View Full Version : blood parrot tankmates
dbcb314
07-21-2003, 1:52 PM
whats a good tankmate for a blood parrot that will go with in a 30 gal?
Flag Cichlid, Severum, Oscar, Loaches, Gourami (except for Giant Gourami), any peaceful fish is good. My Blood Parrots hang out with Oscar and Severum. All my big BPs protect the youngest fish, including my juvenile Oscar. One of my BP is the boss in the tank...he even boss my big Green Severum around.
Andy16
07-21-2003, 2:06 PM
Oscars WILL NOT work in a 30 gallon tank with a BP. I dont know anything about BPs but Oscars need AT LEAST a 55 gallon tnak.
Originally posted by Andy16
Oscars WILL NOT work in a 30 gallon tank with a BP. I dont know anything about BPs but Oscars need AT LEAST a 55 gallon tnak.
No one told him to get a 12" oscar to live with the BP. If he plans to upgrade the tank in the future...I don't see anything wrong with getting a juvenile Oscar.
In fact, BP gets big too...even though not as big as Oscar, but very rounded. 30g can be a problem for a full grown BP as well with another tankmate.
DarthV
07-21-2003, 3:43 PM
I didn't see him mention getting a larger tank. As it is, the BP will outgrow the 30gal tank. You could put in a couple tougher fish if you were to buy a 75 or 90 gal tank... male convict and jack dempsey would probably work.
Originally posted by DarthV
I didn't see him mention getting a larger tank. As it is, the BP will outgrow the 30gal tank. You could put in a couple tougher fish if you were to buy a 75 or 90 gal tank... male convict and jack dempsey would probably work.
I will not suggest Con and JD because they will end up killing the BP when they get big. BP fights mouth to mouth too, but theirs are more like suction locking...nothing like Con and JD who can have jaw locking.
BP takes a while to grow to 8". My BP took close to a year to grow from 2" to 4". If you do plan to keep the 30g with a juvenile BP or even a 4" BP, you still got time before you need to upgrade your tank. Oscar does grow big fast...I would rather go for Severum. If you do plan to get Con or JD...then they better be juvenile or at least smaller than BP...or you will find your BP running and hidding all the time. Unless you have a BP like mine...tough as nail (went through live and death 3x)...and not scare of a fight (fought with 3" red devil)...and made all the fish coward away (even my 4" GT ran).
Another reason I suggested Severums because they get along better than they will with Con and JD. After all, BP is hybrid between Red Devil and Severum.
A Blood parrot would handle its own against a con and a Jack. The jack would be the one hiding as they do by nature anyway. Blood parrots don't jaw lock because their mouths are too small. I would house one by itself. A 30 gallon is not big enough for alot of options.
Originally posted by optix
A Blood parrot would handle its own against a con and a Jack. The jack would be the one hiding as they do by nature anyway. Blood parrots don't jaw lock because their mouths are too small. I would house one by itself. A 30 gallon is not big enough for alot of options.
Not all the time, optix. Some BP can't use the mouth properly. One of my BP has to be hand fed. Even then...still having hard time to keep the food in.
I have 8 BPs. Call me crazy :D All the BPs I have...have different personalities. Some can't even fight. Some will fight to the death.
Like I said...30g can hold the BP with a tankmate only if both of them are juvenile.
Here is a pic of my BP fighting with a Red Devil. I know it is a blur. They were shaking so much that it was hard to get a clear pic. At the end...the Red Devil has to be seperated because my BP wouldn't leave her alone. And the Red Devil got no rest. Even though my BP was torn up...he still wanna fight. The orange one is the BP. Only 5 of my BPs will fight. The other 3 rather hide.
http://www.peifc.com/Our_fish/105-0595_IMG.JPG
swreefer
07-21-2003, 9:58 PM
It all depends upon the temperament of the BP.
Mine is 6 inches and killed a 6 inch turquiose severum, a 4 inch blue gourami, a 4 inch gold gourami, and is now keeping a 6 inch pink kisser in a corner and terrorizing an 8 inch oscar. For not being able to close it's mouth, he has done a good job damaging the oscars lips by locking jaws with it.
BTW, the BP was added after all the other fish but before the oscar.
The bigger it gets, the more agressive it gets.
DarthV
07-21-2003, 10:28 PM
Well what did you expect from a fish that is hybridized with a red devil or midas + some convict to boot. They definitely have the parentage to become very mean fish once they start to mature.
swreefer:
I don't think I'd keep gouramis with most sa/ca cichlids... oscars would be ok since they aren't overly aggressive (unless the other fish can fit into it's maw).
peifc
07-21-2003, 10:54 PM
Originally posted by DarthV
Well what did you expect from a fish that is hybridized with a red devil or midas + some convict to boot. They definitely have the parentage to become very mean fish once they start to mature.
swreefer:
I don't think I'd keep gouramis with most sa/ca cichlids... oscars would be ok since they aren't overly aggressive (unless the other fish can fit into it's maw).
Actually, I have 2 gouramis living with aggressive cichlid right now. They are doing fine :D
I think Aquamojo.com will tell you the same. He has 5 blue Gouramis living with aggressive cichlids, dovii, red terror, jag, red tail catfish, red devil, and etc. Gourami might not fight back, but they are pretty fast if they wanna pickup speed.
BP is hybrid of Red Devil and Severum. They have no convict gene in them at all.
swreefer:
My cross breed BP (between Red Devil and Tail less Blood Parrot) also killed a few fish too. He has the intelligent of Red Devil, but he is also a predator. One moment...he will be a get-along-so-well fish. Next, he would tear the fish apart. I've taugh him not to bully certain fish. Surprisingly, he actually knew which fish (GT, JD, and Convict) he isn't supposed to bully.
One of my 8 Blood Parrots grew the most. When I got him...he was only an inch. He grew 4" within half year. I think it has a lot to do with how much they consume. Like the other BP (I called him Forest) I have...he has problem with eating due to his small mouth (have to hand fed him), he has grown 1/2" within 8 months.
To all others who ended up planning to get BPs:
Please understand...not all BPs have the personality like swreefer's. Some BP can be extrememly timid. Like Forest, he can never defend for himself. If he wasn't being protected by my other big BPs, he would be killed by now. When get BPs at LFS, observe their aggression. If you notice the BP is chasing other fish...then he is the keeper. :D
kewlparrotz
07-22-2003, 12:23 AM
i have freakin 3 6inch round parrots in my 65 gallon they are the most aggresive fish i have ever owned and everyday they seem getting bigger especailly now that i started them on some frozen cichlid chow i think the oscar would be good wit a bp in a 75 gallon if you have the oscar grow up with the bp but have fun with whatever you do
later
PS: i thought that parrots could have some midas cichlid in them too cuz i was gonna get a midas male to breed with my female parrot cuz she lays eggs all the time she just needs a fertile male to fertilze the eggs.
DarthV
07-22-2003, 8:15 AM
Other than the breeders, the parentage of the BPs are really just guesses. I've heard midas X severum, red devil X severum and combos of both...and possible convict mixed in somewhere. They wouldn't be 1rst generation hybrids, or everyone would be breeding them...so there is some sort of line breeding going on as well.
kewlparrotz
07-22-2003, 1:55 PM
thanks buddy
Lynsey
07-23-2003, 1:33 AM
I had a bp in a 75 gallon tank with an Oscar. They got along beautifully for about 1.5 years. But when my Oscar grew up a bit he turned on my poor bp so I had to get rid of him. I tried other cichlids in that tank over the course of a year. Almost everything clashed in my tank:
JD too aggressive for my Oscar and Bp
firemouth too aggressive for my bp
severum fought with my bp too much, too much chasing between them.
I know that bps do better with dithers. I would pick some none cichlid fish to go in with your bp. I wouldn't worry about keeping your bp in a 30 gallon. Once they hit the 4" mark their growth really slows down. I would keep just your bp as your centerpiece fish and put in a school of congo tetras or a few preacox rainbow fish(or any medium tetras) and then maybe three yoyo loaches. Yoyo loaches are tough and fast. Good dither for your bp, they are also entertaining little buggers.
NOT all BP are like your BP temperament, Lynsey.
Mine is a tough guy that rule the tank. Like I said, I have 8 BPs. All of them have different personalities. One will coward just from a small fish. Anoter will fight a Red Devil.
I have Firemouth, Loach, Severum, and once one Oscar in the tank with my BPs. There are just occassionally fight over some territories (mostly between each other and the largest Severum).
I will not suggest putting tetra in the tank with BPs. Some BPs are being fed live food in LFS. I'm afraid the BP might make lunch out of the tetra.
If you haven't gotten the BP, observe carefully of the BP's behavior in LFS before getting one. You don't want a BP that will run and hide. Neither do you want a BP that will eat and pick on all fish you put in the tank.
I will not say that BP's growth will slow once reach 4". One of my BP is growing way too fast. He is 5" and still growing like crazy because he consumes food the most.
Lynsey
07-23-2003, 11:14 AM
The point that I was trying to make is that many people suggest oscars, which is probably fine for a while. In my experience oscars personalities change a lot when they are older. They are quiet passive when younger. And I know that all Oscars are different. My other suggestion was to put in some congo tetra or some other large tetra, because I have found that bps are usually not that aggressive if they are kept singlely. I had a very mean one that I transfered to a different tank containing tetras and it was very mellow when their was no other cichlids in the tank (assuming you don't give you bp feeders).
I believe when these fish are young they will get along fine. I had my bp with a firemouth, nicaragua cichlid, convict, green terror and jd with no problems. But when they are full grown they have very very different personalities. I have found that a bp is usually not capable of defending itself against one of the more aggressive species (adult).
Check out this forum. http://www.parrotcichlid.com/