# Help: 1 Blood Parrot + 1 Convict ? Harmony



## Vindicator (Mar 19, 2014)

Hello, new member here. I've looked through the forum but haven't really found an answer to my problem, so I thought I'd stop lurking and just post.

I am not new to fish keeping, been doing it as a low key hobby for the past 20 years or so. I am sort of new to cichlids, kind of. 13 years ago I was gifted a Blood Parrot cichlid from my grandmother, as she thought it was cute at the pet store. Rosie, has grown up to be quite large and has been living relatively alone in a 72gal bowfront tank for the last 6 years or so. In this time, Rosie has spawned by herself three times, always being very attentive to the eggs, but since they're infertile they've always gone bad or whatever dither fish were in the tank ate them once she stopped caring for them.

Last fall I got what I was told was a male Convict, as he was quite young, in the hopes that they would breed. The fish store that primarily specializes in cichlids assured me they would breed. Yes, I know hybrids are awful evil creatures, but having had Rosie for 13 years now I'm quite attached and was hoping to have some offspring of hers to carry on once she passed. I have no intention of selling any offspring.

Sh!thead, as I've named him as he's a handsome, but sly troublemaker, as he likes to take the intake covers off, re-arrange things in the tank and he has grown up in the tank with Rosie. Other than a few disagreements over who gets to hide under the big plastic drooping plant, things have been mostly peaceful.

A couple of weeks ago I got fed up with a hostile takeover of BBA in the tank and trashed all of my plastic plants, cleaned the tank out, and rebuilt it with locally sourced sandstone slabs that form caves and things.










Around this time, Sh!thead has increased in color, attitude, and aggression. Early on he would flare his gill covers/gill beard at her, get really bright colored, dance all flared out in front of her and try to herd her around, nipping at her to get her attention and things. She, being her own woman, is disinclined to follow his demands. Increasingly though I am noticing her fins are frayed and she's got flesh wounds on her upper lip, which I initially attributed to her moving gravel around. Today though, her fins are nearly frayed to the base, her eyes look like he's been nipping at them as well, the fleshy bits of her gill covers are torn, and her color is splotchy, like he's been eating her slime coat off. Since he owns all the things in the tank she has trying to look inconspicuous behind one of my intake tubes, which given her size and color will never work.

I have since removed him to a plastic tub, but I am really at a loss with regard to how to proceed.

Would the addition of dither fish help take his singular attention off of her? Is a Convict just too aggressive for a fish who cannot/will not fight back? Is there any better mild-mannered fish that _could_ breed with her?

Sigh.


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## MizOre (Sep 20, 2013)

Convicts are quite aggressive and are better kept in long tanks with about 20 inches between pairs, but in groups so that aggression gets spread out. How long ago did Rosie spawn? If this was three years ago, or more distantly, she might not be able to breed now. Cichlids are often picky about their mates, too, and unless convicts went into the mix that created the Blood Parrot, I would have doubts about having a viable cross.

Ask the clerk why he thought that would work and if the answer doesn't sound right, report him to the store manager. I think this sale was due to something close to misrepresentation about the nature of the blood parrot and convicts. Also, that display may have been more aggressive than anything else. She had to have the counter display of "but, silly, you could spawn with me" to turn the aggression into breeding. My female convicts and the kribs and dorsingera I kept before have fairly rituralized belly displays to turn the aggression into mating displays on the parts of the males. My bachelor male convicts also flare gill covers and turn darker when they're trying to establish dominance over each other. Female to female behavior is similar.

The Blood Parrot is basically a deformed fish and would have trouble holding its own against a normal shaped fish, much less an aggressive fish like a convict.


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## Vindicator (Mar 19, 2014)

Thank you for the reply. Her last spawning was Spring 2012, and they've happened 2-3 years apart, not every year. I never really know what sets her off on spawning, whether it's daylight cycle, temperature, water changes, or a combination. Nothing really stands out in my mind, just suddenly eggs one day.

At the time of purchase, the clerk said that they've had convicts and blood parrots inter-breed in a mixed tank in the store. So perhaps he thought it might have been the most inexpensive route? I'm not honestly sure. If I end up there again, as the store is a couple of hours drive away, I will ask.

So at this point it looks like I need to find a new home for a Convict, as I really do not want another running tank right now. Which is a shame, as Sh!thead was turning out to be a lovely fish with the iridescent blues and greens.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Sounds like your problems started when you rescaped the tank, or the Con put on some size and attitude. Before dismissing the Con, you could certainly try to add some dither fish and do another rescape.

I'm not sure why you would want these fish to breed, or anything to breed with a Blood Parrot.

A quick search on the web about Blood Parrots shows that spawns between a female Parrot and male Con are successful-



> Although Parrots will pair off and spawn the male Parrot is usually infertile and the eggs will die off. Successful spawning has resulted when the females have cross bred with non hybrid fish such as the convicts and other cichlids such as the Severums and Midas. Female BR Parrots have been bred with male Convicts to create the Jelly Bean and Bubblegum Parrot. These are usually dyed Red, Green, Blue, Purple or Pink. These fish should be avoided so not to contribute to the horrific procedure these dyed fish are put through. Newly developed though are specimans that are a true pink, due to the cross breeding between the Pink Convict male and a BR Parrot female and are not dyed. They have been called Jelly Bean as well. There have been cases of Jelly Bean and Bubblegum breeding but do not mistake them for true Blood Red Parrot fish.


Website- http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/feb09/br-parrot-cichlid.htm


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## MizOre (Sep 20, 2013)

Never kept the pink convicts, but have read that they're somewhat less aggressive than the wild-colored fish. The standard advice is to raise fish together from juveniles. Also, the tank would be younger fish -- you're getting to the end of the natural lifespan with this female fish.

One other thing to try would be adding the male fish when the female seemed to be full of eggs and dropping her ovipositor or cleaning a spawning site. If they're not ready to breed, they're not going to cooperate with the male. Can you put a tank divider between them in the original tank?


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## Vindicator (Mar 19, 2014)

Thank you for the replies. I think I'm going to let her heal up and add some dither fish, then try to introduce him back into the mix. If he resumes picking on her, I will find him a new home.


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