View Full Version : Parrots losing colour?
yogias
07-04-2007, 2:17 PM
My parrot cichlids appear to be losing their colour. The female seems to be fading more quickly than the male. They don't apper to be stressed, all water parameters are fine, it just appears that their orange colouring is fading to white. Is this normal?
jm1212
07-04-2007, 2:42 PM
what is the temp of the tank?
yogias
07-04-2007, 2:51 PM
the temp was a little high, but i have lowered it to 82 degrees.
jm1212
07-04-2007, 3:13 PM
what are your water parameters?
yogias
07-04-2007, 3:46 PM
Ammonia and nitrite 0 nitrate <15, ph 7.i am very vigilant about my water checks and do 50% changes weekly.They do not appear to be stressed, eating normally, plenty of activity, i just ont know what it can be. could it be that they were dyed and it is now fading? i have had them for about 3 months with no problems. they have spawned once but as the norm, they were sterile.
While i was writing this, one of mu Guppies has given birth in her trap...YAY!!!!!!!
yay guppy ! lol
what colour parrots are they ?
yogias
07-04-2007, 4:47 PM
They are orange, rapidly fading to white lol
do they kinda naturally fade out a bit as they grow older ?
wataugachicken
07-05-2007, 8:33 AM
are they regular blood parrots or are they the smaller jellybean parrots? can you find a picture of what your parrots looked like before they started to fade?
Akysten
07-06-2007, 12:30 PM
Blood Parots are often dyed, and if they are, they will start losing their color in about 6 months and never regain it. It's one of the reasons (besided cruelty and shortened lifespan) that I dislike dyed fish industry. Unsuspecting people find that their fish lose their color.
Not that your fish are dyed, it could be stress! And orange could be a something else.
I don't keep these fish, but it could also be hormones. That's something else common in the SA Asia market(and why i avoid buying fish from this region). Hormoned fish will show color earier than they should(you see this a lot in Malawi Haps and Peacocks). You get them home, they lose their color, then regain them when they should have colored up... adulthood... but I don't think Blood Parrots fit into this category.
severum mama
07-06-2007, 2:37 PM
I've had my parrots for nearly 5 years and their color has not faded at all. But, I've seen photos of some that have. It's unusual, but it happens from time to time. Also, I would expect that even if they were dyed, they would go back to their original orange color after the dye faded, since most are dyed in the first place to cover up the gray color that they are as juveniles. I think maybe they are just fading. There can be a good bit of variation from one fish to the next (my parrots actually look quite different); more so than with fish that are an actual species.
Either that or they are dyed jellybeans.
Firebelly__girl
07-08-2007, 4:01 PM
severum, what color are yours? are they the light orangish color?