Bright Orange Parrot Fish Getting Brown Markings?!

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jonathancarlow

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I apologise if this is not the area of the forum to post something like this/
 
I have had a parrot fish for a few years now. He was given to me as a gift. He was very small and was in a very small fish tank. Since he has grown quite a lot, I decided to move him into a new, larger fish tank. We also have a pocastimus that was bought at the same time as him.
Any ways, I had cycled the tank for a week and a half and thought that it would be okay for them to go in. I first put the pocastimus in the tank for one day and he seemed to love it. 
the next day I had decided to put my parrot fish in the tank. He seemed VERY happy to have much more room to move around and hide. 
 
I noticed a day later that he had some brown marks on him. It looks a little more like he has some dirt or dust stuck to him.
The next day the brown dirt-looking markings appeared on not just the top of him but on the back and sides as well. 
 
I am not sure if this is because of stress because it is new tank water, if he doesn't have enough hiding spaces or If the tank is simply not ready for him to be in there yet. 
I don't know if this is a normal thing or if I'm just over reacting as I do not have experience with having fish really. 
He is moving around normally, eating and making his nests (moving rocks around) just like he was in his previous tank.
 
Some advice from some experienced parrot fish owners would be really helpful and appreciated. 
Thanks for taking the time to read. 
 
Here are some photos of my parrot fish. Click here They couldn't be uploaded on here as the max file size is too small for a single photo
 
 
How, exactly, did you cycle the new tank? Were you adding anything to the water during that time? Did you move the old filter, or anything from the inside of it to the new filter?
 
Black or brown marks on fish, in new tanks, are often caused by raised levels of ammonia, so you need to get your water tested (I'd suggest you buy kits of your own; if you get a fish shop to test the water for you, make sure they write down the actual numbers for you; don't let them tell you "it's fine" or "a bit high", you need the numbers).
 
In the meantime, do 50% water changes (making sure the new water is warmed and dechlorinated), every day.
 
We used a larger filter to cycle the new tank but used the insides of the old one inside of it.  I'll go out and buy a water testing kit. 
 

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