parrot fish

Description of parrot fish

Aquarists are divided into two parts: those who adore trihybrid parrots, and those who consider them unviable freaks.

The fact is that these fish are entirely the product of selection and charming “tadpoles” are not found in nature. However, in fairness it should be said that such hybrids are rare among ornamental fish, but if, for example, we take dog breeds, then few of them can boast of wild ancestors. So, perhaps, in the near future, most of the inhabitants of our aquariums will have the most bizarre forms and artificial origin (1).

As for the pioneers in this area, red parrots, they look like a mixture of goldfish and cichlids. (2). In fact, the breeders of Taiwan, where these fish were bred, surrounded their origin with a mystery, leaving other specialists only to guess which species served as the basis for the new breed. According to the official version, the fish were bred in three stages of crossing with cichlase: citron + rainbow, labiatum + severum and labiatum + fenestratum + severum. That is why the fish are called trihybrid.

parrot fish breeds

Since trihybrid parrots still do not have clear requirements for the exterior, there are a great many varieties of these cute fish. But all of them are united by common features: medium to large sizes, a rounded “humped” body, a head with a pronounced “neck”, a triangular mouth lowered down, large eyes and bright coloring. 

The efforts of breeders have made the fish completely unadapted to life in the wild: because of the curved spine, they swim clumsily, and the mouth that never closes seems to be forever frozen in an embarrassed smile. But all this makes parrots unique and touchingly cute.

As such, parrot fish do not have breeds, but there are many types of color: red, orange, lemon, yellow, white. The rare and most valuable varieties include: panda parrot (black and white color in the form of black spots and stripes on a white background), unicorn, king kong, pearl (white dots scattered over the body), red ingot.

But for the sake of profit, people stop at nothing, and sometimes in the market you can find poor fellows who have been artificially tinted blue or purple, or even tattooed by multiple injections under the skin (and this is only one of the stages of the painful process of dyeing fish, which not everyone experiences). Usually these are bright red stripes, hearts or other patterns, so if you see fish with this color, you should not start them – firstly, they will not last long, and secondly, cruelty to living beings should not be encouraged.

Another barbarism that unscrupulous breeders go to is docking the caudal fin to give the parrotfish a heart shape. These unfortunate creatures even have the trade name “Heart in Love”, but, as you understand, it is very difficult for such a fish to live.

Compatibility of parrot fish with other fish

Red parrots are incredibly peaceful and good-natured fish, so they can easily get along with any neighbors. The main thing is that they should not be too aggressive, because they can easily drive these good-natured people with smiling faces.

However, sometimes the parrots themselves can remember the instincts of their ancestors and begin to defend the territory, but they do it quite harmlessly. Well, they can take very small fish for food, so you should not add, for example, neons to them.

Keeping parrot fish in an aquarium

Red parrots are very unpretentious fish. They are tolerant of the temperature and acidity of the water. But you should understand that this fish is rather big, so a large aquarium is suitable for it (at least if you want your pets to grow up). 

Also, trihybrid parrots are extremely shy, so be sure to provide them with reliable shelter when starting them. In order for the fish to want to hide, any external stimulus is enough: the light was turned on in the room, a hand was brought to the aquarium, etc. Of course, gradually they get used to and even begin to recognize their owners, but at first they simply need shelter.

As for the soil, it should be medium-sized, because the fish love to rummage in it. Small stones are great.

parrot fish care

As mentioned above, these handsome people are very unpretentious, so they won’t require you to “dance with a tambourine”. It is enough to feed them regularly and change a third of the water in the aquarium weekly with the obligatory cleaning of the bottom (a lot of uneaten food usually falls there).

To prevent the walls of the aquarium from blooming, it is worthwhile to place snails there, which are excellent cleaners. These can be ordinary coils or physics, or more capricious ampoules 

Parrots love well-ventilated water, so a compressor and preferably a filter should be installed in the aquarium.

Aquarium volume

Experts advise to settle three-hybrid parrots in an aquarium with a volume of at least 200 liters. Of course, if your pet lives in a smaller living space, nothing bad will happen, but it will not reach its maximum size there. So, if you dream of huge scarlet beauties, get a bigger pond.

Water temperature

Since red parrots were bred artificially, it makes no sense to talk about some kind of natural habitat to which they are adapted. However, their progenitors are tropical cichlids, so, of course, in icy water they will freeze and die. But the room temperature of 23 – 25 ° C will be completely sustained, so if your house does not get too cold, then even a heater is not required.

What to feed

Parrot fish are omnivorous, however, the difficulty lies in the fact that their mouth does not close completely and has a peculiar triangular shape, so it is necessary to select food that will be convenient for these fish to eat. Dry floating granules are best suited for this, which parrots can easily collect from the surface of the water.

In addition, if you do not want your scaly pet to gradually lose its bright color, you need to select food for it that enhances pigmentation.

Reproduction of parrot fish at home

Here you should immediately come to terms with the fact that you are unlikely to get offspring from your aquarium handsomes. The fact is that, like most interspecific hybrids, male red parrots are sterile. Moreover, the fish themselves do not seem to be aware of this, because from time to time the couple begins to build a nest, for which they dig a hole in the ground, where the female lays her eggs. If the soil is too coarse, the eggs may be deposited on the broad leaves of plants or on bottom decorations.

However, despite the joint efforts of the failed parents (at this time they can even show aggression, guarding the masonry), the unfertilized eggs gradually become cloudy and are eaten by other fish.

However, if cichlazomas related to them live in an aquarium with parrots, they can interbreed, but the offspring never inherit the hybrid genes.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about keeping parrot fish with veterinarian, livestock specialist Anastasia Kalinina.

Sources of

1. Bailey M., Burgess P. The Golden Book of the Aquarist. A complete guide to the care of freshwater tropical fish // M.: Aquarium LTD. – 2004 
2. Mayland G.J. Aquarium and its inhabitants // M.: Bertelsmann Media Moskow – 2000 
3. Shkolnik Yu.K. Aquarium fish. Complete Encyclopedia // Moscow. Eksmo – 2009 
4. Kostina D. All about aquarium fish // M.: AST. – 2009