Parrot Cichlid Health Care

The purpose of this page is to inform you of a parasite that only Blood Parrots contract.

 

Black Spot Disease

The purpose of this page is to inform you of a parasite that only Blood Parrots contract. It is called Black Spot Disease. There isn't much know about this infliction, it's not even known for sure to be a parasite. It is however, very common among Parrot Cichlid's, and often mistaken for natural black coloration on the fish. One of our's, named Princess, had a very cute black dot on her head when we got her. We thought this was so unique and loved her for it. When I Transferred our 6 PB to a new 65 gallon home, about a week later she started getting this grey looking stuff around her mouth and down her belly. I soon noticed it starting to streak her fins with black. Then it moved to her hump. Upon closer inspection of the other fish, I noticed all but 3 of them had this strange grey coloration. They do not show any signs of sickness other than the blochy black-grey spots. They eat and act fine. I asked around the internet and found out that this was Black Spot Disease.

 

Treatment

Black streaks on my Parrot fish???

The black streaks are common with parrots. Several things can cause it. First of all, check your ammonia & nitrite levels. I have found the parrots are a first indicator of water parameters being off. If the ammonia/nitrite is raised do a water change immediately and siphon off any debris.

If its not the water, then you can watch the parrot a few days & see if the spots disappear or treat with medicine. I spoke with a guy at the Tetra company who said it is called black spot disease & is thought to be a parasite. Only parrots get it and he recommended using Maracide. I have used Maracide which cleared it up but takes over a week. I have also used Malachite Green to cure it & also done nothing & it went away. I've also heard Jungle's Parasite Guard works on it. I usually don't treat it unless it starts covering a lot of their body.

Someone here also told me the streaks will show up if the parrots is in the mood to mate. I have found that is true. Both my male & female parrots get streaks on the pelvic fins when they are preparing to nest. But since your parrot has a spot on its nose then it sounds more like the parasite. With my parrots, the black spots show on fins first, then the nose & face, then on their hump.

I hope this helps and is not too confusing. It's just no one quite understands the black spots, but it is a problem for parrots & shows up for diff reasons.


 

 

 

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