Help?

[meggyb64]

I work at a retail pet store. I've become super interested in the fish we carry, mostly the cichlids. I decided to start and tank and am currently cycling. I have fallen in love with one of the Red Blood Parrot Cichlids and i would love to add her to my tank. However, i've read some things about them being man-made and dyed and things of that nature. i was wondering if anyone had some good information on them and what other fish i can put in with them. I have a 20-gal tank for now, but realize i'm going to have to switch her to a larger tank further down the road. Any advice and pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. :]

 

[Louiseness]

Blood parrots are hybrid fish, created in Taiwan I believe. You will need a bigger tank NOW because they can get to 10 inches. They sometimes suffer problems due to their mouth and body shape anyway so you really don't want to stunt them and end up with other problems on top of that.

 

[fluttermoth]

Blood red parrot cichlids are a man-made hybrid between two species of cichlid; probably a Midas Amphilophus citrinellus and something else, but no-one is quite sure.

They are often dyed, but if 'your' fish are plain red, orange or yellow or those colours with white markings, they should be ok. They can be hard to feed because of their deformed mouth, but are pretty hardy. Tankmates are a bit of a problem as blood parrots (there is a 'proper' parrot cichlid too, but's quite rare and expensive) vary so much in temperament; some are nice and peaceful; others can be very aggressive.

Personally, I wouln't put one in a 20g, nor for any length of time; don't forget that fish, like all animlas, do the majority of their growing in the first few months of life; your parrot could easly grow an inch a month and should be 8 to 10 inches in a year (or less). if you do put her in there, you'll need to start looking for a bigger tank right away; you can't leave it or you'll end up with a stunted fish.

 

[meggyb64]

Thanks for the information! I just have a question about our tanks at work then. I think our tanks are a little over 10gal at work, are we harming fish because they are in such small tanks?

 

[Louiseness]

Shops that sell fish can in a sense 'get away' with having small tanks, because the fish are only intended to be in there for a few days/weeks before they're sold. They also tend to run huge filtration systems which can keep the water quality in small tanks better than we can at home.

 

[Delloy12]

It's only temporary though, the fish are probably in there for a few weeks and they tend to be small.

My lfs has 3 blood parrots but they are in a 60 gallon tank

 

[meggyb64]

The blood that i have my eye on at the store has been there for months...

 

[XeroTolerance]

I think that the damage could have been done already, but you still want to buy a larger tank though.