Blood Parrots

Question
I have 2 blood parrots. Yesterday they started laying at the bottom of the tank (side-by-side) together. This morning they were in the same spot, but they did promptly swim to the top to eat, but went back down to the bottom immediately afterwards. Are they "sleeping", dying, or what? I'm concerned. They share the tank with 2 convicts only. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Melody

Assuming they are just sitting at the bottom of the tank and not laying on their sides, this is normal for them. They actually would prefer a large cave to hide in or a large rock to hide behind. Like most Cichlids, they need a place in the tank they can go to feel secure.

If they are laying on their sides however, would be an indication of a bacterial infection. I recently had a Blood Parrot who I have had for years suddenly nose dived in one of my plants, other times he was laying on his side on the bottom of the tank or against a rock. I treated the tank with Pimafix for 7 days and he has been great ever since.

Something else I would like to point out that you may or may not be aware of is, Convicts and Blood Parrots should be fine together as long as the Blood Parrots are larger than the Convicts, and the Convicts are not a breeding pair. If you have a breeding pair of Convicts, you may need to move the Parrots to another tank regardless of their size. Convicts can be deadly when it comes to protecting their young, even to fish twice their size.

I hope this is helpful to you, good luck!

Richard