CWO4GUNNER

After completing a big chuck of taxes and loan docs for the 4.6% refi, I decided to treat myself to a look only visit at the LFS. Yesterday I was real good at the local mom & pop LFS and walked away from a pair of 1" blood parrots for $15 each. Yikes!
Today I went to Pet Smart just to look mind you, where I had bought my 3" angels for $6 each. There I saw they had this big fat BP for $24. Seemed almost trained as he would respond to finger greeting and come over, quiet and gentile looking with that cute small peaceful looking face. The LFS girl said "diden't you say you were looking for a pair of nice blood Parrots?" OH no my new tank is marginally cycled, cant risk the fish load you know. The LFS girl said "you can buy just one and ...." I Interrupt, Ill take...um!

So here he is acclimated by the book for what he cost. Respects the angles but he took a couple leaps at my Cory's until I use my tried and trusted Ammo lock bottle (read photo album). I may have to move the 3 Cory's though as they can sense him and are swimming at the top begging me to net them. Dont worry Im feeding everyone by hand with a turkey baster (2 bloodworms each) to save on bio load so that my tank remains 0 stable. Hope I don't have to take him back but ill do what I have to.


I diden't know this central American cichlid diden't have its own section as nice as they look.
Well it looks like things are going better then expected the Cory's are now ignoring the BP and the PB seems to only halfheartedly nudge them, not even a real bite.

Amanda

I bought the young yet-to-color-up young parrots for $8. Now mine is JUST starting to turn orange. They're real cuties though.

CWO4GUNNER

Yeah well see you got a reasonable, actually great deal and I would have bought those young'un too but they wanted $15 each. I just hope this relatively big one isn't too much for my angels size. so far he is sort of pestering the Cory and Colombian Shark but only occasionally. Hope he doesn't get stung! Are yours alone? Its not like me to pay $24 for a fish but in a town size of 50K there isen't allot of choices unless I drive 98 miles to Vegas.

Amanda

Mine is with blind cave tetras, cories, zebra danios, and a female betta.
They don't have any teeth in their actual mouth, their teeth are farther back, so they can't nip at other fish. Mine sorta head-butts the others sometimes. Especially when I put blanched cucumber in the tank, my parrot loves that!

CWO4GUNNER

That makes me feel allot better. I think he misses his 4 other tank mates in that 5 gallon they had them in but he wasn't paired up. If this one works out I may splurge and buy one of his smaller mates. But if it doesn't work out Ill take him back and wait till I go visit my mom and stop by Vegas. I hear they have some real exotic FW fish.

Amanda

Mine was with another BRP, but he starved the other one pretty close to death. So I sold the other. Mine does better alone.

capekate

They do like the company of others and really need to have a shelter to hide in, such as a cave or pot. This I found is very important for them.
Your new BR was probably just curious of the other fish in the tank and just checking them out. I found my BRs to fine will all kinds of fish.
Best of luck with your new one.. they really are cool fish!

agabr123

aw he's gorgeous good luck!

CWO4GUNNER

I had no idea about the need to hide and he scared me when he wedged himself between the UV light housing and the side of the tank. Once coaxed out he found my unintentional hollow log ornament which I had purchased a week earlier because it looked cool complete with hole in the side as well as both ends. He really loves it in there, fits perfectly and peeks his head out to see what is going by. I am so glad he is not like a Convict fish, my only bad experience with an aggressive Cichlids that almost killed an Oscar twice his size 35 years ago.

aquarist48

He's awesome. As stated above they love to hide at least for the first couple of months. Mine are so large now and they know me so well they do not hide any longer. They love their water changes. Please get him a companion if it's possible. Mine get into lip locks. Such peaceful fish they cannot bite because of the deformity of the mouth and their teeth are so far down their throat. They bump instead of bite. Too, if he starts turning black don't worry about it. It's part of their growth cycle. They really should be kept with other peaceful fish.

Genetically engineered species. They do not exist in the wild.

CWO4GUNNER

I plan to keep him and at least one more BP with angels that are smaller. Current my two angles just look at him then back off as he approaches. The BP also just looks at the angel small bodies but large fins and moves away. I plan to get rid of (give away) the Columbia shark now 2.5" before he gets aggressive or stings someone. I also plan to introduce my almost 3" Silver dollars at some point as I hear they are also compatible with angels and PB's. But that about it, just some large gentile fish.

aquarist48

Silver dollars will make a great tank mate. Good luck I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

catfishtabbi

I noticed his mouth closes, so you got a good one. Hes great. I read elsewhere that one guy has his BP with an angel and the BP layed eggs, i'm trying to follow the story. I have seen BP at big Al's the size of a dinner plate.Good luck.

CWO4GUNNER

You know you really stopped me in my tracks with that comment. I went to fill up my eight 5ga bottles of RO today at the heath food store because I wanted to do a minor RO only water change on both the 120 tank (12 ga) and the 60 tank (6ga).
Anyway I decided to stop by Pet Smart only to ask them what they have been feeding their large BP's. Then I noticed of the 3 large remaining their mouth were agape much more then my BP and I remembered what you had said freaked me out because I noticed they never opened or closed there mouth to breath, just one constant "Whoo hoo". Wonder how they eat?

Amanda

They suck the food into their throats. They crush it there, they also have teeth at the back of their mouths.

CWO4GUNNER

So there is no deformity concern here? because these others also look great and I like them but I think their pie hole is much bigger then my BP's and was just worried that maybe this is something your supposed to look for like catfishtabbi alluded to, a fault in this breed. I haven't had the time to research it so Im not at all sure but it was enough to put me off without buying a my PB a friend until I know about this BP pie hole issue for certain. So Amanda your saying a little larger or smaller the "Whoo hoo" is normal right.

Amanda

None of the BRP's should be able to close their mouths - it's part of the breed deformity. The size of the mouth really doesn't matter, as they don't really use it that much in reality anyway.

CWO4GUNNER

uh-oh, now I'm tempted to role the bike out and go buy one lol.

Amanda

lol. They're cute little fish. I can see why everyone is falling in love with them.

aquarist48

If you will look down the throat of your BR....you'll see that the mouth actually opens and closes on the inside of the parrot like beak. The beak part never closes on any of my parrots. (run and get the rest of his buddies!)

CWO4GUNNER

Well I went out and got a buddy but speaking to the older experienced fish lady who works there at night and owns a few Parrots told me that "alone they are naturally more placid and less prone to aggression and that there is a possibility that putting in one of his same size familiar buddies could create a bad boy's situation with other tank mates like your angels. While they cant really bite them they could suck down one of their long ventral fins like a piece of spaghetti." So I asked what if I bought one from the small Parrot tank ($9) since being smaller he would not know the large Parrot, he would be more respectful to the angels being smaller, and if there was any aggression it would be more likely between the two parrots right? "Hmmm the lady said, that might be a better gamble for your angels and other residents, they would defiantly be more preoccupied with strangers then acquaintances" OK let see wow they are all black!, how come they are all black? all except that larger yellow one with the black fins? "They sometimes come that way but these are all natural no jelly beans with die here, what you see is what you get, and that largest one in the small tank is a yellow calico". OK Ill take..um!

Got him home and the lights had already been turned off in the tank, the large orange Parrot in his hollow log. Did the acclimation for water temp and pH slowly as prescribes and 30 minutes later I released the yellow calico. bewilderingly swimming around the tank he passed by the opening of the hollow log where the Large Red was peering out, my hart stopped. Suddenly the large parrot saw the yellow calico and rushed out quickly toward the newcomer. I though oh boy poor stressed calico is going to now get beaten up, but to my complete surprise the large Red rushed to the calico's side almost like a person would to help someone who was hurt. The large Red just stayed up against side by side with the calico would gingerly nibble his side once or twice like giving encouragement and swim along with the calico as if he was giving a tour of the tank, so weird. Large Red even showed him his hide. It tuns out that because this calico was the biggest in the small parrot tank he is actually just a little smaller then the large. But its so wired the way he rushed tio his side and escorted him or her around.
Tomorrow Ill get some pics as I don't want to flash them at night. never expected or witnessed such a reaction from any fish.

aquarist48

I've noticed that BR's look out for their own. The onlly aggression I have ever seen is when they attempt to spawn. Even then they just push the other fish out of the way and that was very gently. During their juvie stages they turn black. It's just part of their growth cycle. It will pass eventually. The only time mine turn black now is when their fins are growing from being torn by spawning. Then just the tips turn black.
Can't wait to see your pics.

When I purchased mine, 4 of them had been dyed. I just felt that some little kid would come along and see the different colors, buy them, get them home and then their colors fade and the fish end up in toilet. So I bought them all. Luckily, they didn't suffer any long term problems from the dye.

CWO4GUNNER

Looks like I can only get cave shots as they keep running back inside when I approach. Ill update this entry with a head shot.

aquarist48

They'll be a bit shy until they get to know you.

CWO4GUNNER

Wow they must have excellent eye sight and more cognitive then other fish. I had to crawl and surprise newcomer and then he would play dead float to the bottom then dart into the hide again peeking out. Not as spectacular as the larger Red but kind of a neat mango flesh color with black. They only come out when Im in the other room I can see them swimming around. Guess I better order a bigger hollow log. At the LFS there tank has nothing but glass and they dont seem nervous at all in that tiny 5ga, but here with all the room and other fish they seem shy of anything outside the aquarium that approaches.

aquarist48

Too cute...yes, all of that black will fade away over time. Nice job. I took some pics of my new ones today, however, I take pics the old fashioned way with a 35mm Nikon. Once I get the film back and scan them I'll post. I put 2 BR's and 2 albino cory's in my new 26g Bow Front They aren't much bigger than a .25. I've had them almost 3 weeks and they are coming out now when I show them the food container and they wait to be fed.

CWO4GUNNER

I still have my Olympus OM1 I bough in Japan 34 years ago for $220 and took allot of slides of the South Pacific, took it out of storage 5 years ago and had it re-felted and tuned up but never used it yet. this 7 year old S7000 FinePix has me totally spoiled and I only ever learned a 10th of its functions lol. These recent photos have improved because I'm using a macro feature using the 10x zoom to cheat and set to the highest resolution 12MP. Please send me a PM when you post them or post them here Id love to see your BPs. There should be a PB section lol.

CWO4GUNNER

Well with ammonia and nitrite readings of zero today in my 120 tank, I decided to buy two more medium/small BP's (all black) for $9 each. I should have listened to you though and got an extra hide because when they tried to enter the hollow log (and there was room) they were greeted with threats and shoves by the beautiful mango BP who was actually tank mates with these two Black BP's at the LFS. The large Red BP ignored them completely just staying by his little mango BP, I think that Mango is a female sure has the face for it. She would just mock bite and shove the poor little black BP's trying to enter an emty spot in the hollow log as if they were totally unwelcome. Now they are wedged one behind the heater and glass and the other between the UV and glass both upside down like they are dead. Hope they can wait for that log that's on order or I could go buy a piece of remnant slate for $1 from the rock yard. But I was hoping the absence of a hide would accelerate there visibility like it does at the LFS where there is nothing but glass and people tapping the glass all day without so much as a reaction. All these guys are acting like terrified of the big monster on two legs lol. Sorry no photo's until I get them situated, besides these little guys aren't exactly photogenic and will be hard to photo shoot without allot of light. No info on the black BP other then it is a hybrid of the hybrid between a BP and a black Synspilum.

aquarist48

They also enjoy swimming upside down. Mine will do a complete circle also upside down when it comes to feeding time. I take my finger and do a circle on the glass and several of them start doing circles. Too, they may crawl in a cave and actually sleep on their sides. My 2 new babies (BRP's) are also very shy right now. However, only after 3 weeks they are coming out to feed once I show them the food container.

I hope to have new pics this afternoon.

CWO4GUNNER

Well your probubly all going to think I'm harsh but as I was about to go out to find a piece of hiding slate I thought. "You know the large PB I bought at Pet Smart has been there for at least 2 months with no hide eating and playing and responding to customer and staff when fingers are pressed against the glass by coming over, this whole 24/7 cave hiding is allot of bunk."

So I removed the hide and ate my breakfast in front of the aquarium and while they hid for a while where they could. After a while in their awkward position and realizing I hadn't eaten them they scouted around the aquarium realized that there was no cave only plants and ornaments too short but stout or too thin but tall and sort of gave up and started exploring and play fighting. By the time I finished eating in front of the aquarium they must have realized I was eating something because they came right up to the glass and watched me as I pretended to ignore them. Then I tried using the international finger hello sign up against the glass and they came up. Now there just swimming around normally squabbling over every bush, plant and fake coral they can claim with the large BP asserting his dominance by going around making each one of them give up there spot so he try's each one out for him self. They can still hide but now it takes too much effort when there are better things to do. No more caves until they realize they don't need one and that Im here to provide there needs.