kimb

At the suggestion of some very wise members. ..looking for info from anyone who has kept these fish.
I am picking up a new 55g on Tuesday for my female BP, and would like to add in future:

1 male BP
1 male green severum
1 female blue acara

I do know that all of the above can become aggressive during spawning, but from the numerous articles I have read in trying to research, they have all come up numerous times as being compatible. Welcome any suggestions from those who have kept any or all of the above. Thanks in advance.

harpua2002

I honestly think that is too many cichlids for a 55 gallon, but I'm sure some others will disagree. For a while, I kept 2 BPs, a severum, and a firemouth in a 55 and once they hit adult size they seemed crowded. I ended up moving them into a 75 gallon and they not only looked a lot more comfortable and relaxed, but aggression was next to nothing after the upgrade. I would suggest choosing 2 fish out of your list instead of all 3. Any of those fish should be compatible with each other, with one caveat: it's been my experience that parrot cichlids often don't take well to new parrot cichlids. I've always recommended adding them at the same time, but if you try it, look for a new addition that is the same size or larger than your current parrot. JMO.

Amanda

My BR parrot did not do well with another parrot. He starved the poor thing almost to death, I had to give it to my LFS to nurse back. Also, BR Parrots are nearly impossible to sex, so there's no garuntee that you'll get a male.

aquarist48

Good morning. My experiences with BR's have been completely opposite of the first two posts. I haven't had any problems over the years when I added additional parrots. However, when I added a different species (other than BR's) the agression was brutal. The BR's acted as a pack and really tormented the new addition. When I added my last fish a Red Finned Shark I didn't see it for 6 weeks. All 9 BR's ganged up on it, chased it all over the tank until it found a hiding spot. Now they treat the RFS just like one of their own.