Something I Would Like To Share! And Sum ?'s

[Krib Crazy]

I saw the collest thing to day!! When i went to my lfs i went to the new world cichlid section and I saw that 3 parrot cichlids in a really tiny tank and in the back i saw that they laid eggs!!! It was soo cool when I went to get a closer look I 1 of the parrot cichlids came charging at the glass!!! I really wanted to get them!!
I thought i would share that with yall!!!

Okay i have a couple of questions

What is the minimal sized tank for a parrot cichlid???
What are there temperments like?
What can i put them with??
How big do they get??

Sorry for all the questions!!

Thanx in advance

KC

 

[Ben]

What is the minimal sized tank for a parrot cichlid???
For single BP, i wouldn't go smaller then 55 as a bare minimum with nothing else
What are there temperments like?
It depeneds on the individual fish, most are aggresive and greedy though
What can i put them with??
Provided you have a tank larger then 80 gallons, fish their size and schooling fish such as Tinfoil barbs who won't get eaten
How big do they get??
Usually around 12" (1 foot)

HTH

DD

 

[afireinside]

I have an arguement. When they are still small (less then four inches) you can keep 2 in a 55 gallon.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

yes, but what happens when it finishes growing up and you need a much bigger tank? the best course with any fish is to start out keeping it the way it needs to be kept when fully matured.

 

[Ben]

OA - I agree with Pica, but
If the two form a pair it is possible to keep two in a 55, but i wouldn't recomend it.

DD

 

[valleyrich]

Ok let's throw a kink in the whole discusion...What kind of parrot is this? Is it a jellybean or a blood parrot? the Jellybeans are much much smaller but much more agressive. The bloods are far larger but tolerate other fish better. Without knowing if it is a blood or jellybean there is no way of giving any advice what-so-ever.

 

[Krib Crazy]

It was a blood parrot

 

[FishOwner]

I have a blood parrot, I've had her for 5 years now, and she is nowhere near 12" long! She's half that size at 6". I think that sometimes there is confusion on which BP people are talking about. The really big ones are called King Kong parrots and yes they do get to be a foot long! Then there is the more common BP's and they tend to max out at 6" to 7".
Because they're hybrids, it's hard to know which one you're going to end up with (although I do believe the King Kongs are a rarer find). They tend to look alike with the exception of size and then some of the KK's will develop the hump on their heads too.....
If you end up with a regular BP then a 40g will do. Some parrots are very aggressive, some less so. They will all eat any fish small enough to fit in their mouths. Good tankmates include red-tailed or rainbow sharks, other small to medium sized cichlids, plecos (make sure they are the smaller species of pleco), larger barbs, etc...of course, the bigger the tank the more tankmates you have to choose from!
They are a beautiful interesting fish. I have mine in a 40g (soon to be moved to a 75g) along with a red-tailed shark and a jewel cichlid. Oh, I should mention that they love to dig and that they are quite the food hogs! Give them big meaty pieces of raw shrimp, earthworms, or frozen foods once in awhile, and don't forget the veggies once in awhile, they will appreciate it!

 

[Synirr]

I've heard that female BPs tend to stay 6-8", whereas males actually do get anywhere from 8 to 12"... That's the problem with hybrids, when you're predicting adult size and temperament the best you can really do is a ballpark estimate because there's no telling how those genes are going to match up sometimes. I wouldn't recommend anything under a 55 gallon as minimum for a BP for that reason, it's quite possible you could be unlucky and get one that grows larger than you might expect.