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HELP RED BLOOD PARROT FISH WITH A giant thing on the nose

18K views 38 replies 9 participants last post by  fish_4_all 
#1 ·
So there is something growing at the nose one of my fishes seems to have had this happen before but I was able to stop it by buying some medication. Im sure its just a disease but just to make sure is it HITH disease? Because I put the medication into the tank already and I just wanted to be sure. Here are some pictures






 
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#8 ·
Blood parrots reach what, 8" each? They have a bioload of a 16" fish. The plecs, without knowing what specie they are, can easily outgrow yoru tank.

Did you ask your BP's if they are happy? Would you like living in a small container with 9 other people and you all live in your waste?

This is what Bettababy has really helped me with; take a piece of paper, and cut it into 8 8" pieces, with 2 5-10" pieces of paper. Place them in front of your tank. Is there really enough room for everybody?

How are you 'trates only .01? Either your tank is not cycled, or you used your test kit wrong. A tank with live inhabintants should always have more than 2ppm of 'trates.

The best thing you can do right now is to get everybody out and into proper homes.

Can we have a full-tank shot please?
 
#9 ·
OK I DIDNT COME ONTO THIS SITE TO HAVE PEOPLE [expletive edited] AT ME ABOUT THIS SITUATION I CAME ONTO THIS SITE TO GET SOME HELP. ALL THESE BP ARE SMALL AS HECK THEY ARE FREAKING BABIES.PLECOS ARE NEW AS HECK AND THEY ARE SMALL THAN A FINGER. WASTE IS CLEANED EVERY WEEK. MY TANK IS FINE THE FISH ARE FINE.PERIOD.I AM HERE TO GET THIS PROBLEM FIXED NOT TO GET TOLD ABOUT FISH TANK SIZE.

THE FISH IS NOT SWIMMING UPSIDE DOWN.

1)FISHES ARE SMALL (KEEP THAT IN MIND)
2)WASTE IS CLEANED ONCE A WEEK
3)MY TANK IS CYCLED SORRY I RECHECKED IT AND ITS AT 3 for nitrates.
 
#10 ·
THE FISH IS NOT SWIMMING UPSIDE DOWN.
1)FISHES ARE SMALL (KEEP THAT IN MIND)
so are human babies, but you still can't pack them into a small room together


2)WASTE IS CLEANED ONCE A WEEK
bet it's a ton

3)MY TANK IS CYCLED SORRY I RECHECKED IT AND ITS AT 3 for nitrates
still a little low

How long has the tank been set up? All baby fish seems to say it's pretty new.
 
#11 ·
I swear if you any of you guys talk about this tank situation again...you will be the worst fish helpers of the world. I think my dad says its a 30 gallon tank but I dont think it says because the fish have a lot of room to swim. Plus they dont seem to swim alot they seem to like staring into space and watching TV... lol joking


The waste is not a ton at least its being cleaned so it doesn't turn into horrible things.

I meant my fish was swimming upside down yesterday at the top like it was dead then it went to the bottom. It looked like it was having trouble going down. But now today it seemed to be normal and back to the way it is. But it still has something on its nose and its poop seems to be white stringy stuff.
It also doesn't really seem to want to eat as I put blood worms in today.

Oh and now new situation...2 of my fishes have black coloring under them.
 
#12 ·
Wild, we are not the worst helpers ever, we have clearly pointed out what we believe to be the source of your problem- overcrowding (and everything that comes with that). It's very hard to fix something if you are unwilling to acknowledge the problem, and it would be irresponsible of us to continue helping you deny this issue and look elsewhere for the source of your fish's illness.

Also, can I ask, what sort of test kit are you using? Liquid or test strips? I ask because test strips can be very inaccurate and you may have a water quality issue and not even know it.
 
#13 ·
Overcrowding=bad water quality=Diseases

Since you seem to think that because your fish are babies is a reasonable excuse to house them like this, I will ask you one thing. What will you do with them since they are babies and babies do this funny thing called growing up?

We can't make you be mature and admit you made a mistake when you bought these fish...you have to do it yourself. Denying the problem doesn't make it go away...unless the fish die off one by one.
 
#14 ·
If we seem rude, then sorry. We are trying to help your fish thrive. Fish can live in bad, overcrowded conditions, but they thrive under the proper conditions. Big difference there.

Can you try the Paper thing? Just because they are babies doesn't mean they will stay that way. We are trying to help, and you are being to stubborn to listen. This is the main reason for all your diseases. I did this once, and my fish were living in hell. I finally opened up to people and listened, and everything is perfect.

What are your Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? What kind of tesk kit are you using?
 
#15 ·
I have changed the water today and the parameters are probably set back to normal.
Ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 8
I use the liquid stuff.

I really dont think the tank is the problem even if it is you cant make me get the fish into another tank because
1)my house has no room for another tank
2) I'm not opening a National Aquarium in my house
3) I'm not gunna kill the fish to make room
 
#19 ·
I will not post here anymore if you really do not care for the health of your fish. We are tryig to help and you are too arrogant to help. Can you just listen to us and think of the conditions they are in, and what it would be like if you were in that?

Those are definately not babies. I can see now that you are way overstocked in a crowded tank. Crowded tank=stress=disease=dead fish. Look at the root of your problem; crowded tank.

You dont even have anything they can hide behind and relax.
 
#20 ·
Here is the deal guys.

I am totally disgusted with the members who posted in this thread. Maybe some of the members before you should have treated each of you the same way when you first joined. Then you would, maybe, change your tone. Where is your sense of fellowship and the welcoming of new members?

The fish are yet juvies. Grow out tanks are notoriously overstocked. Is his stocking scheme wrong? It depends. I say, if the fish are young and small, no. If they are adults then his tank is overstocked. None of you have asked about filtration, which, if adequate could handle the bio load.

Instead of preaching the drunes of overstocking, answer his question. You all sit on your high horses and everyone of you haven't got the experience necessary to preach a word. Some of you have less than a year in the hobby. Some of you still ask stocking questions, then try to answer some complicated question on breeding, lighting, live rock, or sumps. I often wonder where all of this new found knowledge comes from.

I don't want to hear that you have been around fish all of your life. That is not being a fish keeper. So drop the "holier than thou" attitudes, you all owe the OP an apology.
 
#22 ·
Yeah, sorry, herefishy is right and we do owe you an apology. I'd be really upset if I came to this site looking for help and found nothing. In fact, I probably would have stopped posting a while ago, so I guess that's a testament to your desire to help your fish. I love that this site is so friendly, and I totally allowed myself to stray from that.

I guess the right questions are, what is your filtration? Your long term plans for these fish? I will say that the tank is quite bare, I think you'd find they would benefit a lot from more things to hide behind, etc.

It doesn't look like HITH, as it is a lump, not a hole. I'm sort of leaning towards saying it may be a tumor, although I could be completely off-base, and I'm having trouble getting a good look in those photos. Nodular disease is another option, as is fish pox. It would help to get your description- is it smooth and slick looking? Lumpy? What is the exact color? Perhaps someone else can ID this better, but it's not exactly my expertise, so I need more info.

Also, did you say one of your fish was swimming upside down yesterday? If so, could you describe this? It's all pieces of the puzzle.

The best thing to do is to quarantine the fish until you know what the problem is, just to prevent any possible spread. What sort of medication did you add to the tank? Sometimes medications do more harm than good, if we don't have a positive diagnosis.
 
#23 ·
But Cody you are such a soft punching bag. So soft and cuddley..... lol

And if you remember correctly someone stepped in to keep you from getting pummeled. Even though you were being hardheaded. Remember?

As far as the fish goes okiemavis, I'd almost bet it is a parasite of some kind and treat with prazipro.
 
#24 ·
I have read through all of the posts in this thread, and I have not seen an answer to the original question.

The problem with the original sick fish appears to be hole in the head disease, and the black you described on the other fish is an indication of stress and poor water quality and/or low oxygen content in the water.

The cause of the problem is too many fish in that tank together, even if they are babies. I would strongly suggest moving the sick fish, and also the 2 with the black coloration to a quarantine tank asap. You can use medication to ward off any secondary infection, but keeping the water clean will be the most important thing. I would suggest coating the food with metronidazole and feeding that in the quarantine tank for 10 days. Keep the temp up to 80 - 82 degrees farenheit in both tanks, this will help... but also I would strongly suggest adding air stones to provide more oxygen content in both tanks.

The others here were not trying to offend you, simply trying to help. They recognized the obvious cause of the problem, and addressed that without explaining it completely. There is no reason anyone should need to get upset here.

I noticed your last comment was about not moving any of those fish to another tank, and I have to say that saddens me to hear. IF the sick fish manages to recover, which won't happen in the main tank, if all 8 of those parrots and both of the plecos remain in a 30 gallon tank they will die. Each growth spurt they go through, which is constant when they are young, will serve to deplete the water of oxygen further, and pollute it further with waste. Blood parrots can't handle being crowded, they need space. There isn't enough space in 30 gallons for that kind of fish... 1 blood parrot alone should have at least 75 gallons.

It is sad that someone is willing to sit back and watch their fish die so willingly. That makes me wonder why you purchased them in the first place? If you cared about them you would care about taking care of them properly, which means providing the proper environment for them. If you don't care about them, then you shouldn't have them. This applies to anyone who keeps any kind of pet.

To everyone else who has contributed thus far... can we find a way to be a little less agressive in the future? It is ok to explain a situation to someone, but to get so hostile about it really isn't the thing to do... that is in no way going to help anyone. Think of it like a fish... aggression breeds aggression. This is a peacful aquarium here at ff...
 
#25 ·
I see some have posted while I was writing my last one, so I will respond again.

I say it looks like hole in the head disease based on the last photo posted of the sick fish. If you look down into it you will see a clear hole in the center of the swollen tissue. This indicates to me that this fish is suffering from an advanced case of hole in the head, and a possible infection starting around the hole. The metronidazole I suggested will help to take care of the hole in the head disease, and once that is dealt with, then a 2nd medication can be used for the infection. The meds needed for the infection won't mix with the metronidazole. The most common form of metronidazole is Hex Out... Metronidazole will also treat this if it is combined with another type of parasite, but I see no evidence of anything else at this stage.

I think the apologies were nice, and I hope that everyone will remember this thread the next time they feel a bit over zealous about helping someone in the future. I agree with herefishy and everything he said, I just didn't see a need to say it again. Everyone has been there at some point... we were all beginners, no matter how long ago it was.

I wanted to ask how the 120 was faring? Is the flounder still going strong? That would be a much more suitable tank size for these fish to grow them up in.

The upside down fish sounds like a swim bladder problem, and there are many causes of that. In the quarantine tank, add that fish too, and treat the whole tank with epsom salts. If I know how big the qt tank is, I can tell you how much is safe to use.
 
#26 ·
I think he said that the fish was swimming right side up today though- that's what threw me, a fish swimming in completely different directions from one day to the next? If you look in the very top of the second photo you can see one guy swimming completely upside down. How are they both doing today wildboi?
 
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