Quote Originally Posted by IRescue452 View Post
Do you have pics for fish identification? Unfortunately, I can tell you already that your tank is overstocked, which would explain why it may not be able to keep up on ammonia. You should definately get a liquid test kit if you don't already have one. Test strips are ineffective because once you open the package and expose them to oxygen they start to break down. The meters that go into the water are also ineffective because they don't distinguish between treated ammonia and untreated.

Adding water is never a good idea unless you take water out. When water evaporates, it concentrates the metals and chemicals in the water. If you keep adding, you're just putting more chemical load into the tank. Taking water out before adding new water helps keep the dissolved chemicals at a managable level.
I agree with you 100%. That tank is way overstocked. Parrot fish can get quite large as they are typically part Red Devil (gives them the orange).. depending on the breeder there could also be some flowerhorn or Jack Dempsey in them. All 3 of those fish are large fish (the Jack being the smaller one, but not always by much.. depends if it's pure or mixed with Jewel <-so I've heard)...

1 Red Devil needs a BEAR min of 55gallons & that includes no other fish. 75gal is a much better min and you can have some cleaner type fish in there, but a Red Devil would eat them (one of the most aggressive fish you can buy.. mine was psycho & I couldn't put my hands in the water as he would have shredded my skin to pieces) lol. Awesome fish though!

So 5 Parrots in a 55gal with a whole whack of other fish will give you
1. out of control toxins
2. not enough growing space/fish = premature fish death (fish do NOT grow to their environments.. they die young in too small of tanks).
3. Hole In The Head will more then likely infect your fish (hard to cure & is known to be deadly), not to mention defiguring (sp?) & terribly painful.

The the amount of fish you have you'd have to do 25% water changes every day to try to keep the toxins under control, but the tank is so over stocked I'm not sure if that is even enough.

My advice is to return/rehome all the fish & keep 1 Parrot, or return all parrots & all Silver Dollars & I "think" the others will be fine in the tank.

I hope I don't sound rude or anything, but I'm a serious fish owner & fish rescuer. Too many fish are neglected every day due to ignorance (I was once too).

Here is some info on Parrot fish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_parrot_cichlid
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/ci...loodparrot.htm
http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/376/