Advice Needed! Pic/Setup included.

[Atterbe]

Hello! I am new to the hobby, and loving it! Please take a look at this setup and pass on every tidbit of information you may have. Thank you in advance!


~Equipment~
Aqua Culture 55 gal. tank
Aqua Culture 30-60 Power filter (330 GPH)
24 in. fluorescent lamps x 2
200-watt submerged heater

~Deco~
75 pounds of Top-fin aquarium gravel
12 in. Elite Aqua fizzlers x2
2 artifact decorations, one with air stones
2 artificial small caves

~Plants~
17/7 light/dark ratio
Swirl Bamboo ~14 in. x2
Peacock Fern ~12 in.
Gold Ribbon ~12 in.
Kyoto ~12 in.
White Ribbon ~4 in.

~Fish~
Zebra Danios x 3 (had for 1 month now)
Blood Red Parrot x1 (had for a week, always hides)

~Water Specs~
Temperate stays between 77-80 degrees
Aquarium salt, enough for 55 gallons
According to 5-in-1 One Strip Quick Dip test:
No detectable nitrate and nitrite
75 GH ppm (hardness)
120 KH ppm (alkalinity)
7.9 pH


(Sorry for terrible the camera work)

[Rbishop]

Would suggest a good liquid test kit..like API's...dip strips are not very reliable.

[Big Mike]

Nice tank!!!

[Nue]

Looks Great! I would remove the bamboo though, it will rot away over time.

[Atterbe]

Liquid test kit, check. I will definitely shop for that.

We are planning on introducing a regular blood parrot soon with high hopes of compatibility.
Hopefully the new tank mate will get the current cichlid out and about in a friendly way. What are good water specs for blood parrot tank?
I've read they prefer dimmer lights, is it true? I hope not, because that means plants will suffer when catering to the fish needs.

[mott]

Hate to tell ya but all of those plants look to be non aquatic!

[Hurley]

Tank looks good except for the plants b/c like mott mentioned, most of those are non-aquatic plants and are more appropriate for a terrarium. If you can get photos of individual types of plants then we can better identify which ones should be in your aquarium and which shouldn't.

Also, i second the liquid test kits.

[Atterbe]

Well, I took photos of the plants. We bought them from Petco. They were sold as aquatic plants.
Did I misinterpret their labeling perhaps? I also couldn't resist tossing in a photo of our new blood parrot!

[sweetlowride]

Did you cycle the tank?

[Atterbe]

You betcha! I did quite a bit of research prior to starting this. I read several guides on how to go about cycling a tank. After dechlorinating the water and letting the tank sit with the "possibly non-aquatic" plants for a week, we added in the danios. We monitored the water parameters and did many small water changes. Worked like a charm.

[PhaidOut]

While I like the look and setup you have going there is unfortunately a problem with the plants. I recognize all those plants, but not by those "common" names. Here's the thing about those plants: They will all die submersed (Fully underwater) they are plants that do well immersed (Roots only under water). Petco, Petsmart, surprisingly many small pet shops sell them. Unfortunately they just rot over time. There are a few others I cannot remember the names of commonly sold at those places that have the same problem.

If you want nice live plants, you will need better lighting. There are very few plants of the type you seem to like that will grow with the current wattage you have. I recommend a minimum of 1.5 watts per gallon in your setup. At that wattage almost any common plant you can get your hands on will at least survive and many will thrive.

Also keep in mind you WILL get algae over time. I tend to leave it in my tanks rather then try and kill it. I do clean the glass as needed. But the fight against Algae is a waste of time. Plants will absorb the food and keep it at bay though. Most of my tanks don't have much of it, but once in a while I get an outbreak of BBA. Flourish Excel will take care of that.

I wouldn't worry too much about your parrot. He/she will eventually get settled in. These are a pretty mean fish. I think your small fish will be ok for now, they are quicker and the Parrot's mouth is not conducive to doing damage. Parrots are an odd-ball cross of different species of cichlids that people have developed. They get to be a pretty good size. No matter what anyone says they are a mean type of fish and they will attempt to fight with other fish. The deformed mouth just makes it hard for them to do damage to fish.

[Trigger1985]

I feel you on the plants, I just switched to live plants from fake in the last few months, it's hard finding the right ones, espically at big chains. About the only things I've seen at the chains that are true aquatic are anacris, hornwort, water sprite, "various anubis" and a few of the "various swords" Try finding a good Local shop. I go to PetLand- they are a smaller chain, not sure how far reaching they are. The one by me is the only store in the area that didn't sell non-aquatics in their tanks- not even a bamboo. And they carry crypts, java moss, mutiple and labaled species of sword and anubis, just wish I could find some decent groud cover..

[Rbishop]

Nice parrot.

[Atterbe]

Thank you Phaidout and Trigger1985 for your articulate and informative posts! I'm starting to think I might need to rescue the plants by switching them into a tank of their own. I'm not familiar with terrarriums(sp?) but I may have to start one.

Question: What are the differences between "blood parrots" and "blood red parrots" other than the color? The only info I can pull up on the internet refer to the 'red' parrot. From my understanding, the 'red' parrot is the hybrid. Are the none colored ones the base species?

[blue2fyre]

Blood parrots and blood red parrots are both hybrids. There isn't really a base species. They are made up of a whole bunch of species to create a certain look. They come in a variety of colors from yellow to red. Many odd colors you see like purple and blue are actually dyed fish.

Hoplarchus psittacus is the true parrot cichlid and looks nothing like the hybrids.

[Atterbe]

So, if I am getting this right. There is THE hybrid 'blood parrot'. They come in many colors. When the blood parrot has the reddish color, it is referred to as the 'blood red parrot'. I imagine they've been bred together so much that they are almost becoming a sub-species itself.