parrot fish swimming upside down.

Question
Hey there, I just recently got 6 bloody parrot fishes, they're parrots and just today, one of them's swimming upside down. Is there a reason why this might've happened? I didn't overfeed the fish. But yesterday, the parrots were nudging at eachother and they looked like they were kissing? or is it lip fighting?

Answer
Hi Donna;

It could be any one of several things; Swim bladder failure, stress, elevated toxins, overeating, etc. Test the tank water for the presence of the toxins ammonia, nitrite and nitrate right away. Six fish is a lot to add to any tank all at once and can cause toxin spikes. If any of those toxins are elevated, especially ammonia and nitrite, make a 25% water change right away. Do a 25% change every day that any of those toxins are elevated. Keep it up until they go down and stay down. Daily isn't too much. Just always be sure the new water is the same temperature as the old water and use a water conditioner.

"Nudging" is how cichlids such as parrot fish establish territory and select mates. It can get very nasty and combative. Sometimes aggressive enough that fish are injured or die unless there are plenty of hiding places and plenty of space to get away from each other. Hopefully the tank is large enough for all six of them. They do get pretty big. You didn't mention how big the fish or the tank are, or how long the tank has been set up. They are all very important. If you can let me know more of those details I can help you further.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins