Its hard to find good information or profiles for this fish it seems. Has anyone ever owned one? From what I've read there are mixed reviews, some saying they are very aggressive and some saying fairly peaceful.. I know every fish has its own personality butI ask because I am considering adding one. I currently have an oscar, some severums, soon to add a chocolate and catfish. Would this work? How big do they normally get. Found one source saying 8-10 in
any experienced true parrot owners?
- Thread starter spazmattik
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Mine were peaceful until around 5 - 6" and then it changed pretty abruptly. There were a few members here who had similar experiences. It seems that in a lot of cases they want to be the dominant fish in a tank. Mine never did any major damage to my larger fish but he did push them all around. I had to rehome my chocolate cichlid because my psittacus was relentless with her and he'd never let her swim out in the open. He also hated my notatus severums so I had to keep them in a different tank. He ended up doing fairly well with pike cichlids because they weren't afraid to push back. If anything showed the slightest weakness my psittacus would constantly harass it.
You'll need a large tank. My male was over 13" when he passed away and he was only 3 years old. Unfortunately I lost him due to some water issues. As hardy and lively as he was, parrots are still sensitive to water quality issues. They are prone to HITH and really should have frequent, adequate water changes to keep them vibrant and healthy.
Mine was never picky about food. He loved any kind of pellets I threw in there. He also ate (or attempted to eat) any fish that was small enough. When I say small enough, I don't mean the size of his mouth. I mean any fish that he could easily take down. At 13" he was strong and brutal. I added some 5" rainbow cichlids once and he attacked and killed one before it knew what hit it. He also went after a 7" pike when I first introduced it and I had to remove the pike before the psittacus could dig it out from under the driftwood where it was hiding. Later on he became my cull machine -- I could throw 1" fry in there and he'd gobble them up the second they hit the water.
Having said that, he was my very favorite cichlid I've ever owned and I miss him more than I thought I would. As soon as I get a whole house filter to take care of my water issues I will be getting more.
You'll need a large tank. My male was over 13" when he passed away and he was only 3 years old. Unfortunately I lost him due to some water issues. As hardy and lively as he was, parrots are still sensitive to water quality issues. They are prone to HITH and really should have frequent, adequate water changes to keep them vibrant and healthy.
Mine was never picky about food. He loved any kind of pellets I threw in there. He also ate (or attempted to eat) any fish that was small enough. When I say small enough, I don't mean the size of his mouth. I mean any fish that he could easily take down. At 13" he was strong and brutal. I added some 5" rainbow cichlids once and he attacked and killed one before it knew what hit it. He also went after a 7" pike when I first introduced it and I had to remove the pike before the psittacus could dig it out from under the driftwood where it was hiding. Later on he became my cull machine -- I could throw 1" fry in there and he'd gobble them up the second they hit the water.
Having said that, he was my very favorite cichlid I've ever owned and I miss him more than I thought I would. As soon as I get a whole house filter to take care of my water issues I will be getting more.
Wow. Thanks for all the great info. I should pass on this fish for now given the size and temperment. They are amazing looking fish though so maybe one day! Speaking of the rainbows, how were they? I was looking for smaller colorful fish that could hang with my hig guys so they seemed like they may be good candidates
Rainbows are great. They're usually very peaceful with other fish and only get nasty with each other when spawning, but that goes for most any cichlid. They turn a really vibrant yellow and black when spawning. It's really a sight to see. I found they did great with things like severums. They are small but not so small that severums are aggressive to them.
I ve heard similar stories to the one above but i can tell you mine is the total opposite, i have about a 12incher in a 210 with ebjd altifrons a pair of sevs a polleni a couple small gt and a ray. And he is great has his territory and chases stuff when it comes into it but for the most part he is harmless and actually doesnt like when other fish fight and will stop them. i would recomeend trying one because he is my favorite great color shape ad personality.
Jason, do you know if yours is wild-caught or tank-bred? I ask because I've often wondered how that influences behavior (if at all). Mine was bred by someone and I think he was F1 or F2. I've seen people with wild-caught fish and they claim that they're sometimes on the shy/passive side. I see a lot of people selling sub-adult wild fish but I think I'd rather grow out tiny ones because they seem to adjust better to tank life that way.
I was under the impression when I got them that they were similar to severums or uaru in temperament but that wasn't the case. It's not that they're killers (unless you have small tankmates) but they're certainly more pushy than most severums and uaru.
I was under the impression when I got them that they were similar to severums or uaru in temperament but that wasn't the case. It's not that they're killers (unless you have small tankmates) but they're certainly more pushy than most severums and uaru.
I currently keep two: 1 at around 7" and one at 10-11".
They were supposed to be a pair, but I have doubts - on the bigger one; the smaller is a male - and I have to take a couple of hours to be able to catch the big one to vent it (he is in a 10x4´with lots of hidding places).
I wouldn´t say they are agressive althoug that also depends on the tankmates. In the tank I keep them, they have to behave because there are some way bigger cichlids and a larg RTG aro. As mentioned above they are sensitive to HITH.
Here is one of mine
They were supposed to be a pair, but I have doubts - on the bigger one; the smaller is a male - and I have to take a couple of hours to be able to catch the big one to vent it (he is in a 10x4´with lots of hidding places).
I wouldn´t say they are agressive althoug that also depends on the tankmates. In the tank I keep them, they have to behave because there are some way bigger cichlids and a larg RTG aro. As mentioned above they are sensitive to HITH.
Here is one of mine
Mine is wild caught, I got him (not sure of sex) at about 5 inches. I was worried he would get more aggressive but hasn't. No problems with anything, I could see the chocalte being an issue as they are close in shape and color. I am so confident in mine being good I have panda uaru growing out to eventually comm with him. Ive had sevs that were way worse then him.
If I were you I would give it another shot because I really think they are underkept because of the stories out there.
Here's a link to a thread that I started a little while back. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...e-a-Sight!-Hoplarchus-psittacus-Pair-with-Fry