Psittacus Behavior

[Coues]

Hey all. Wanted to ask your opinion on something - I recently got a really nice Hoplarchus Psittacus from Rapps. He was shy and didn't eat much at first, but after a couple weeks relaxed and now eats like a pig. I then started to notice he would drag decorations around the tank, and when I would put them back, he would move them somewhere else again. I didn't think much of it. A few days back he had moved one of the plastic plants in the tank to the corner. Tired of the game, I just let it be. I then started to notice a pile of gravel start to develop near the plant, and when I got home today found that he had dug himself an impressive nest. All the way to the plastic screen! (still running undergravel in this tank) I watched him for about 20 minutes take 1 rock at a time and move it to his pile. All the while pummeling any fish that comes near it. So, I'm guessing from this that 1. I have a male, and 2. he's quite comfortable in the tank now. Would it be worth it to try and find him a gal pal? Or is this common and not really mean much? I've heard they are difficult to breed, and I'm (fairly) new at this. The tank is a 120 tall, and he's in there with a couple Carpintis Escondido's, a few Africans, and a Pictus and Jag cat. If nothing else, I think it's just pretty damn cool. Here's a crappy pic.

Thanks

 

[Sarah88]

thats just good ol cichlid behavior, he has claimed himself a territory and is decorating it to his liking, but unless you want to get rid of your escondidos and dedicate that tank to a pair then i wouldn't get him a mate because parrots get big and a pair would easily claim that entire tank since im guessing a 120 tall is 4ft or less long, i would just let him be and enjoy the activity of an all male tank, parrots are awesome fish that look great GOOD LUCK with him

 

[peathenster]

H. psittacus are intelligent and confident fish. What you are seeing is quite normal behavior. Mine rearrange decors all the time to their liking, and would attack the grabber when I try to put things back. Three days ago I added another Maxi Jet 1200 with a pre-filter to their favorite spot to polish the water a little bit. Yesterday the female broke it into three pieces. Point taken.

Is the tank 4x2x2? IMO it's not big enough for an adult pair. You really need a 6' tank.

Another potential problem is your stock list. Not sure about the cats but it's not ideal to keep H. carpintis and Africans with H. psittacus.

 

[Coues]

Thanks Sarah. I figured I would have to dedicate that tank to a pair, but if this is common behavior then it's not worth it. He's a great fish, but I really can't wait for those Escondidos to mature. They look awesome already at only 3".

 

[Sarah88]

yeah i have an escondido growing in my tank right now too, they are actually the fish that got me to stay with fresh water when i was seriously contemplating going to salt. i saw the escondidos and they made me want to research more into what other awesome freshwater fish were out there, if you can get your hands on them i also have a carpintis vontehillo and he looks even better than my escondido and had his colors at a much smaller size too, i cant wait to see them both swimming in my tank once they are grown they are already awesome to watch at 5-6in , but yeah i think i agree with peathenster that, that tank might even be too small for a full grown pair, those parrots are awesome fish but they sure do need a lot of space

 

[Coues]

H. psittacus are intelligent and confident fish. What you are seeing is quite normal behavior. Mine rearrange decors all the time to their liking, and would attack the grabber when I try to put things back. Three days ago I added another Maxi Jet 1200 with a pre-filter to their favorite spot to polish the water a little bit. Yesterday the female broke it into three pieces. Point taken.

Is the tank 4x2x2? IMO it's not big enough for an adult pair. You really need a 6' tank.

Another potential problem is your stock list. Not sure about the cats but it's not ideal to keep H. carpintis and Africans with H. psittacus.

Thanks for the info Peat. All is well in the tank now, but it (stock) is something I will keep an eye on. The Psitts rules the tank, but is also much larger at about 6". We'll see what happens when the Escondidos start to catch up. I plan on building a much larger diy tank soon.

yeah i have an escondido growing in my tank right now too, they are actually the fish that got me to stay with fresh water when i was seriously contemplating going to salt. i saw the escondidos and they made me want to research more into what other awesome freshwater fish were out there, if you can get your hands on them i also have a carpintis vontehillo and he looks even better than my escondido and had his colors at a much smaller size too, i cant wait to see them both swimming in my tank once they are grown they are already awesome to watch at 5-6in , but yeah i think i agree with peathenster that, that tank might even be too small for a full grown pair, those parrots are awesome fish but they sure do need a lot of space

Better looking than the Escondido? I'll have to look into those

 

[Coues]

Is this one?

Amazing fish. Post a picture of yours if you don't mind

 

[Sarah88]

yup thats it, mine has already gone to bed for the night and is not coming out of his log when i turned the lights on so ill try to get a pic tomorrow but yeah that pic you posted other than having a lot of light shining on him, shows the colors really well, they really are that blue and gorgeous

 

[Sarah88]

here are some pics of my bad boy right at the 6in mark, i don't have a great camera (or great picture taking skills lol) so the flash kind of washes out his colors. instead of the greenish color the flash makes him is true color is like the blue of the other one you posted, his whole body is like the nice blue that is showing in his fins (also sorry about the smudgy glass, had some kids over this weekend n haven't cleaned the glass yet haha)

 

[DanG13]

How big is he? Reason I ask is I have a 4" Psittacus and he/she doesn't have near as much color as yours. Guess I must have a female. Here is a pic.