i might have fry

[lorie]

Hello all, I hope I'm in the right forum I know this is long but worth the read.

Currently have two blood parrot fish, two paradise gouramis and a butis butis in 55 gallon for two months. WEekly water changes 1/4-1/3 per week. Live plants present. All chemistries normal


main question, two blood parrots I found out are hybrid fish made form different cichlids, firemouth, not sure other two.
I just love these little fish real personalities

I thought they were supposed to be sterile, I'm new at this I think I might have fry, have no idea what to do! Yesterday I noticed tadpole like entities with eyes in corner of my tank, my husband and I were shocked. The maybe male ate them all. within two minutes while we were watching. We were very upset?! Last week when we cleaned the tank we noticed maybe female being aggressive towards the glove used. Of course out parrots are only 1 1/2 " right now ha ha. This morning all the fry seem to be present, I'm not getting as close to the glass the blue guy isnt eating them. I guess he was protecting them. I have no idea what to do. At first I thought what the heck are these things, I was thinking it was bad. Now I'm pretty sure its the parrots fry, they are moving rocks with their mouths together creating a ledge against the glass. I even observed the maybe male spitting food out for the fry. this is so cool, but Im not sure how long it can last. The gouramis are definitely not getting to close, they are being chased away. Butis is staying on the other side of the tank he is carnivorous, only 3 " long. I dont feed him live food only carnivorous pellets.

Please help I know this is long but very exciting.

I defintely wont clean this area next time I siphon tank this coming monday

 

[Synirr]

Very cool!! Parrots are usually sterile, but it sounds like you may have gotten one of the stray fertile males that seem to be floating around lately... Sorry I can't be of any help telling you what to do next, as I have no clue how to care for cichlid fry, but this is really neat!

 

[sylvia]

I don't think you have blood parrots if they are breeding - especialy not at that size. They must be the convict/parrot crosses you sometimes see - jellybeans that is. They aren't sterile. Even so, it is very strange for them to be breeding at such a small size. What did you mean by 'the blue guy'? Are your fish dyed? You should maybe read up on that...

 

[lorie]

Thanks for your information.

When I first bought the blood parrots two months ago, I didnt know much about them. I was drawn too them, I was told they were semi-aggressive. I bought a pair, and as soon as I got home started doing research. All I could find out was something about hybrid. I called the LFS back and asked if I had the name wrong. THey told me no, and indeed they were hybrid and dyed, and that mine didnt look like the pictures. I'm not an advocate for dyeing fish. I know that this sounds cruel from what I've read. I dont mind the hybrid thing at all, but the dyeing I'm against but didnt know at the time. I"m only a 1 1/2 years into tropical fish since a 10 year break. I';m a newbie

Although now that I have them I have fallen in love with them. It would be neat to see offspring and natural color. As far as Jelly bean or blood parrot. I'm not sure. I was told blood parrot, and one of them has the hump on forhead which I've read shows active sexual maturity. THey are pretty small, I know very little about breading in captivity. I'm very excited that they are breading in my 55 gallon tank, I must be doing something right!!!!!!!!!!!! YEaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I hope it turns out well

 

[Synirr]

To help you decide what they are:

Blood Parrots

Undyed Jellybean Parrot

Jellybean with a severum (left) and blood parrot (right)... for comparison

As you can see their face shapes are quite different

 

[lorie]

That was very nice of you to give me those pictures. I will view tomorrow with my husband and get his opinion on which one. There are definitely subtle differences in the face. They both look like mine but not sure.

I'll get back with ya!!!!!!


Thanks again, I 'm not really good with digital pictures yet. They come out blurry not sure how to capture a really good picture. Also havent really tried downloading yet. I know it would be helpful in circumstances like this.

The pair I have, only one has the hump which has changed since I've had them for the last two months. One has definitely grown, and changed in the forhead area. The other one blue one or dyed one doesnt have hump yet. Again both are under 2"-1 12/ " in size. I read the dye might only last for 1 year,, the blue one has already started to change colors. Or lose some color which I dont care about, I just really like them what ever they turn out to be.

 

[Synirr]

If they are indeed a pair, then the one without the hump won't ever develop a large one, as it is the female
Another difference between blood parrots and jellybean parrots is that the bloods are usually naturally that orangey colour in the photo I posted, whereas the natural colour of jellybean parrots is more of a white/pale pink. Jellybeans are half pink convict cichlid, which explains the colour.