# My Yellow parrot cichlid



## SamHogan (Apr 3, 2010)

As you know ive had him for 2 weeks today, hes grown slightly, and he picks and chooses when he wants to be the big confident fish i know he is haha, But today and yesterday, ive noticed more black appearing on him, such as his bottom lip has a black shade to him now, he was black and yellow when i bought him, but only a slight bit of black, but now it seems to be getting deeper and appearing more, not saying i dont like it cause it makes him more unique, but im just wondering if this is a problem or whatever?


----------



## Guest (Apr 17, 2010)

sounds like his dye is fading. you must know that most parrot cichlids are dyed and that they are hybrids.


----------



## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

The only natural colors that a parrot can have are, white, orange, brown, gray, and black. Any other color and they are dyed. Dyed fish are dipped in acid to remove their slime coating. Then put into a dye. The dye wears off after the fish begins to recover. 

I know you didnt know that, but try not to buy dyed fish in the future. It just encourages the mistreatment of animals.


----------



## SamHogan (Apr 3, 2010)

Im sorry but i think yellow is also one of their natural colours, as in my old tank i had beautifull yellow and black one, mainly yellow, and he lived for 5 years untill we got rid of the tank, he cud still be going now! So i think my yellow one is ok! but just black appearing on him, My pink one i think might of been dyed as orange is starting to come through on the fins, i feed them cichlid pellets, will they be healthy if i look after them well?


----------



## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

It is possible that yellow is a natural color, but it is also possible that they dyed this one because they were low on yellows, or they wanted to breed without any quality to the colors. A dyed fish has about a 20% chance of living, but if you get it past the initial stressful and damaging part, and the fish heals, then you should be able to keep it. I think part of that 80% death rate, is who the pet stores sell those fish to also. Little children shouldn't take care of cichlids.


----------



## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

The black you are seeing is a fungus that is specific to the blood parrot. It's not particularly harmful and will usually go away on it's own but you can treat it if you want to to get rid of it. The black spots are NOT a natural coloring for them and it has nothing to do with the dye fading....it can happen to any color, even the natural orange, white or brown ones.


----------

