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H. psittacus - true parrot cichlid - Official Photo Thread

Sean, do you think it's a female? I was guessing male just because of the size and the aggression, but I honestly don't know.

It's in a 210. It pretty much dominates the entire tank. I've contemplated getting another parrot to see if I could pair them, but either 1) the pairing would fail and then I'd have to find another large tank for the second fish, or 2) they'd hit it off and then take the whole 210 up by themselves, and I'd have to find a big tank for all the other tankmates. Either way, it means setting up another big tank for just a handful of fish, and that's not feasible right now. So I guess it gets to stay solo for now.

ExoticGREEN, I remember when mine was the size of yours. It didn't take long for it to double in size. :nilly: Get ready! What kind of tankmates do you keep him with?
 
i thought you said she, ryan. at 12"+ its gonna be a male. mine is prolly right at 10-12". she doesn't get the red throat or cheeks like she use to when i had severums in the tank, i think it was a cichlid think that triggered her coloring up. i haven't taken pics of my fish in forever. i'll try to grab some this weekend.
 
My pair:

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ryansmith83 said:
Yep. Unfortunately, the lents got a bit too boisterous. If you want them, you know where to find them!

Mine never really exhibits the solid green color that other people seem to talk about with their parrots. He's always either a bright blue color or the mottled color which you see in the video. That's his angry/aggressive mode. He tends to get really moody and aggressive during water change time. He's constantly attacking and chasing everything else in the tank. He has a real bad attitude.

The other tankmates include a trio of Atapabo severums, six Geophagus brachybranchus, two Geophagus winemilleri, a super red severum, and a Saxatilis pike. The severums currently have week-old fry which causes war to break out between them and the psittacus. :(
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Sorry the Lents didn't work out. I'd love to have them if I could find the space. The Parrot still looks amazing. I didn't realize it was so aggressive though. Maybe a tank with a mated pair of them will be in your future.
 
ryansmith83 said:
They look great. Have you had any fry? Do you ever have aggression issues between the two of them?
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They breed every three weeks or so. I'm growing out a group for me - now abut 1.5-2"- and this weekend I'm distributing a bunch throughout my local club. I have to hatch them in distilled water - I grab a spawn every now and then and raise a few up.

After a spawn, the male will run some territorial ritual, cutting her off from the spawning site. She just sits in an unprotected area and eats all the food during feedings - then he calms down in 10 days or so and then they restart the breeding process. Real good pair of fish, never had to divide them. But if I stick my hand near their nest, they are just as aggessive as any large cichlid.
 
Great looking fish in this thread. I'll have to try to get some pics of mine. Psittacus are some of my favorite fish.
 
Lets keep this thread alive!!!

Im a late comer....Size is 8" Wild caught from "Orinocco"

Any idea what's the gender? :)

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