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I have been seeing these parrot fish at the LFS lately, and they seem interesting..... what's the story on these guys? Temperment, tankmates.....
Dan

55G -5x Bosemani, 3x Emerald Cory,3x Red Rainbow, 3x Turquoise Rainbow. 20G-Empty. 10G -4x Danio 3x Cory Fry 1 Gold Mystery Snail. 10G- 1x CAE, 2x Tetra 1x ADF

Bit of a touchy subject for some.

They are a hybrid fish, crossing over of two species of cichlids. Some people dont agree with them on an ethics basis because of the deformities that occur, which are much more common than not. They are often dyed as well their "natural" colours are oranges and red to bright pink.

Personaly I dont have too much of a problem but now they have started hybridising Syno's as well, I can see it taking the same route as dyed fish as far as having a bad reputation.

As far as I know temperment can vary from fish to fish, though mainly agessive though I have seen a few people on forums keeping them in large robust community tanks. But I have also heard of some that have decemated a tank.

For tank mates I would say other large fish, I cant recall what people have kept them with that I have encountered.

they are hybreds, there is a species called parrot fish that is a S.A cichlid, but very rare and often not in metioned in the trade.

anyway, they come in the "natural" way, which is black and it turns to yellow.

then theres the whole injected color blah....old news..

But they are a good cichlid, they cant close their mouths which is a hybred characteristic, they can live a long time. and will get into the 7-10 inch range.

They range in aggression, while they cant really do any harm to tankmates via the mouth situation, they still like to ram other fishes. they are powerful swimmers.

They are easy to care for, i never had any problems. they will eat parrot cichlid foods or any good pellet, frozen etc..

Again, they need about 75 gallon plus for a group. Very easy to care for.

Well as good as fish with deformed lips, deformed gills, severe spinal curvature, organ compression and a bad mood can be. Some in shops are also what youd call ex-dyed, where the artificial colour has worn off, but they still have a huge amount of viral infection risks. If you look real close you might see the odd scale where the needle has punched through. Also remember true full size adults are over 10 inches long, and weigh about the same as a comet goldfish, not that you will see many of those....

Water quality and care is the same as youd expect for an average CA cichlid, needs to be low in nitrate, overfiltered, and they bugger up the plants. Compensate for the crap gills with high oxygen.

Better yet, dont buy one or encourage the trade in them. Hundreds die to bring you the ones in shops, the culling levels for severe deformity are horrific, even though for some its a mercy. Saw one in a shop last year whose whole head was on a 90 degree twist, and its lips completely skewed to either side. They are a force bred hybrid. They spread diseases in the fishkeeping community. Many are sourced from some of the worst hell hole breeding disease pits of the far east. Whether you happen to find them cute or not, the conditions and standards in the trade behind them are horrific.

Have a rescued pair myself. Not really much harder to look after than any other similar cichlid, but youll always have to watch for overfeeding in a way you would with a heavily deformed ryukin goldfish. They hassle small peaceful fish and get beaten up by more able cichlids. Unlike chris I would say they arent a good fish for a myriad of reasons, and just because people are bored with the moral implications of owning one doesnt mean those many good reasons not to own one have gone away. Awful choice for a beginner fish for moral as well as practical reasons.

Its not the fishs fault, but a parrot cichlid represents much of what is wrong with modern fishkeeping, when the "I WANT" fishkeeper and breeder does what he or she wants unchecked with no consideration for humane treatment of fish or due respect to fish health.

The human equivalent would be deliberately surgically or genetically deforming a race of children to have a hair lip, scoliosis, degenerative kidney disease, irritable bowel syndrome, morbid weight gain, and asthma. Then holding them underwater unable to breathe and stabbing them multiple times to a 1 inch depth with a blunt felt tip pen that might have been dipped in a batch of elephantitus parasite.Then watching them live with their problems thinking it was so worth it because they look pretty. Not a nice picture is it? Remember that for all the ones you see in the shops , theres plenty out there awaiting cull that no man, woman,or child would ever wish to see living. Some of the deformity level is just unreal, then of course , as if a creature could be humiliated no further, some have their tails clipped off and are termed "love heart parrots".

Love has absolutely nothing to do with it.

longhairedgit's post

*bows and kisses your feet* I think that that is the single best response to blood parrots I've ever seen.

[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/bNFR][/url]

yep that's why i stopped ordering them at the store i work in.

Est solarus uth mithas,My honor is my life

With all the naturally occuring fish that are available, why would anyone want a man made deformed hybrid?

because they're "cute". Aparantly.
Please note the multi-coloured ones with lipstick are also (obviously) parrot fish. i'd rather not call them cichlids.
Many LFS have signed PracticalFihskeeping.co.uk's pledge not to stock dyed or deformed fish knowingly...mine certainly dosnt..although even in nice chinese restaurants they have tanks teeming with them.

I've had them in the past. One of my first fish when I was new to the hobby and naive. I have to say that I thought they were great pet fish. Lots of personality and character and had I not 'grown up' a bit since and considered everything else thats 'natural' in the hobby, I'd suggest that if shops stopped stocking, people would be 'forced' to stop buying and vast fishfarms would resort to more 'natural methods'..........