Blood Parrot Doa

[ScubaMolley]

After battling Ich in my tank and the treatment itself killing my community fish I figured I would start over with a Cichlid tank. I have (what the store called) a Jelly Bean Blood Parrot. It was a beautful fish. It was yellow and had black accents on it's fins. At this time all I had in the tank was One Blood Parrot, Albino Bristlenose Pleco and Black Bristlenose Pleco. My tank basically looked empty so I decided to buy a few more fish. While looking thru all of the fish , at PetSmart,  I noticed they sold Blood Parrots, too. I've only noticed them at Wal Mart but not PetSmart. I ended up buying Blood Parrot, Tiger Oscar and Convict Cichlid. I brought them home and did the whole routine of getting the fish acclimated to the water. When I put the fish in the tank the two Blood Parrots went at each other immediately. After about two minutes they stopped and pretty much stayed with each other for the rest of the day with no problems.
 
Well this morning my Yellow and Black Blood Parrot was dead (insert sad face

). Did I do anything wrong? Yes, I am a newby and this is my attempt to learn from my mistakes.
 
This morning I also noticed that the Blood Parrot has been going after the Oscar and Convict but doesn't mess with my Plecos.

 

[AeonMapa]

how big is your tank? It is very possible that he was killed by one of your other cichlids overnight. Oscars and convicts are more than capable of taking out a BP very quickly. I'm not sure how much damage a BP can do with those mouths of theirs but it may have even been your current BP.
 
Please specify how large your tank is, as you need at least a 75 gallon to house those fish you have just mentioned. And if your plec is a common plec you should have about 100 gallons at least

 

[ScubaMolley]

Wow. I just googled the size of my fish and they get quite larger than what I was told. I have a 55 gallon aqaurium. It's long not tall.
Petsmart told me that the Bristlenose Pleco wouldn't get over 6" but what I read they can get up to 2 feet.

My BP is very aggressive fish and territorial. She is constantly pestering my Oscar and Convict. The Oscar acts as though he is always starving and my convict stays tucked inside the log until it's feeding time.
 
It's a possibility that the Convict could have taken out the BP. He is such a docile fish and he is constantly running from the BP. I have never seen him being aggressive towards the BP or the TO.
 
Well Hopefully they will get that big where I can eventually get a larger tank

.. My wife told me that a 55  was as large as I can get. I'd honestly like to have a 100-120 gallon tank with all different kinds of cichlids.

 

[AeonMapa]

If your pleco is really a BN pleco, it wont exceed 6". maybe post a pic of it so we can identify?  If your 55 gallon is 4 feet in length you can probably house your three cichlids and the pleco though I wouldn't add anything else any more. The Oscar can easily reach 12 inches or more, how long is yours now? The convict will only reach 6" max but is a tough fish that can take care of itself. However the constant hiding means that he is being severely bullied by one of your other cichlids.
 
A good plan would be to keep 2 of your cichlids and rehome the last one. Then maybe get some giant danios or full grown cherry barbs to add some activity in your tank. If your pleco really is a BN you can keep it in there, maybe even get it a mate. If it is a common pleco (and the aggression seems to indicate that) then it will require the entire tank for just him with no tank mates.
 
Even with this stocking, it is a bit on the heavy side and you'd want to monitor your nitrates and do enough water changes to compensate.
 
Good luck! and im sorry to hear about your blood parrot. It wasn't dyed was it?

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

My condolences

 

[ScubaMolley]

If it is a common pleco (and the aggression seems to indicate that) then it will require the entire tank for just him with no tank mates.

 
Maybe I got carried away with the abbreviations. I didn't mean my Bristlenose Pleco (BP) was aggressive. My Blood Parrot (BP) was very aggressive. Yes, My new Blood Parrot is dyed but my Jelly Bean, the one that died, was not dyed.