Parrot fish: beautiful and unpretentious fish

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In 1991, Taiwanese breeders obtained offspring from constant cross-breeding of Cichlasoma synspillum, Citrinellum and South American cichlids, which gave rise to a new group of hybrids, known today as parrots.

They got their name because of the great similarity of the shape of the head with the colorful head of a parrot. Due to its bright and unusual coloring, the parrot is very popular among breeders and amateur fish lovers, while no other aquarist located outside of Asia has succeeded in breeding.

Mostly yellow and orange parrots are imported. You can often buy bright red, crimson and purple fish. This color is supported by specialized dyeing feeds, which contain large quantities of carotenoids. When feeding with simple feeds, the standard orange color is restored. Black and blue parrots are imported much less frequently.

For these fish, food of animal origin is preferable, for example: koretra, bloodworm, minced fish and beef heart, shrimp. They have a wonderful appetite and can indulge in the sin of gluttony around the clock. But this circumstance leads to various accidents. This is mainly dangerous when feeding in the evening. They do not have time to eat all the food until it is dark, and in the morning, when they wake up, they immediately begin to eat it vigorously. But he lay in the aquarium all night, having had time to spoil. Fish get quite serious poisoning.

The area of the red parrot cichlid fish

In our country, the parrot comes mainly from Singapore and Taiwan. In the conditions of our country it does not reproduce, but it takes root well in domestic aquariums.

Cichlid parrot: sizes

The red parrot grows to 15 centimeters. The color of the fish varies quite strongly, the most common are yellow and orange forms. In addition, there is a "wild" color, which happens in some cancer and tsikhlazom. Crimson, purple and bright red fish turn into bright orange form over time. When feeding various specialized foods rich in carotene to enhance the saturated red color, the color improves markedly.

Cichlid parrot feeding

Parrots in feeding are picky - fish consume the majority of high-quality dry food and any live ones. The best for them are floating granules and bloodworms.

Cichlid parrot breeding

The parrot in nature has no analogues. This type of fish is obtained by artificial insemination from various species of African and American cichlids.

Cichlid parrot: additional information

Fish live in the aquarium up to ten years. It is a very quiet fish, capable of coexisting peacefully with other inhabitants of the aquarium, but occasionally intraspecific aggression occurs. Grown up individuals who are not familiar with each other, have poor contact with each other, due to which they should be launched at the same time small, so that they can get used to each other.

Parrot fish: what they are

Before you get new inhabitants of the aquarium, you need to understand their types, types, characteristics of the content and other nuances. Certainly, the parrot is one of the best representatives of the water home world. This is a unique pet with a bright color, lively character and very funny manners. It is noteworthy that for the breeding of the species, it took the breeders several years and cross-crossing of fish from the order of South American type cichlids. It was from them that the "sea elf" received the color brightness and the funny characteristic "beak."

In the family of parrotfish, 10 genera and more than 100 species are distinguished. But only some of them are known and more common:

Red parrot The individual grows up to 25 cm, the color is predominantly red in combination with yellow, a distinctive feature is the beak, sometimes supplemented with sharp incisors and canines protruding to the outside. It is important that this fish changes its color several times as it matures. Natural loneliness in coral reefs does not affect good neighborly relations in the aquarium. By the way, it is the red parrot that is the most favorite inhabitant of beginning aquarists and the photos of fish can often be seen on sites. The pet's nighttime rest is especially interesting - the fish at night creates a cocoon in the shape of a cover made of mucus and prefers to sleep protected from all external influences.
Scar. Small representatives of the species, growing to 19 cm and having more than 50 species. The most famous are: dark, striped, Red Sea, and guacamayia. The natural habitat is a coral reef, where fish feed on mollusks and some species of coral. But do not worry, aquarium parrots - skara well belong to a variety of traditional food.
The green shish-thorn is an amazing representative of the fish family. To begin with the fact that this “Petrovsky grenadier” grows to 100 cm or more, and the weight is also considerable - from 40 kg, such photos are often found on sites. But this all refers to the natural existence, aquarium representatives are much less, although here it will look like a “gulliver” among all other inhabitants. And do not forget that any quarrel of a green parrot with another pet can end in tears: using his forehead as a ram, the companion literally knocks the enemy "off his feet", very skillfully attacking.

Of course, there is parrot fish of other colors and colors: red, pearl, with a purple hue. Also there are representatives with various types of beaks. And if you had the idea to start a couple of persons in your tank, you should think about the nature of other inhabitants, so as not to create unnecessary problems.

Character traits: who do parrots live with?

Immediately, we note that these scaly friends are distinguished by tranquility and peacefulness. But there are some points in the content of individuals necessary to create a normal environment for other pets.

Nimble or calm fish that like to rake ground and disdain vegetation are the best friends of aquarium parrots.
Angelfish - a problem may arise with them. A red parrot or another species mercilessly plucks algae where the scalar loves to hide. And after eating the twigs, the individual can pay attention to the neighbor herself, who is unlikely to like the snooty nature of the sea elf. Although in life there are examples of the normal coexistence of all types of fish, however, the aquarium should be at least 200 liters.
Small fish - the subject of special "adoration." The parrot fish will definitely try the little one on the tooth, without even noticing this fact. Therefore, if your friends are scaly friends less than 5 cm long, you do not need to tempt fate, get two aquariums.

Content Features

Playful disposition, great mobility, a tendency to attack, intelligence and cunning - all this is aquarium parrot fish. Want to settle a couple at home, take care of a spacious aquarium, at least 180-200 liters. The natural conditions of pets are in the coral reefs, so the pump is an indispensable element of the artificial “lake”, without which your “sea elves” will not be able to eat and feel normal.

Optimum temperature + 22-26 C, hardness not more than 7.5 pH. A prerequisite is the saturation of water with oxygen. Constant aeration is necessary; parrot fish can only live in running water. Replacing at least half the volume of the aquarium once a week is the law. And cover the aquarium with a net, as from a small vessel your fish can easily jump out.

The content of the fish does not require a special design of the aquarium, parrots are very unpretentious to the presence of special plants and other nuances. But the soil and small stones at the bottom should be, pets love poking around in their beaks, tearing off bottom sediments. It is also important to remember that a parrot fish, and especially a red parrot, is distinguished by an irrepressible love for building nests. Looking at the photo, you will see how the night cocoons look, which then surely will appear in your aquarium.

So, the rules to consider are:

There is no need to combine in the same vessel fish that use shelters,
Slow representatives of the species will be subject to constant attacks from the "sea elf",
A layer of pebbles up to 5 cm thick, densely growing algae, stone or coconut caverns is a necessary element of filling,
Regular water changes, filling with air, cleaning the aquarium, this is what the red parrot or any other representative of this species requires.

What to feed

If the maintenance of pets requires some effort, then eating a red parrot is completely unpretentious, like pearl, scara, and other species. Feeding occurs several times a day in small portions. Believe me, in a few days your companions will start to swim up to the edge of the aquarium as soon as you arrive with food in your hands. What to give? Anything: bloodworms, pellets, bread, herbal supplements, vegetables. These water dwellers are excellent in the menu of dry and live food.

With a properly formulated diet, good care, and all the necessary procedures, the inhabitants of the southern waters will live with you for up to 10 years. And they will give incomparable pleasure from communication and observation of these lively and clever representatives of sea fish.

Get to know the fish closer:

Description of aquarium fish parrot

The parrots were bred in 1991 by crossing South American cichlids for several years. It is still unknown exactly which species of fish were used in breeding, however, the result is good — it turned out to be a very interesting and bright aquarium inhabitant who has a peace-loving character.

It has an interesting head shape - it resembles a bird's beak, from which the name derives.

The mouth opens vertically at a low angle, making it difficult to grab food. Often, this anatomical deviation leads to the death of fish from starvation.

The body is round and barrel-shaped, and the fins are short. In parrot fish, there is deformation of the spinal column and the air bubble, which makes the movements of fish in the aquarium very clumsy, although many find it funny. Because of this, the aquarium inhabitant leads a sedentary lifestyle, swimming in the lowlands of the aquarium.

In an aquarium, parrots often swim and hide among plants and shelters.

In the aquarium, he often hides and swims among various artificial shelters - algae and stones.

Fish color can be the most diverse, but bright orange and red colors are more common, however, there are blue, purple, yellow and green representatives of their species, and sometimes albinos.

Pigmentation artificial fish. Fry "fed" dyes to obtain a specific color.

Often you can find parrot fish with different patterns on your body. This is the result of artificial application of pigments under the scales. But over time, these colors fade and no longer delight the eye of the owner. To prevent discoloration, fish are fed with keratin.

Parrot Fish Types

Parrot fish have subspecies that are also popular for keeping in an aquarium.

Cichlid has a bright color, mostly red and orange, with good feeding can grow up to 20 centimeters.

Peaceable, calm and awkward. From the "beak" can grow fangs and incisors that look out. Able to change color throughout life. They are mutant.

It has many subspecies, differing in color and size. The smallest representatives are no more than 20 centimeters, and the largest ones are capable of growing up to a meter long. Aquarium aquariums are popular Red Sea and striped monkey scary.

Red Sea Scar

Green shishkoloby

In natural habitats it grows up to a meter long and weighs 40 kilograms, but grows much less in aquarium conditions. On the forehead there is a scion, for which he received the name.

Fish growing up to 15 centimeters long. The pearl type has no anatomical abnormalities in the structure of the mouth. This fish has a beautiful color - on the background of olive, orange or brown color there are small white specks.

Pearl parrot

Large representatives of their species - can grow up to 70 centimeters long. It has a bright blue color and a powerful jaw, from which powerful fangs grow. Its habitat is Bermuda and the Bahamas.

Blue

Content in an aquarium

For this type of fish a spacious aquarium is needed - no less than 180-200 liters. The temperature of the water + 24-26 degrees, and pH - 6.5 - 7.5.

Fish loves running water, so you need to artificially create a current. A cleaning filter is also required.

The parrot fish, by its nature, likes to dig in the sand, so the bottom of the aquarium fits into the fine-grained soil in which the fish will be played. Also for the aquarium you need a lot of different shelters and algae, as she is shy and loves to hide.

Despite the awkwardness, the fish is jumping, so the aquarium is covered so that the pet does not jump out onto dry land.

Neighbors parrot fish need to choose calm or joking, but it does not like to sit in the algae. Angelfish are not a vivid example of friendly coexistence, as the parrot does not rarely attack its neighbor.

He also has poor compatibility with other smaller fish. More precisely, he can simply eat them. The same with snails.

For better survival, it is better to plant parrots in an aquarium at the age of fry.

If you want to have a few parrots in the aquarium, then they are purchased and sat down together at a young age. This helps to avoid conflicts between neighbors.

For parrot fish, you need to choose sinking food, as light and floating feed to the fish is hard to capture due to the anatomical features of the mouth structure.

However, most breeders prefer industrial feed for aquarium residents, as they contain vitamins and minerals, as well as keratin to preserve bright color.

Breeding

Since these fish are the result of breeding, most of the representatives are fruitless. But they are also capable of spawning. For this, the female digs a hole in the ground and attaches the eggs, after which the male fertilizes them. They watch the nest for a long time until the eggs die.

Parrot fish roe

Sometimes fry hatching happens. But they give birth to colorless and inconspicuous, in the absence of artificial coloring. Fry can be food for parents, so they need to be removed.

Parrots have good health. They are not susceptible to viral and infectious diseases, but poor water quality and overeating affect their well-being.

Fish parrot can please the eye for many years, subject to all rules of maintenance and care for her. At the same time, it is not difficult to care for her, the main thing is to give her the maximum amount of love and care.

Parrot Fish - content, compatibility

Pelvicahromis pulher (latin. Pelvicachromis pulcher) or as it is also called cichlid parrot, and most often aquarium parrot fish is an excellent choice, especially among those aquarists who want to try to keep cichlids in the aquarium. In addition to their very bright colors, they also differ in interesting behavior. But the most important thing that attracts aquarists is small size, peaceful behavior. They can be contained in small aquariums and at the same time quite unpretentious to the parameters of water and types of food.

The aquarium parrot fish is calm enough for a cichlid fish, which can be kept in a general aquarium without fear that it will kill someone. The kribensis loves densely overgrown aquariums, and although they also like to dig deeper in the ground, the plants do not pull out or touch. Like all cichlids, parrots love shelter, but also need an open spot for swimming, however, they mostly stay at the bottom. It is especially funny to watch parents with a flock of fry, gray and imperceptible, they instantly obey any order of the parents and dissolve literally before your eyes.

Red Three Hybrid Parrot - A Child of Human Hands

The red parrot (born blood parrot cichlid) is an unusual aquarium fish that is bred artificially and is not found in nature. It is characterized by a barrel-shaped body, large lips folding into a triangular mouth and a bright, uniform color. In English-speaking countries, it is called Red Parrot Cichlid, we still have a three-hybrid parrot.
Do not confuse it with another cichlid, a small and bright fish, Pelvicachromis pulcher (Pelvicachromis pulcher), which is also called the parrot.

Cichlids do not differ intelligibility in partners, and create pairs with similar ones, and with other types of cichlids. This feature made it possible to get a lot of hybrids from different species of fish. Not all of them are successful, some do not shine with color, others after such crossing become fruitless themselves. But there are exceptions ...

One of the most famous and popular fish in an aquarium is a three-fold parrot, the fruit of artificial crossing. The horn flower is also a child of the genetics and perseverance of Malaysian aquarists. Точно неясно из каких цихлид получилась эта рыба, то видимо смесь цихлид Центральной и Южной Америки.
Аквариумная рыбка красный попугай будет чудесным приобретением для любителей крупной, заметной рыбы. Они пугливы, и не стоит содержать с крупными, агрессивными цихлидами. They love aquariums with a lot of shelters, rocks, pots, which retire in fright.

Content difficulty

Maintenance and care in the aquarium

Compatible with other fish