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I've had parrots for almost a year and I just had to get some more because unfortunately the last ones died of fin rot. I bought two larger parrots from a local fish store that had a really crappy return policy and I didn't know what it was at the time.

The larger of the two had a little white spot on its left gill and, since we've only had him for 3 days, I'm assuming it was there when we bought him. He's acting really strange and hanging out in a top corner or up by the front of the glass.

This morning I noticed his top fin was completely out of the water and he looked as if he was having some problems with his balance. He's been eating maybe every other day and I've been feeding them OSI Blood Parrot specific food and I gave them blood worms once, as a treat.

I started putting in Melafix and Pimafix in to try and take the fungus or bacteria or whatever it was to go away. I'm really worried because if he's sick, I have two other parrots in that 75 gallon tank.

If you have any possible answers, please let me know. I would appreciate it very much.

The white spot could be ick or a fungus, good call with the pima and mela fix. How the water quality though? It is possible that since he's having some buoyancy issues he could have swim bladder disorder (aka constipation), so you could try to give him some frozen peas (it won't hurt if the others get some). Try that for 4-5 days, and watch for a bowel movement.

Other than a hospital tank, there isn't anything you can do to separate the other fish from your ill fish. Keep us posted on the status of your poor little guy.

Thanks for the advice. I have a weird question; could it be possible he likes the top? Since I've only had him for less than a week and he's been acting like this most of the time, I'm not really sure what's normal for him. The other thing is that I bought another fish from the same tank as the "sick" one and he's fine. I'm wondering if it could have been nipping because I looked at his gills and they're the same; they haven't gotton worse or better. I've noticed he's pretty upright now and he's been chasing the other fish (there's two of them) and he would go down under his rock for awhile. I'm continuing the pimafix and the melafix just for safe measure.

As for the tank conditions, ammonia is super low (.25 parts per million), the nirates are low and the nitrites are a little high but I figured that just because of the bacteria. The water is a bit cloudy which I don't understand but I thought that may be because I took the carbon packs out because I started treating him.

Do you have any other suggestions or possible answers as to the cloudy water? Also, Jumbo (that's his name) has been eating normally. When he does go up to the top, he almost looks like he's looking for food. When I put floating food in, sometimes he eats and sometimes he doesn't. He eats mainly sinking cichlid gold. The floating kind is a special food made by OSI specifically made for parrots. Thanks again and I look forward to your response!

Generally speaking, fish have a zone that they typically stay in (like mid water, top or bottom dwellers), but there are some that enjoy the whole entire tank. I'm not sure about parrots though. Since I can't see the fish, I'm going by what you're telling me. It's possible if you've noticed bullying that it could be fin nipping, but I can't say for sure what's wrong. If it is fin nipping, it's possible that the fins may not regenerate. Just keep the water clean and continue with the pima/mela -fix treatments for a little while.

Your water is likely cloudy from the ammonia because the ammonia level should be 0, and 0.25 ppm is almost there, but will still cause cloudy water. You will always have bacteria in your tank... they're beneficial bacteria though and help with the cycling of your tank. It's possible that if you didn't have fish in your tank for a little while (longer than a day) that your tank is cycling again, and from what I recall you had 2 fish before and now have 3. That will also cause your tank to cycle again. The cloudiness should go down as your water quality improves.

When Jumbo goes to the top, does he appear to be gasping for air? If so, you'll need to add an airstone as the water is likely low in oxygen. If he's not, then I'm not sure what he's doing at the top. Again, I'm not sure about parrot behavior specifically, just fish behavior in general. Hopefully he gets better. It definitely wouldn't hurt to add an air stone as water is generally lower in oxygen than air, but generally speaking fish have no problems getting enough oxygen (their gills are so awesome), so it's just a suggestion, not a requirement unless he's gasping.

I actually have a small airstone, a larger airstone ans then a huge starfish air stone so I know its definately well oxygenated. The other two fish also follow Jumbo up and then sometimes they'll get chased away. I did feed them some peas and Jumbo ate maybe one and he stopped. The medium sized parrot really liked them.

Is it possible that the medication could make it cloudy or is it recycling?

Thanks again. I really appreciate the great advice!

It's possible, but given that your ammonia is a little higher than normal, I'd say it's the ammonia. I've not heard anything effects from the mela/pima fix treatments like cloudy water or anything affecting the water quality, but there's a first time for everything I suppose.