110 Gallon what other cichlids with 3 Blood Parrots?

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mstone9942

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 7, 2012
42
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Chattanooga, TN
hey all, Newbie here..I have a Big pleco sucker fish along with 3 Blood Parrots (one 4-5 inches and other 2 around 3 inches)

Currently I have 2 Oscars in the tank with them and everything has been fine last 6 months until recently. I have feed the Oscars feeder fish a couple of times and their aggresion level has took off. I have been saying I was going to get rid of one of them anyways do to them getting so big and needing extra room but now Im going to just give them both away because my wife and I LOVE the Parrots quirkiness and their look when they get full grown but want to add a little something to the tank.

With all that being said I have looked up alot online and Severums seem to be the most agreed on choice. The local store here has a Red Spotted Severum (3 inches) and a Gold/Yellow Severum (1.5 inches). I liked the torquoise the best but cant seem to find any. Would this work? I had thought about getting 1 Red and 2 Yellow since they were smaller. Or maybe one of each and 2 Angel fish (even though Angel Fish are quite as compatible Ive read it works 50/50)

The two smaller Parrots are pretty feisty when you get around their area/bridge and often go back and forth with he bigger Parrot all day long but nothing too serious. They even bump the Oscars when they get close but run like crap when either Oscar gets irritated enough to strike back.

Anyways any advice, opinions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated :)
 
That doesnt make sense to me. I understand all fish should get a 100 gallon tank all to their self but if those 3 blood parrots are ok with 1 Oscar then I dont see why 2-3 smaller medium Cichlids wouldnt be ok. 1 gallon=1 inch of fish is pretty standard rule...I understand this changes with Large cichlids that are aggressive but even still with 3 parrots that get 6-8 inches along with two others thats 40 inches max in a 110 which is almost 3 times the rule of thumb... By no means am I trying to say your wrong as I do understand your point and in a perfect world we will get a 250-300 gallon in next couple years but thats not a certainty. I really do appreciate the feedback though and encourage any other opinions to chime in and give thoughts
 
I like severum idea. If you can find rotkeils in your neck of the woods.. i think they are the best looking severum. Red severums are close second followed by green severums and gold severums.. but that's just my taste. Mind you that bigger severums tend to pick on smaller severums so.. I would buy severums in similar sizes and introduce 'em all together to your tank (if your filter can handle then bio load). If I had a 100G tank w/ 3 parrots... I would probably add 4-5 severums.. (some may say that's overcrowding.. but I like overcrowding tanks if there's no casualties....)
 
sorry i didn't mean to offend i just prefer a tank to not be overstocked/crowded. but its just my opinion on how it would look once they are all fully grown stock it how ever you want. :)
 
No offense taken...Parrots vary in size full grown from what I've read most top out around 6-7 with some males getting 8 or 8+...Our two smaller parrots havent grown that much (maybe half inch)since we bought them 8-9 months ago...They really have just in last month have gotten the nerve to go up top during feeding time and challenge the oscars for food...My big female Parrot keeps laying eggs for some reason and has to constantly chase off the smaller ones and even both Oscars...We just added her a few weeks ago because we originally had 3 oscars and two small parrots...Fish place recommended getting rid of a Oscar or two and getting a bigger parrot to help the other two out...It definitely has...Just tonight the bigger Parrot was standing her ground against the smaller more fiesty Oscar and making it back down...I'm not sure if she is getting ready to lay more eggs or not...Last eggs got eaten by smaller parrots and oscars

Anyways we are trying to sell the two Oscars cheap and buy a few Severums...I will have to look into that kind though as I havent seen one before..I'm heading to Nashville this week for work so maybe there will be a good selection there...Btw the local stores here in Chattanooga are selling Red Spotted Severums for 39.99 (3 inches) and the other place is 29.99 (2.5 inches)...Yellow Severums are just 9.99 but they are just 1.5 inches too so I doubt they would survive being so much smaller than anything else...I'm not sure if it would help to get a few silver dollars or Bala sharks for a while to help ease tension or not...Obviously I wouldnt keep Bala sharks when they started getting big but maybe something fast that could keep attention off smaller Severums if I gave them a try...Idk maybe I will have some better luck in another city cause spending 120.00 bucks on 3 Severums is pretty steep to me and besides I would rather get different colored Severums if I'm going to spend the money anyways...(Unless that's a bad idea) Haven't heard getting different colored ones matter though...Anyways thanks for replys!!! Keep them coming !
 
You're trading out oscars for severums, but the thing is that they're similarly sized cichlids. There are a lot of 6" severums out there and I think people assume this is a severum's adult size, but most will grow much larger if cared for properly. My super red severum is a 9" fish and very thick and bulky. The male green severum I recently parted with was larger than him. The tank will easily house a couple severums and you should be okay if the blood parrots are on the small side, but I just thought it should be noted that severums are not too far off from oscars when it comes to size, appetite, etc.

mstone9942 said:
That doesnt make sense to me. I understand all fish should get a 100 gallon tank all to their self but if those 3 blood parrots are ok with 1 Oscar then I dont see why 2-3 smaller medium Cichlids wouldnt be ok. 1 gallon=1 inch of fish is pretty standard rule...I understand this changes with Large cichlids that are aggressive but even still with 3 parrots that get 6-8 inches along with two others thats 40 inches max in a 110 which is almost 3 times the rule of thumb... By no means am I trying to say your wrong as I do understand your point and in a perfect world we will get a 250-300 gallon in next couple years but thats not a certainty. I really do appreciate the feedback though and encourage any other opinions to chime in and give thoughts
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I don't think that rule is accepted as a standard. Stop and think about it: according to that rule, a 10" oscar should be fine in a 10 gallon tank. That means I should be able to keep two 10" oscars in a 20 gallon. Neither of those things are practical or logical. The rule may work with small tropicals (and this is when I've often heard it referenced), but when you're dealing with large-growing fish that have complex behaviors and personalities and tend to establish territories and social hierarchies, it really doesn't hold up.

Each large cichlid species will come with its own rule of thumb in regards to stocking density. Discus people suggest 10 gallons per fish with a minimum of six fish, which means a 55 gallon is the smallest grow-out tank that is often recommended. Most people here argue that oscars will need between a 55 and 75 gallon tank per fish.
 
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