does anyone have this guy, Hoplarchus psittacus
- Thread starter proycraft
- Start date
Here is what Jeff said,
Getting the psittacus seems to be the greatest obstacle. Hopefully that will not be an issue soon....
I had great success breeding them about 4-5 years ago. At that time, the dominant male was literally 10+ years old and the other breeders were 4+ years old. I must admit, that old male (I forget what Liebel named him-yes-he came from Wayne and had a first name by then!) was at the high end of active breeding years.
If you can keep an oscar healthy, no reason you can't successfully maintain psittacus. Warm, clean water, pH no greater than 7, and lots of space, time, food, and water changes... Reverse osmosis may be nice, but never necesary in my tap water conditions.
My old house had well water. The pH came out of the tap at 6.4 and climbed to about 6.6 after aeration and such in the tanks. They bred many times there. Here at my place now, well water is about 7 and stable. They continued to breed here, but I had to cull a fair number of babies. Whether that is due to a higher pH or the then-ancient breeding male, I still don't know.
The group I keep in my 265 now are about 4 years old and have not yet bred.
These fish are notorious egg-eaters, so when they do spawn, you may want to pull the eggs.
Like Uaru, they really like lots of vegetables in their diet. Lettuces (red-leaf, romaine, spinach), peas, etc. are great foods. Varied pellets, krill, etc. round out a good diet for them.
Getting the psittacus seems to be the greatest obstacle. Hopefully that will not be an issue soon....
I had great success breeding them about 4-5 years ago. At that time, the dominant male was literally 10+ years old and the other breeders were 4+ years old. I must admit, that old male (I forget what Liebel named him-yes-he came from Wayne and had a first name by then!) was at the high end of active breeding years.
If you can keep an oscar healthy, no reason you can't successfully maintain psittacus. Warm, clean water, pH no greater than 7, and lots of space, time, food, and water changes... Reverse osmosis may be nice, but never necesary in my tap water conditions.
My old house had well water. The pH came out of the tap at 6.4 and climbed to about 6.6 after aeration and such in the tanks. They bred many times there. Here at my place now, well water is about 7 and stable. They continued to breed here, but I had to cull a fair number of babies. Whether that is due to a higher pH or the then-ancient breeding male, I still don't know.
The group I keep in my 265 now are about 4 years old and have not yet bred.
These fish are notorious egg-eaters, so when they do spawn, you may want to pull the eggs.
Like Uaru, they really like lots of vegetables in their diet. Lettuces (red-leaf, romaine, spinach), peas, etc. are great foods. Varied pellets, krill, etc. round out a good diet for them.
BoBP and Jeff are the only people that I know of have them.
However, I don't know who have them for sells at this moment. It is pretty hard to get them.
By the way, their common name is "Parrot Cichlid".
However, I don't know who have them for sells at this moment. It is pretty hard to get them.
By the way, their common name is "Parrot Cichlid".
i have a lfs that can get them they just dont know the price right now so i have to wait till wednesday
whos bobp and how big do these guys get
whos bobp and how big do these guys get
Hoplarchus sittacus also called the NATURAL parrot cichlid.
This is a mild mannered fish the grows up to about 10" in length and originates from tributaries of the Amazon RIver. It is a substrate spawner and is compatible with almost all of the Geophagus-type, and other south american cichlids of the same size, care specs, and agression levels (i.e: angelfish, chocolate cichlids, uaru, etc...).
This fish requires a tank of at least 40 gallons per fish if you intend to grow them to full size. They are uncommon in the pet trade.
This is a mild mannered fish the grows up to about 10" in length and originates from tributaries of the Amazon RIver. It is a substrate spawner and is compatible with almost all of the Geophagus-type, and other south american cichlids of the same size, care specs, and agression levels (i.e: angelfish, chocolate cichlids, uaru, etc...).
This fish requires a tank of at least 40 gallons per fish if you intend to grow them to full size. They are uncommon in the pet trade.
BobP is one of the members in MoJo's forum.
This fish...it is best to ask Jeff Rapps regarding keeping them.
This fish...it is best to ask Jeff Rapps regarding keeping them.