Depressed Parrot Cichlid

[Insomniac]

Hey everyone,

I have a parrot cichlid that I took in after it was abandoned at the LFS. His name is Boomer. He used to have a mate, but he died during a poweroutage Since then, Boomer hasn't been himself. Right after his friend died, he stopped eating, got all spotty, and lost a lot of weight. He started eating again, and began acting like his normal self, when I added a Black Convict. They would patrol the 80 gallon together and were the kings of the tank. I eventually had to take the convict out because he was gouging the eyes out of his other tankmates.

Now, despite being surrounded by other fish, Boomer is depressed again. He sits all day in his little cave, is loosing weight, and isn't nearly as outgoing as he used to be. He won't eat from my hand, and doesn't swim around much. I bought a firemouth cichlid to be his friend, but they didn't hit it off. I didn't want to buy another Parrot, as I don't really agree with the entire hybrid thing.

So what should I do? I might end up buying another parrot fish, just to make boomer happy. I want to see him happy again!

 

[aardvarkfromspace]

Maybe try a severum? I have a severum and parrot that paired off... my sevs and p's have never fought... I've also had a texas cichlid pair up with a parrot.. so maybe a texas cichlid??

I have 3 severums and none are mean, but one of my 2 texas cichlids was pretty dominant, so maybe a severum is the way to go?

 

[Insomniac]

Maybe try a severum? I have a severum and parrot that paired off... my sevs and p's have never fought... I've also had a texas cichlid pair up with a parrot.. so maybe a texas cichlid??

I have 3 severums and none are mean, but one of my 2 texas cichlids was pretty dominant, so maybe a severum is the way to go?

I wanted to get a severum, but non of the fish stores around here have any...I've tried Everywhere! I haven't seen the Texas cichlids, but aren't they aggresive? There are other fish in the tank, such as rainbows and gouramis.

 

[Synirr]

Maybe try asking if a fish store nearby can order sevs for you? Many times a pet store can special order fish they don't normally keep in stock.

 

[aardvarkfromspace]

I kinda don't think a texas cichlid would work with gouramis... hmmmm... a festivum might work..maybe maybe

 

[Insomniac]

I'm going to see if the Petstore I supply with Fancy gerbils can order a Sev. for me...are their temperaments all the same, or do the colours have anything at all to do with it? IE, is a gold more aggressive then a turquoise, etc?

 

[aardvarkfromspace]

No I don't think the colors make a difference... I've got green sevs from petsmart 2 times and they've been great... growing quite well and looking pretty decent.... I also have 2 gold ones that haven't grown as fast as the green ones.. NO CLUE WHY, but there's been quite a difference..

Rainbow cichlids aren't too aggressive... you might be able to find those... they stay smaller and aren't as mean as convicts

 

[valleyrich]

Ok I have 2 pairs of Parrots. And one single Parrot (her mate died of a Pleco attack) She was very depressed for a while but cheered up greatly when she found she could see the other parrots. Now she is like she was before becoming a widow. Might want to try getting another convict and if it gets too bad separate it with a see through device or place in a tank close enough to see each other.