Added 2 parrots to the family

Well... I saw them I knew I wanted them

Let me explain a bit how these still nameless parrots found a way to my home.

Last year while watching YouTube movies about fantail goldfish I learned about blood parrots. I found out in the Netherlands they are a absolute NO GO and that finding information about them on Dutch forums is impossible, except for the information that they are hybrids, are handicapped and shouldn't be bought.
This is the reason I found Fishlore maybe 8 months ago

One LFS in the neighborhood has both fantails and blood parrots and I went back several times and watched them. Still not sure if I was going to set up a tank for fantails or for blood parrots. The more I looked at the fantails and the more I read about them, the more I saw these fish too have there physical problems and I saw many video's online that showed it to me.

So I was warming up more and more towards parrots.

A few weeks ago while at a restaurant I spotted two blood parrots (actually one yellow, one red) in a 10 gallon tank (including gravel) and I started a conversation with the owner that they are housed way to small. The parrots were still tiny but even while tiny 10 gallon (minus gravel and decoration) is way to small for them.

Yesterday the unexpected happened. We had dinner again in the same restaurant en I told the owner I was planning a tank with red blood parrots. He asked if I wanted his blood parrots. I even didn't have to ask. He realized after the last time I visited his were housed way to small and that it was hard to keep children and adults from tapping the glass which freaked them out a often.

Maybe it wasn't the wisest decision but I went home with both parrots, knowing that only my 30 gallon tank could temporally house them. Problem, that tank was heavily planted, almost every inch of the gravel is (was heheh) covered with plants. Plus that tank was stocked with fish while the parrots even while still young would need the 30 gallon for them selves.

When we came home I started rearranging the 30 gallon. Ripping out about half of the plants and catching most of the other fish, removed the apple snails... I left a few platy's in the tank which I figured out could function as dither fish and 2 very hard to catch Endler females. It houses also still a few harlequins. I'll remove these from the tank slowly, without disturbing the fish too much. Netting them out when I see an opportunity for an easy catch.
I still had a 10 gallon running and set up a third tank using filter material from both of the old tanks. Major operation during the night. After acclimating the parrots they found their temporally home in the 30 gallon and I hope the best for what once was my 'under water garden'.

I planned a larger tank for parrots end of May but as you can guess that will be a lot sooner now.

Most of the morning I really had to search for the parrots, there were still so many densely planted plants that they could hide without me being able to spot them. I know they need hiding places but I decided to rip out even more plants. They still can hide between and under plants and behind wood making them invisible to me but now they are able to see movements in the room. Less plants will also make gravel vacuuming possible ( can remove the big java fern including the mopanI it sits on).

I thought of exchanging the plants for clay pots but I figured out the plants will help me keeping the water quality better. That with 2-3 50% water changes a week until the bigger tank is fact has to do the trick. Tomorrow however I will buy some new clay pots that I add to the planted tank because I know how they love clay pots.

I have no photo's for you at this moment. They are still shy but came out to eat this evening while I was working behind the computer. Yea, I had the biggest smile on my face I ever had while watching the tank. I decided to watch from a distance and not to disturb them with making pictures. I'll try the next few days to make photo's from a distance while they come out to eat but I might give them a few days I before attempt that.

As for the plants... no harm done yet. I don't fear for the big java fern, the Valisneria and water Wisteria. I removed the pogostemon erectus (was way to large and dense to swim thru for them) but I'm not sure about my red lotus, red Ludwigia, pogostemon helferI (downoi) and cryptocoryine. We'll see.
A LFS I went to to pick up food for them told me he knows parrots that rearrange tanks all the time but he also has a customer that houses two of them in a planted community tank for over a year now. I'll give a planted tank with them a try as I like what plants do for water quality.

As said before, they are still tiny. I guess one is close to 3 inch, the other maybe half an inch longer including tail than the other.

Names, no yet... I didn't have time to think about it, I've been way to busy getting information online. I already did a lot of research in the past six months but now really want to know everything can absorb heheh.

If you have any suggestions after reading my long post (thanks if you could finsih it LOL) you are welcome. I know I have to get my knowledge about parrots online and overseas and I know here are already some people with plenty of experience regarding blood parrots.

My biggest question right now is if I have to clean the clay pots, maybe soaking them for several days in fresh water while I replace the water regularly? I can imagine that a water condition like Aqua safe could help remove toxins from the clay pots?

 

Hello and congratulations!
I love my one parrot! I would rinse the clay pots in plain water and if their is a price sticker, make sure you get that totally off. I would then sit them in a bucket of warm water that has a water conditioner added to it for a few minutes (this should not take days imo). That should be all you need and by the way, mine loves his clay pots.

 

Congrats, you made it to the end of my long post x
Do you know if glazed pots are safe (glazed from the outside)? While a walked my dogs a few minutes ago it came to my mind that I might like some colored blue or green pots.

I see you have an axolotl too. Amazing creatures! I've seen them in the LFS

 

What a heart warming story! Congratulations to you and your parrots☺

 

I realized I never introduced myself to you, in case you missed it here you go

 

Thank you so much for joining us, I truly look forward to your future posts.
When you say that your picking up the two BPs might not have been the wisest decision, I would just say that from their point of view, they might disagree--you clearly know your stuff, and great to have you here, plus, you also likely saved their lives.
The following is strictly sentimental, btw, type stuff, just an add on that in that regardless of the following, you do seem someone to learn from.
sincerely. you do seem to know your stuff-however-
My Dad, eons ago, fought in a second Great war, and having been rescued by a Dutch family, told me to always shake the hand of anyone from the Netherlands---that was all he ever did mention, actually, so consider this a verbal shaking of hands--you rescued the fish, and your ancestors rescued my Dad, and many other RAF types.-sorry, I am a sentimental type----rick

 

Rick, your post made my back and arm expose goose pimples

First about the Blood Parrots. I agree, from 10 to 30 gallon is an improvement plus with big water changes they should be fine a few months. It's not ideal but better than the situation they were in. I'm not going to rush buying a new tank. I'd rather find a good huge used one and make weighted decisions about sand vs gravel, decorations etc than instantly buying a new bigger tank for them which might be too small in the end to. I only can spend my money once I'll be watching water parameters closely... if it doesn't work out the way hope I certainly will speed up the process of getting a bigger tank. If I need it quickly I can buy a new huge tank but I hope to find a used one. We all know the price differences between new and used tanks.
Over the past few years a learned a lot but still can learn ;-) At least testing water quality can help me making decisions on how quick I have to upgrade their tank.


I don't know if it's allowed to go OT at Fishlore. If not please let me know.
[OT]
In between the words I read your emotions. WW2 was horrible, both my parents were teens then and I've heard stories from them and my grandparents. As with other wars, we never *ever* should forgot what happened during WW2.
I've heard first hand how welcome the US soldiers were when the showed up, it must have been quit a sight seeing US troops in NL. One of my granddads was sent to a concentration camp for owning and hiding a radio (but survived, it happened during the last months). One of the more pleasant stories are the ones that are about the chocolate and cigarettes they got form US soldiers
The region were I live was set free already but the Germans bombed during a soccer game, it was one of their last "spasms". My dad was watching the game and only survived because a handgranate that fell almost next to him didn't go off. Hard to imagine the impact from such events if you never experienced war time yourself.

A few years ago I met an American couple that was deployed in the Netherlands, they lived a block a way and we spent 2 years almost daily with each other. Walking the dogs together, getting groceries at base, baby sitting their children. Up to then I never realized how many US families (and among them many very young families) abroad and/or are being separated from each other. Being deployed has such an impact on peoples lives. I think seeing this even while this family didn't live in a war zone, it made me help to realize how much US troops did for the Netherlands.

Please, if your Dad is still alive tell him I'm thankful what he and his buddies did for us! I'm 45 but even my generation still is thankful for the help we got. Nothing wrong with being sentimental ((((Rick)))). It was an horrible part of many lives and with both having parents that experienced it, I totally understand why you get sentimental about this.
[/OT]

 

Good morning,

Congrats on the new Bloody Parrots!

As for terracotta pots, there should not be any paints or glazes on them. Use a new, clean fresh pot. You can sand any rough edges, if you feel you have fish that may get stuck in the hole in the bottom of the pot, you can glue a rock over it using aquarium silicone. Rinse the pot and it's ready to be placed in the tank. Paints and glazes may be toxic to the fish.

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/bloody-parrot-advice.149461/

Best wishes for your new additions and I look forward to seeing photos once the fish have settled in.

Enjoy! These are wonderful fish.

Ken

 

Thanks Ken,
your advise not to use glazed pots makes sense. I'll stay away from them. Unfortunately today I only found pots that were too small.

The parrots are becoming less shy, as long as I sit quietly they explore and eat. They love to hide behind the big Java fern on the MopanI trunk and in between the Valisneria. I can tell they are curious, they are not hiding up to a point where I can't see them anymore. If I can see them, they can see me

They come out after I feed them but I can't see if they really eat what I serve them. Maybe they spit it out again but when I get closer or get up they dart away. I'm tempted to use the binoculars
They were used to eat from the bottom of the tank and I found sinking food that becomes soft but keeps it shape. It's big enough not to fall in between the gravel and the color makes it visible to me if they don't eat it. If something is left before the lights go off I use a hose to suck it from the bottom.

Trying a different brand I bought tomorrow, one that becomes soft quickly but keeps floating. In case they still are reluctant to eat the day after I'll serve blood worms, very tempting to most fish. Artemia might be better but I keep that for later during the next week.

Hmm I'm wondering how I can delete that attachment...

 

Good morning,

Things are sounding pretty normal for your fish. When I get new additions of Bloody Parrots and already having so many, the hiding is not an issue and they are out and about from the moment I add them to the tank. When I add new Bloody Parrots to a new tank with no other Bloody Parrots, then the shyness is apparent big time.

I would just sit as still as possible in front of the tank and eventually they would come out but as soon as I made a move, they would hide. Give them time and it will be rare that they hide at all. It may take up to 6 weeks or so but they will adapt.

Ken

 

Thank you Ken, a good morning to you too!
great to hear from you too that this is normal. I've been reading about this everywhere.
Just found out the yellow ones are are dyed. Grrrrowl. I hate these practices. I thought this is a natural color too, until I read a post from you the yellow artificial.

I wonder how it's possible that after so many years of being them for sale, still nobody exactly can tell where they originate from, that I can't find pictures online from breeding facilities etc. How is it possible to keep it secret for such a long time. I want to find out more about these fish.

Hmmm somewhere on Fishlore I think you wrote a 30 gallon could be used during the first year as a grow out tank. Is that for one BP? I was surprised to read this but opinions on tank size for adults varies a lot two among owners. From 2 in a 55 gallon to 1 in a 55 gallon.
I bet when you talk about a 30 gallon you mean pristine water conditions with many water changes to remove toxins and hormones that slow down growth? The way people do with for instance Discus youngsters?

During the night one of the Endler females I'm unable to catch gave birth, I wonder how long it takes before they start snacking on them but Endler fry is smart. I don't mind them snacking on fry... at times I have more fry than I can deal with.

Thanks you for removing that attachment!

 

Hello,

I did keep several Bloody Parrots in a 33g long (4' long) for some time and then added them to my 265g tank. Being 4' in length, the fish had plenty of swim space during the juvenile period and no issues with stunting. These fish really need room to swim length wise compared to being in a taller tank, IMO.

As for Yellow Bloody Parrots, sometimes they are dyed, but I have had one or 2 over the years that naturally had a more yellowish tint. If the fish is a bright, bright yellow, then there is a good possibility it has been dyed. This fish may still live many years so I wouldn't worry to much at this point. Dying can shorten the life span of the fish.

They will probably munch on the fry as soon as they are able to catch one.

To my knowledge, no one knows exactly where the Bloody Parrots originated or were created. (being a hybrid species we may never know).

Ken

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with a grow out tank. When I compare the sizes to my tank and the parrots I'm fine for the moment, except for the fact that my tank is long but higher than most tanks are, making it a bit shorter than most 30 gallon (long) tanks.
Your info gives me some piece of mind I means I don't have to rush with getting a bigger tank and give it some time to see if I can find a suitable used tank. Not going to postpone it but certainly not rushing into getting a new tank and additional filtration. I really do hope to find a used one.

The info about length is great Very useful!

As for the yellow color, in the tank they were housed in it seemed not to be very bright yellow but the water was brownish too, might have given a false impression of the color. In my own tank I still can't observe them well as they are hiding more when the lights are on. With the lights it's a warm yellow. Only time will reveal this. Your probably are going to witness this with me.

The fry... I don't mind if they get eaten, live food won't harm

I spent some time to find breeding fascilties online. I only found one so far.

Edit: today after posting I'm redirected to a white/empty page.

 

Keep in mind too that Bloody Parrots can change their coloring depending on their mood. Check out my girl Lovely in the photo below, in full spawning mode. Normally she was just as orange as all of my other Bloody Parrots. Sometimes they can even display a cow print of orange and white. Yellow may also be a color change of sorts:




Sadly, I lost Lovely recently at 14 years old. I had this photo enlarged, framed it, to a 16" x 20" and hung it on my fish room wall.




You may have just gotten an error message. Hopefully it has corrected itself.

Ken

 

Oh wow, that is a dramatic color change! I certainly would have thought one of mine was ill if this happens in my tank. Thanks for sharing this picture and the 'warning' about changing colors.

Lovely looks huge, I'm sorry to hear you lost her, but great you could frame her picture. It looks great! She has a sweet face!
I noticed the big gravel in your tank before, does a regular gravel work well with gravel this size? Doesn't food trap in between?

 

Hello,

I find it easier to vacuum the tank using large river rock as my substrate compared to using regular aquarium gravel. These river rocks are much easier to push around with the vacuum. I've had this same river rock for almost 15 years now. I love all of the different shapes and colors of the stones.

I vacuum the tank completely once a month with no issues to my cycle. I change out 80g's per week and change filter pads and rinse sponges 2 or 3 times per week. I do not depend on these for housing beneficial bacteria. By changing out the filter pads and rinsing the sponges also removes fish waste that can cause a rise in Nitrates and lower pH levels.

Rinsing the filter sponges regularly helps to make sure my pumps are pumping as they should and not clogging.

Lovely was a big girl even though she had no tail. She was what is called a Love Heart Bloody Parrot. Not one that I would ever purchase again now that I know the tails are removed at birth. I wasn't aware of this many years ago when I bought her. She was one amazing fish!

Ken

 

Hey Bluezz!
Congo on your Parrots!
What filtration are you running on your tank?

 

Ken, I'll consider river rocks. With smaller gravel poop and food left overs stay on top of the gravel but that might not work with parrots when they start moving gravel around. Something I have to consider too. Good point you have here.
I might have to get used to an entirely different way of maintaining a tank. The Canister filter I run does a great job. Until now I always replaced the filter floss that filters everything first. The blue sponges never where that dirty and I rincend them in aquarium water during water changes every now and then. I never had the filter slowing down but with parrots it might be an entirely different story
When I vacuum the gravel I push the gravel vac into the gravel and take it out once the water that gets sucked up becomes clear. With smaller fish that worked fine for me.

JAOF

I run two filters. One canister filter (Superfish aqua pro 200), rated for tanks up to 200 liters and the flow rate is 800 liters an hour. I have an internal filter too that came with the tank.
The internal is this one: and from the inside it looks like this: This one runs on an Eccoflow pump rated 500 liters an hour.

Together 1300 liters an hour with a tank volume that seems to be 33 gallon and not 30 as I wrote before. 33 Gallon is 125 liters.

Both filters contain filter floss (the canister more than the internal and it seems to filter out more fine particles when I look how dirty it can be compared to the floss from the internal filter), fine and coarse sponges and bio media from sintered glass.

I don't use charcoal (except for removing medication) or nitrate removers etc as standard filter material.

With replacing the Superfish aqua pro 200 for a 600 I could use the same media (baskets inside are the same size) and add an additional 500 liters/an hour but a turn over rate from 10 times the water volume an hours I think should be fine for now? I also could upgrade the Eccoflow with an additional 400 liters an hour but I won't go that route. Rather would spend that money on the new tank and equipment I need in the near future.
If you want to know how much water the canister filter contains, I'm sorry I don't know right now. I would have to look that up for you.
If I would remove the internal filter the available volume for the fish would be 37 gallon, with 2 inch of gravel (average) used on the bottom of the tank.

 

Good morning,

The way you gravel vacuum is perfectly fine, however, by using river rock, I can actually use the gravel vacuum just like I would use a vacuum for the house floors, back and forth, back and forth. I do not have to push the gravel vacuum into the substrate and wait.

Ken

 

Picture time!

I notice they are becoming less shy each day
I just fed them and watched them from a distance. Yesterday they only watched me from behind plants and decided to hide again. Today both eat while I was sitting about 7 feet away. Not bad compared to day 1.

I got several pictures but they are not the best, I had to zoom as far as the camera allowed me but I know you want to see them.

So here they are



Above the orange one you see a real fat Otocinclus. For size comparisson on the right grows Pogostemon helferI (Downoi)/ The Crypto on the right from the orange one I planted recently so these leafs are still pretty small I guess. The colors above resemble pretty much their real colors.




The orange is more orange and the yellow less bright.




They yellow next to a fat Otocinclus





Feeding
The white spec above his eye is probably something on the glass but I'll watch it.

In case you wonder, plants are still unharmed and also the Endler fry! I guess they are still a bit too shy to be mischievous.

 

Good morning,

You have some beautiful Bloody Parrots. I do not believe that the lighter colored one is dyed. It appears normal to me.

Thanks for sharing the photos! Very nice!

Ken

 

LOL, in the last picture, it looks like the red one is playing peek a boo!

 

Congrats Blueszz! Now your hooked...lol. I have 3 and their names are The Three Little Piggies I prefer sand as a substrate, I currently have rock and sand in my tank and am just gonna add more sand to cover rock. There are several threads talking about ppl having to get a lodged rock out of the fishes mouth. You can also soak there pellets in Garlic Guard. Mine go completely crazy when I feed them their food soaked in it, I also soak food in Vita-Chem 2 to 3 times a week and 1 day a week put it directly in the tank. All mine now come and take food from my fingers. Here's a couple pics of my new setup, 1 of the little piggies is hiding. I'm gonna add some live plants but I'm gonna pot them if I don't do that I may get some floating plants.

 

The Three Little Piggies ( though only two turn up for the photoshoot lol) look very nice Mortisha

 

The Three Little Piggies ( though only two turn up for the photoshoot lol) look very nice Mortisha

Lol JAOF, that Little Piggie stayed home. Thanks.

 

This afternoon I typed a long message on the tablet and suddenly it was gone, grrrrowl. So here I'm again.

Edit: I have several questions posted below but because I might reach a larger audience if I start a new thread with the questions, I posted them here:
Please feel free to ignore my questions posted below

Thanks you Mortisha for posting the tank with your parrots!. It looks great with the white sand and artificial plants.I wondered how you keep the sand clean? I never worked with sand and to me it looks a pain to keep clean.

I saw 'caviar' as substrate in the tanks from a shop specialized in Discus fish. It looks like... caviar
Here you can see it compared to an Otocinclus:
He uses them in all this Discus tanks, also for the younger and smaller animals.

It's a natural material that contains Calcium and what I've seen from it, it's very light weight. It comes in beach color too and I think in a lighter brown than showed in the picture. It doesn't look as natural as sand and gravel of river rock.

I already worried myself about the gravel because they take it in their mouth so often. That is whey I'm grateful you brought the subject substrate up. I feel I have to make changes.

Plants
I really doubt if they won't turn pots up side down, once in the thank they are not that heavy anymore, unless you use wide low pots I'm sure they will be able to turn them up side down easily. I'm thinking about stone to wedge the plants in between, and I think I might use this type of stone for it:

Another option would be wood with a lot of branches, spiderwood. The branches would be ideal for smaller annubias and ferns. In this nano is something I like but for a larger tank and larger fish it will be harder to find.


Today I found a used tank, 75 gallon. I've seen that tank IRL when I bought some RCS from this person and it was well taken care for. However I'm afraid the dimensions are far from ideal for parrots.
Length 3.3 ft, height 2 ft and depth 1.65 ft. I think it's not long enough for adult Blood Parrots. Do you agree?
For the price it's an awesome tank which also comes with a stand and CO2 equipment (which I probably don't need).
I didn't buy this tank yet, I need time to think and to ask the community

Most of the day I've been away, I hardly saw the parrots, only after feeding twice I saw them. When I came home the lights already were off... too bad.

Nicole

 

Thanks Nicole, I just upgraded from a 29gal so it's still a work in progress.
I am by no means an expert on the Parrots hopefully Ken will chime in on that. I can say for the 2yrs I have had my 1st Parrot it hasn't grown a lot so I think you would be good with the 75gal for awhile. I could not see pic on the 2nd link you shared but I noticed it said limestone now that can raise your ph and driftwood can lower it. I have some Texas Holey rock I want to add to my tank. Everything I can read on it says it raises it to 8.2 but I'm gonna put it in a bucket with water and let set for about 1 month to see. I also want to get a red bristle nose pleco and they like driftwood so I'm gonna throw some in there as well to see how ph is affected. As far as plants the reason I talked about potted cause you could move them around to clean. So do you just have light on during the day? Have you thought about what type filtration your gonna use? Make sure if you change your substrate put it in an aquarium safe bag and leave it in the tank for awhile so you don't lose any beneficial bacteria.

Wendy

 

HI Wendy,
what a great idea to bag gravel and leave it in the tank after I switched substrate.

I looked at pictures from Texas holy rock and that exactly looks like the stones I meant These indeed raise pH but my tap water already is a bit above 7, kH 14 and gH 11. I used a liquid test although maybe not the most accurate on the market at least I have an indication now. I never tested my tap water before except for NO3. Our tap water is great, I barely could measure NO3 and they don't use chlorine or chloramine here but if there is a problem with water quality they are allowed to use, that is why I always use something to remove chlorine and chloramine, just in case.

The driftwood indeed lowers it again but I think if it lowers it, the lime stone keeps rising it. Depending on the amounts the pH will set somewhere.
And yes, if you get a bristle nose pleco you certainly want wood in the tank. They probably need that for digestion. Here in NL I've seen tablets for them with added wood.

I bet one stone in bucket will raise the pH more than one stone in the entire tank so I doubt testing what it does to pH in a bucket will tell you how it behaves in your tank.

I agree, pots are easy to move around but when you use wood to attach plants too you still can do the same.

I have the lights on from 1.00 PM to 11.00 PM.

About filtration, currently I'm using one internal and one canister filter. In a bigger tank it probably will be 2 canister filters instead of one with a higher flow rate.

In your previous post you advised some supplements, most of the brands mentioned at Fishlore are not available in NL
Nicole

 

HI Wendy,
what a great idea to bag gravel and leave it in the tank after I switched substrate.

I looked at pictures from Texas holy rock and that exactly looks like the stones I meant These indeed raise pH but my tap water already is a bit above 7, kH 14 and gH 11. I used a liquid test although maybe not the most accurate on the market at least I have an indication now. I never tested my tap water before except for NO3. Our tap water is great, I barely could measure NO3 and they don't use chlorine or chloramine here but if there is a problem with water quality they are allowed to use, that is why I always use something to remove chlorine and chloramine, just in case.

The driftwood indeed lowers it again but I think if it lowers it, the lime stone keeps rising it. Depending on the amounts the pH will set somewhere.
And yes, if you get a bristle nose pleco you certainly want wood in the tank. They probably need that for digestion. Here in NL I've seen tablets for them with added wood.

I bet one stone in bucket will raise the pH more than one stone in the entire tank so I doubt testing what it does to pH in a bucket will tell you how it behaves in your tank.

I agree, pots are easy to move around but when you use wood to attach plants too you still can do the same.

I have the lights on from 1.00 PM to 11.00 PM.

About filtration, currently I'm using one internal and one canister filter. In a bigger tank it probably will be 2 canister filters instead of one with a higher flow rate.

In your previous post you advised some supplements, most of the brands mentioned at Fishlore are not available in NL
Nicole

My ph is 7.6 I tested my gh and kh but can't figure out what the results mean I even started a thread to see if I could get help with what the final results were. I love the look of Texas Holey rock and have 2 good size pieces just haven't put them in yet. I guess I'll just monitor ph closely. I used to use HOB but love all the space in canister filters and the ability to have the tank closer to the wall.I agree with a bigger tank you'll need a lot more filtration. I've seen pics of plants on driftwood and really like the look of it. That sucks you can't get the supplements where you live. Do they sell any that are equivalent to what we have here?

Wendy

 

HI Wendy,
I found the thread with questions about your water parameters. I I can't help you with that as the test you use again are not available here and I'm unfamiliar with them.
Your pH is back to 7.6 again? Great! If you are sure the pH is stable you indeed could put in the rocks and just monitor. I saw you also use coral, maybe if the pH rises to much with the holey rock, you can remove a bit coral
I'm sure we have supplements available here. I never used them because I believe in what I always call real food. I used a lot of frozen/live and veggies in the past and fed that every other day. The days I didn't feed 'real' food I fed several brand of commercial food. With the parrots that might change. Still learning I might try home made gel food next to commercial food.

 

LOL, I have to tell.

I just fed the fish. I had some very fine pellets for the smaller fish and decided to try some floating pellets I have for the parrots. It was the first time I fed them something floating. They were swimming around quickly, searching for food on the gravel were was nothing heheh. They are still not looking at the water surface. I wonder when they discover the food is floating. They won't fall apart, only become very soft so I give them some time before I remove them if the stay untouched.

 

HI Wendy,
I found the thread with questions about your water parameters. I I can't help you with that as the test you use again are not available here and I'm unfamiliar with them.
Your pH is back to 7.6 again? Great! If you are sure the pH is stable you indeed could put in the rocks and just monitor. I saw you also use coral, maybe if the pH rises to much with the holey rock, you can remove a bit coral
I'm sure we have supplements available here. I never used them because I believe in what I always call real food. I used a lot of frozen/live and veggies in the past and fed that every other day. The days I didn't feed 'real' food I fed several brand of commercial food. With the parrots that might change. Still learning I might try home made gel food next to commercial food.

Yeah when I upgraded my whole system crashed and went into a full blown cycle took exactly 1 month to fully cycle. My water perimeters were all over the place, it drove me crazy! That's why I mentioned the Python to you cause I was doing 50% water changes everyday can't imagine if I had to do it by buckets. Yeah my ph is back at 7.6 that's what is from the tap. Thanks for trying to help me with the gh and kh, I give up on trying to figure it out. I thought about taking some of the cc out of filter if Holey rock raises ph but if I put driftwood in there it may take cc and rock to keep ph up. Sounds like your fish eat well, lots of variety. I do the peas, blood worms, pellets and flakes. I too feed every other day. If you do make the food yourself let me know how it turns out.

LOL, I have to tell.

I just fed the fish. I had some very fine pellets for the smaller fish and decided to try some floating pellets I have for the parrots. It was the first time I fed them something floating. They were swimming around quickly, searching for food on the gravel were was nothing heheh. They are still not looking at the water surface. I wonder when they discover the food is floating. They won't fall apart, only become very soft so I give them some time before I remove them if the stay untouched.

Lol....they'll find it! That's why I named mine Three Little Piggies

 

Lol....they'll find it! That's why I named mine Three Little Piggies aquarium fish forum smiley

Yes they found it I heard weird noises coming from the tank, that was when they took the pellets. They are still a bit large though, have to break them up next time. They are soft but even then, they had troubles swallowing them in one piece.

You are right,, they *are* pigs. They seem to accept everything I fed until now.

I'm so happy! I've never seen them so much swimming looking for things (I have no clue what they are after at sometimes). The yellow one is the most brave one but the other joins hims almost all the time. I've never seen them pushing each other... they made a lot of improvement within a week.

I couldn't be happier!

 

Good morning,

Have you tried the OSI Bloody Red Parrot Pellets in the link below? They come in 3 sizes and the fish love it:


Ken

 

Thanks Ken.
I found OSI available in NL but until so far I couldn't find one brand that sells the blood parrot pellets in NL. I think they are very hard to find in NL as blood parrots are not very common. I live close to the German border, literally minutes away walking from it, but I don't think I'll find them there.If I understood well selling BP is forbidden in Germany and maybe it's even forbidden to keep them.
If you would like to know more about it I can look up info for you on German websites (I can read and talk German).

I understand some Italian and I might try my luck in the UK. I think any specialized BP food I have to import
OSI seems to be a good brand, I read very good reviews about it. Is there another OSI pellet that you could recommend for BP?

 

OSI Bloody Red Parrot Pellets are the only OSI product that I use.

Another good food that I highly recommend is New Life Spectrum (NLS) Thera +A. This food contains a non-medicated anti-parasite ingredient. Some also contain Garlic which will help to boost the fishes immune system. Maybe you can find this in your area. I use this as a staple along with the OSI pellets:


Ken (not my site)

 

Thanks always good to know some brands other people have good experiences with.
I'll try my luck first in Europe, else I'm going to import some food.

 

Is this the site you found the food on?

 

Is this the site you found the food on?

Yes, I found in a thread where you posted the link.
Because you recently upgraded the tank I read some threads you started to learn from and I think that is where I found the link.

 

Yeah please if you can learn from my mistakes. I was really panicking in most of those...lol! I never anticipated the issues I had since I had 2yrs of built up BB and thought I did everything right cause I've done it before. Just crazy and the outbreak of ich exacerbated the situation. It was like what can go wrong did go wrong. At least I didn't lose any fish. Now to top it off I think the ich is back 1 of cats had 2 white spots on pectoral fins. I've started bumping temp up till it hits 86 to try and kill it without meds since tank is newly cycled.