h. psittacus at the boston aquarium
- Thread starter cichlidinsomniac
- Start date
I purchased a large FO pair (9-10") from Rapps last spring the male was a recent import and the female was a 2" FO that was tank raised and sold/traded back to Rapps. He had them in separate tanks so when I got them I kept them in a 100g tank with a divider, they were very shy and ate sparingly for a month. After 6 weeks I intrduced 4 7-8" gold severums and removed the divider, the male was very hard on the female but soon became toleran, they spent most of their time hiding on separate ends of the tank. No spawning activity only chasing, after a few months of this I move them to my 180 gal. I was concerned that they would be picked on by the 3 V Argentea, Huge Pearsi, Cuban but I was totally wrong. Two things surprised me 1. they lost their shyness and became very outgoing 2. they bonded and became dominant in the tank but they are not bullies. I decided to switch back to fronts so I began selling these fish, I sold 6 BR parrots, a 12" Pearsi and 4 large severums at this point the Psittacus began to get frisky so I decided to keep them. I raised the temp from 79-80 to 88 and removed some decorations and rocks to provide more space, the male diggs and gets a shiny blue glow and displays occasionally but no tubes yet. I have put them up for sale again but hope they spawn before they go actually, if they spawn they would be invaluable. I was disappointed for months with these fish but since the change of tanks they are always in your face begging for food or just watching you. They are now 11-12" and after keeping cichlids for over 30 years they are the second most impressive cichlids I've ever kept. If you want to see pics just search psittacus and you will find my ad there are several pics in the photobucket.
