Parrot Fish Has Issues...

[The Lady Raven]

I have about a 30 gallon tank containing one parrot fish and recently a garra (apparantly new to the UK - where I'm from). My parrot, Jake, is a strange little guy who likes spinning round in circles and building nests in the middle of the tank. He used to live with a common pleco but unfortunately Jake didn't take to him and he died after a few weeks. We left the tank for a long time with just Jake in it, afraid to put another fish in there just in case, then we were told that bristle-nose plecs are usually ok but we couldn't find one large enough! (We're growing one on from a baby in a smaller tank - he's so adorable!)

So, someone in the fish shop told us the garra should be fine, since he has armour on his head and they seem to be living together quite happily now, even though Jake keeps trying to steal his his food.

The only problem is that with all Jake's strange little quirks he's developed a new one - he's started getting obsessed with something outside the water. He'll tun his body so it's almost upright and his eyes will move across the water, then he jumps up, smacks his tail against the plastic condensation sheet and come back in the water. He then starts having some kind of epileptic fit - his find outstretch in spasms and he shakes, still staring at the top of the tank. After about a minute it all stops and he goes back to normal. He does this nearly every afternoon and I have no idea why, any ideas?

 

[~T~]

Its a cichlid thing, I have a texas hybrid that gets obbsessed with whats above the water too and my king kong parrot bites on the front glass at a certain time at night(you can hear her teeth scraping on the glass).As for the garra, im not sure its the best tankmate for a number of reasons.1 I could be wrong but I think garra species like cooler and well oygenated water 2 They are schooling fish that are happiest in groups 3. They tend to nibble at other fish.

 

[The Lady Raven]

Its a cichlid thing, I have a texas hybrid that gets obbsessed with whats above the water too and my king kong parrot bites on the front glass at a certain time at night(you can hear her teeth scraping on the glass).As for the garra, im not sure its the best tankmate for a number of reasons.1 I could be wrong but I think garra species like cooler and well oygenated water 2 They are schooling fish that are happiest in groups 3. They tend to nibble at other fish.

Thanks for the advice. The fish shop I use has always been very helpful and they said this one should be fine - it's a rhinocerous or something? We have a fast flowing pump and an extra bubble generator thing so the water is very fast flowing. Jake seems to like playing with the bubbles. So far, Confucious (the garra - named after a philosopher) seems to be doing fine, in fact he's so active it's a wonder he has so much energy. Jake hasn't attacked him and he's too fast for him to catch anyway - he swims away whenever he senses Jake's about. We also built a cave for the garra that he tends to live in, which isn't big enough for Jake. So at the moment everything seems to be going ok. And I'm glad to hear that my fish isn't the only one with obsessive behaviour!

 

[Lynden]

Cichlids are smart enough to have unique personalities. They also appear to want to examine new objects. Maybe your Jake just found something he likes.

 

[The Lady Raven]

Cichlids are smart enough to have unique personalities. They also appear to want to examine new objects. Maybe your Jake just found something he likes.

You're probably right - he's there now watching the bubbles with his face right up against them, I still don't know what he can see outside the tank though... perhaps the cables from the thermostat and the pump... Glad to know everyone thinks this is normal though, I was a bit worried about his little fits, I really don't want to lose him!

 

[vancouver]

30g isn't really big enough for even a single parrot cichlid

 

[The Lady Raven]

30g isn't really big enough for even a single parrot cichlid

That's what we were advised to get when we bought it. I think it's 30g anyway...

 

[kubora666]

what the hell is a garra ?

 

[SamUK]

thats what i was thinking.

even google doesnt kno and that is worrying lol.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

nah, all cichlids are wierd, don't worry too much!

 

[The Lady Raven]

what the hell is a garra ?

Well... they've only recently started being imported into the UK apparantly. I've just spent the last 10 minutes trying to photograph mine but my camera really doesn't seem to like taking pictures of water (any ideas how I can?) and he moves so fast that by the time I've got the camera right he's gone again!

Basically a garra is a type of algae-eater from Asia somewhere (I think China). Like all fish there are many different types but as this is a relatively new species there's very little information on them. They have a mouth like a plecostomus and they support themselves on their fins when they're stationary. They can swim better than a plec and have an almighty suck that cleans the tank really well. Also seem to get on with other fish fine, since Jake hasn't actually tried to eat him. Mine is a rhino garra? Something like that and has two little mini horns on his head. Very very cute and great fun to watch.

Found this picture but it's not the exact species I have: garra picture

 

[vancouver]

Parrot cichlids can grow to 8''... 55g is the ''standard'' minimum tank size.. The LFS must not know much about them.. probably just wanted the sale

 

[The Lady Raven]

Parrot cichlids can grow to 8''... 55g is the ''standard'' minimum tank size.. The LFS must not know much about them.. probably just wanted the sale

Well we plan to upgrade the tank relatively soon anyway, but Jake isn't anywhere near 8" yet so he's alright at the minute. We were actually advised what size tank to get and the fish shop is usually really good, I guess some places just differ from others.

 

[kubora666]

dont worry mate hell be fine
and when he starts to get to big you simply start saving for a new tank. simple as, i wouldnt expect your lfs to sell you a 3ft high 4 ft long tank for a bp lol. and there is alot of debate about bp's ive seen some very dinky ones, and i actually own 3, one ig 9" male, a 7" female, and a smaller 5" female. the males can be known to get upto a foot long. yes i have a big tank dont worry lol, but these fish are reletively slow growers when compared to oscars or red devils.

 

[The Lady Raven]

dont worry mate hell be fine
and when he starts to get to big you simply start saving for a new tank. simple as, i wouldnt expect your lfs to sell you a 3ft high 4 ft long tank for a bp lol. and there is alot of debate about bp's ive seen some very dinky ones, and i actually own 3, one ig 9" male, a 7" female, and a smaller 5" female. the males can be known to get upto a foot long. yes i have a big tank dont worry lol, but these fish are reletively slow growers when compared to oscars or red devils.

Thanks for that - jake only seems to have grown about 2" in the last 2-3 years so hopefully he'll take his time getting anywhere near that big!