mean by taking a chance with him?

The not eating is not a good sign for me...that normally means a fish is NOT happy - you have ruled out bad water,so could be a coupla things... I'ts difficult to make a diagnosis without more info...The black colouration on the fins is/was just stress related and not at the core of the issue.... Have a look at his fins: Clear,not ragedy? Is his bodyslime sort of milky?

Answer some of these - I'll get a better idea of what is going on...

 

Thank you all for your responses

To start with the ammonia and nitrate are at 0
Let me give you a short history of this fish, i got him from a supplier I trust and the story goes as follows; he was imported from china in a plastic bag with 50 other fish, arrived half dead with many of his mates dead. He then got white spots (all the surviving parrots did) and been treated rather aggressively with his fellow surviving parrots, after he recovered all his mates were sold and he was the last left . this was when i "met" him, the previous day he started displaying the black marking which obviously were a result of the terrible stress he went through, when I saw him he was alone in the tank cowering in the corner , needless to say it was very heartbreaking, so I decided to take him and try and make his, so far miserable life, more tolerable. Neither i nor the supplier think he was dye he is orange (still young) and doesn't show any discoloration associated with previously dyed fish.
When I introduced him he was bullied a little by the 2 other very healthy and energetic blood parrots, the deacons ignored him and, as my tank is rather larg,e he eventually found a peaceful spot. My concern began when he stopped eating and seem to be “floating” up not able to remain at the bottom of the tank without being “pulled up”. I did lots of research last night and apparently this may be associated with bacterial infection (I also fed him and the other fish peas for the last few days to ensure he is not blocked)
I transferred him to the hospital tank last night, temperature at 30c added an airstone and using Myxazin...

 

O.k...think I know whats going on now...

All fish have a paired swim bladder to control their boyancy in the water column... by passing gas via a small sphincter valve, from one to the other the fish will either sink or float in water... Now,sometimes the fish's control over this muscle is impacted due to variuos reasons - a bacterial infection is one... but in your case I suspect another reason:
Parrot fish and fancy goldfish have body shapes that are FAR from the natural,wild parents original shape... Due to the foreshortening of the body,one often finds that the compaction of the internal organs in the fishes body cavity puts pressure on the walls of one or both of the swim bladders,causing the fish to struggle with the gasseous exchange between the two...

Lets hope the heated water and the Myxazin(Good stuff BTW...) helps if it is a case of bacterial infection to the sphinctermuscle...G'luck mate!!!