I have a question about my blood parrot, Im very new at keeping aquarium! please help

kades

I recently have been consumed with the joy of keeping a fish tank! I purchased a 50 gallon aquarium. I've cycled the tank with tiger barbs (as the person said to do at the pet store) I originally wanted oscars but soon realized that my tank would be too small. I did some research and I became interested in blood parrots and fell in love with one at the store over the week or two that I was cycling my tank. I purchased the blood parrot and she has done well and thrived in my tank but I wanted to get her some buddies so I purchased 2 more blood parrots that were (or seemed to be) as active and about the same temperament as Lucy (my first bp) when I put them in the tank they were fine for a while, but now Lucy is nipping, chasing, TERRORIZING her new tank friends. They have started to get the stress spots and she has the hovering in the corner in the plants. There are plenty of hiding spots and plenty of room (ex: plants, cave, log, and a little castle) Ive read that blood parrots take a while to get used to new surroundings but I just want to know how long do I give them to get used to each other and if they don't then what do I do? I don't want to have to take any back but I don't want to have any of them die. Am I doing anything wrong? Ive done lots of research and I want to get better at taking care of my fish so they can be as happy as I am to watch and enjoy them! Any help would be greatly appreciated (considering that Ive noticed some people at the pet store (pet smart) have completely led me in the wrong direction!

Byron

Welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum, and to the hobby too.

We have some very knowledgeable and experienced cichlid keepers who may be able to offer you some specific information; as I am not one of these, my comments will be more general.

With most all cichlids, it can be difficult to introduce new fish of that species into a tank where one (or more) of the species has become established. Cichlids tend to view the tank as "their space," and new fish are intruders into their territories. This might be the issue here; in nature the resident fish would simply drive the other(s0 away, but that is not going to occur within the confines of an aquarium. The solution is obviously to remove the newcomers. But as I say, other members with more experience with this fish may have more to offer. By the way, I said "in nature" but of course the Blood parrot cichlid is not a true species; it is man-made from one or two different species (this too is not certain according to most sources). But regardless, the inherent traits of the parent cichlid species, whatever they may be, will still be present.

I would just mention that attaining a size of 6-8 inches is going to crowd a 50g with three of these fish, and on this account I would also consider removing the two newcomers.

Byron.

rrcoolj

Welcome to TFKF!

First off stop taking advice from those employees at your local petsmart. Most of the time those employees don't know what they are talking about. You could learn more than them by simply reading a few pages of any fish keeping book.

Second, Blood parrots by nature are aggressive fish. They are a hybrid cross part of which includes red devils I believe who did not get their name from being nice. Your tank is simply too small for all those fish. Sometimes it does not matter how many hiding places you have. An aggressive fish in a small setting will kill or stress other fish. I would house no more than 1BP in your tank or no more than one pair. A pair being a compatible male and female.

Third, never buy cichlid in 2's or 3's because in those numbers one will always get picked on possibly to death. Only buy 1 except in the case you are interested in getting a compatible pair. In those circumstances get 6 or more until you get a compatible pair then sell/give away the excess. Or you have a very large tank to house multiple specimens.

I would take the other 2 back to the pet store honestly because I do not see this situation working long term.