Under Attack

[Oldspartan]

This morning, I pulled everything from Bozo's tank. He attacked me every time I put my hand in the water. Head butting and even a couple of tail swaps. He was quite serious about not wanting his stuff removed. He was equally obnoxious when the stuff was returned. He did not like how the hollow log was set up and began to pile ricks around it.

Bozo, a Blood parrot, is a very aggressive creature. We have had to remove a fairly large BN Pleco, the Neons, and three full-grown Dalmation Molly from his tank. He chased them incessantly. He is a beautiful fish but has an ugly disposition. He now resides as a hermit and seems to like it that way.

 

[anewbie]

A couple of years ago my 'angel' fish bit me multiple times. She was not pleased with what i was doing. However, my group of 4 chocolate cichild are sweet hearts if a bit clumsy and overly large.

Personally i think you should put the anal pleco with the anal parrot and let them teach each other a lesson on manners

 

[BigDog]

Some times you got to get a fish that is cable to stand up to this fish

 

[Gamegurl564]

My old room mate has a super aggressive bumble bee cichlid she might get rid of. He bit me when I was trying to give treats to the Oscar he decimated

 

[GaryE]

Bozo could be mad about the name you gave him....

They are weird creatures - put together artificially as a petrie dish fish, but viable. One component was beautiful but about as aggressive a Cichlid as you can get. Another, when crossed with the first gave rise to severe mouth deformity, which meant the fish could barely bite. When I watch them, they want to bite. Oh yes, they do. But they can't.

Or can't they? They've been around long enough that many strains are physically adapting. It's human engineered versus naturally selected, and in many strains, ones that can bite a bit more have been bred (they are a money maker) and the biting can return. I know of shops that stopped carrying them til they could be "re-handicapped".

It's better than when they first hit the market, when many of them starved to death because of the engineered mouth. But I think that over the next years, a lot of people who buy them for their cuteness and put them in communities are going to get a shock, as will blood parrot tankmates.

I think there have been science fiction films where animals bio-engineered to be harmless rebuilt their hunting abilities over generations...

 

[Magnum Man]

in my past experience, it never worked out, putting another bad mannered fish in with a fish like Bozo, it's in their nature... even if you found one that would kick it's butt, I ended up putting one in quarantine to heal up, and as soon as it was healed, put it n another tank, where it started beating up it's new neighbors... I think of it kind of like male Betas, they "may" get along, if they were raised together, but very unlikely, if 2 adults are put together... and no amount of punishing the bad one, will stop it from fighting, if put back in, with a similar fish

 

[Oldspartan]

Bozo could be mad about the name you gave him....

They are weird creatures - put together artificially as a petrie dish fish, but viable. One component was beautiful but about as aggressive a Cichlid as you can get. Another, when crossed with the first gave rise to severe mouth deformity, which meant the fish could barely bite. When I watch them, they want to bite. Oh yes, they do. But they can't.

Or can't they? They've been around long enough that many strains are physically adapting. It's human engineered versus naturally selected, and in many strains, ones that can bite a bit more have been bred (they are a money maker) and the biting can return. I know of shops that stopped carrying them til they could be "re-handicapped".

It's better than when they first hit the market, when many of them starved to death because of the engineered mouth. But I think that over the next years, a lot of people who buy them for their cuteness and put them in communities are going to get a shock, as will blood parrot tankmates.

I think there have been science fiction films where animals bio-engineered to be harmless rebuilt their hunting abilities over generations...

Bozo, the Blood Parrot, is Linda's dream fish. She fell in love with a fully grown specimen at the LFS. That one played like a puppy dog, doing flips and rolls as it followed her finger.

Bozo was purchased after some long research on what to look for as far as somewhat normalized eating ability. His mouth is not deformed and works as it should. He also follows Linda's finger about the glass, but I now wonder if his intent is as benign as it appears. He is a beauty though and I am not disappointed in the purchase. He brings Linda miles of smiles and even in his aggression when I need to plunge into his world is harmless to me.

I will soon be introducing a fairly large angel into the tank that is larger than him at this point in time and will perhaps get along. If not, he will live his days as a hermit with a couple of friends outside his world. He is the house favorite at this time though.

There is, in my mind an ethical question about the breed, but it exists, and he is far better off living with us than in a fish store.

 

[Oldspartan]

in my past experience, it never worked out, putting another bad mannered fish in with a fish like Bozo, it's in their nature... even if you found one that would kick it's butt, I ended up putting one in quarantine to heal up, and as soon as it was healed, put it n another tank, where it started beating up it's new neighbors... I think of it kind of like male Betas, they "may" get along, if they were raised together, but very unlikely, if 2 adults are put together... and no amount of punishing the bad one, will stop it from fighting, if put back in, with a similar fish

Yeah, reminds me of a few humans I know but avoid.

 

[Magnum Man]

I kept large aggressive cichlids 30 years ago... so lots experience with fish like that, in fact, back then I had closets full of single fish tanks... it's interesting the personality difference you can see keeping several of the same kind of fish, some are clowns, some are very personable, some are social... often fish with the most "personality", don't get along with other fish, I'm not sure if that's a sign of intelligence or not, but it often seemed so...

 

[GaryE]

If his mouth is okay, then the angel has maybe a one percent chance of survival, in constant fear. It's not a risk I'd take. All ethics aside, a bloodparrot seems a solitary fish to me, especially if it's one of the ones that can bite. It won't like companionship, unless it's tasty.

A friend kept a midas cichlid, one of the components, and it actually broke his (admittedly older) tank. A lot of people love these fish, but they have kind of specific needs.

 

[Oldspartan]

If his mouth is okay, then the angel has maybe a one percent chance of survival, in constant fear. It's not a risk I'd take. All ethics aside, a bloodparrot seems a solitary fish to me, especially if it's one of the ones that can bite. It won't like companionship, unless it's tasty.

A friend kept a midas cichlid, one of the components, and it actually broke his (admittedly older) tank. A lot of people love these fish, but they have kind of specific needs.

I think we will bow to your greater knowledge and experience and leave him to his own devices. Henceforth Bozo will be named Bozo the Hermit. Seems he is an evil clown.

 

[anewbie]

I think the issue is the parrot part; a friend of mine had a parrot who would bite anyone who tried to feed it sunflower seeds. Yep gotta be the parrot portion that is causing all this aggression.

 

[MaloK]

Cockatoos are like little awkward affection seeking bony cuddling widget, with a serious muscular stiffness for their size.

Macaws can be really dangerous and have nut cracking powers, the least can be said.

"I know a guy" that had one of his big toe squarely cut off and didn't feel anything.

Until he realized what happened.