# Parrot cichlids



## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

hi i have naver had parrot fish before, i was just wondering if they could go in my tank
housemates:
red tail giant gourami
2 golden severums
2 jewel cichlids
plecos
fire eel

thanks.


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

Dont get them as they are inferior genetic scum. The inbred hick of the fish world. They are rife with genetic problems, and look like youd expect after the *n*th generation of line breeding.

Get some good old fashioned real cichlids. Although your filtration may be starting to groan under the stress of your already fairly heavily stocked tank...


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

Also they need to be kept in a species specific tank as thier deformed mutated mouths are so useless that they struggle to feed. This can result in starvation in a perfect system, so add competing fish species and your onto a fatality

Sorry for slating parrots! they just are the runtiest fish going


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## LIZARD (Oct 31, 2007)

i reallly dislike these and do agree with the above posts


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

thanks guys, any ideas on what other fish i should put in?


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## cam cap (Jun 22, 2007)

i would just stick with what you have got


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## Stan193 (May 27, 2009)

They're the ugliest fish in the world


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

you ever seen the 'love heart' ones? whoever bred them first needs a punch upside the face!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2010/2198322342_59a22e9555_o.jpg

Note: IT HAS NO CAUDAL FIN, how does it swim??? the answer is BADLY!


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## TUBBS (Mar 16, 2009)

HalcyonInverts said:


> you ever seen the 'love heart' ones? whoever bred them first needs a punch upside the face!
> 
> http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2010/2198322342_59a22e9555_o.jpg
> 
> Note: IT HAS NO CAUDAL FIN, how does it swim??? the answer is BADLY!


they actually have them cut off while small rather than a breeding thing

still horrid fish, but if it was a natural hybrid no one would bat an eye-lid and would call it a new species


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

Don't get them awful Polly parrot cichlids(Hybrid).









If you wan't a parrot get.Parrot cichlid(Hoplarchus psittacus) a pure cichlid species.


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

TUBBS said:


> still horrid fish, but if it was a natural hybrid no one would bat an eye-lid and would call it a new species


Yes but in nature predators,disease'etc would make them look a totally differant fish the total freaks would get sieved out.I'm willing to bet that a F1 Polly parrot cichlid looks nothing like these things you see today.The result look of them today is mans doing through selective breeding.Though new species can come from neighbouring species interbreeding.Red devil cichlid(Amphilophus labiatus) and Sevrum cichlid(Heros severus) hybridizing wouldn't happen naturally as one species is based in Central America and the other is based in South American so wild Polly parrot cichlids is a no go.


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## TUBBS (Mar 16, 2009)

gazz said:


> Yes but in nature predators,disease'etc would make them look a totally differant fish the total freaks would get sieved out.I'm willing to bet that a F1 Polly parrot cichlid looks nothing like these things you see today.The result look of them today is mans doing through selective breeding.Though new species can come from neighbouring species interbreeding.Red devil cichlid(Amphilophus labiatus) and Sevrum cichlid(Heros severus) hybridizing wouldn't happen naturally as one species is based in Central America and the other is based in South American so wild Polly parrot cichlids is a no go.


 i'm well aware they wouldn't naturally interbreed, but if they did, then it would be picked up and put down as a species until figured out it's a natural hybrid but people would like it alot more

and f1 parrot are the ones you've seen, never seen anything come out of any eggs layed by a pair of parrots, and some of them have been big 10" pairs, so no selection to shape their features


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## tarantulamatt (Nov 12, 2009)

its gonna sound odd but i had one a pink one she was so good looking i love them one off my fav fish lol i dont want no bad comments lol

and i used to have a silver doller with her and he used to be around her all the time not attacking like but young love i sound so odd:bash:


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

TUBBS said:


> i'm well aware they wouldn't naturally interbreed, but if they did, then it would be picked up and put down as a species until figured out it's a natural hybrid but people would like it alot more
> 
> and f1 parrot are the ones you've seen, never seen anything come out of any eggs layed by a pair of parrots, and some of them have been big 10" pairs, so no selection to shape their features


Read my post that i've just started.I found a artical.That leads me down a differant road.


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## Luca Brasi (Feb 7, 2010)

TUBBS said:


> i'm well aware they wouldn't naturally interbreed, but if they did, then it would be picked up and put down as a species until figured out it's a natural hybrid but people would like it alot more
> 
> and f1 parrot are the ones you've seen, never seen anything come out of any eggs layed by a pair of parrots, and some of them have been big 10" pairs, so no selection to shape their features


The (hybrid parrot) would be wiped out by mother nature for sure, so this is a bit of a moot point.

There have been several cases of hybrid parrots producing viable fry. Several species have been used in the far east to create parrots, though the fish farms don't tend to confirm the species used for commercial reasons. It's a myth that all hybrids are infertile. Unfortunately....


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

is it true that they are golden severum X goldfish?


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

hedgehog738 said:


> is it true that they are golden severum X goldfish?


No not gold fish:lol2:.

They are said to be a hybrid of Red devil cichlid and Sevrum cichlid.

But i'm looking down the root of pure Red devil with a genetic spinal deformity trait.


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## TUBBS (Mar 16, 2009)

Luca Brasi said:


> The (hybrid parrot) would be wiped out by mother nature for sure, so this is a bit of a moot point.
> 
> There have been several cases of hybrid parrots producing viable fry. Several species have been used in the far east to create parrots, though the fish farms don't tend to confirm the species used for commercial reasons. It's a myth that all hybrids are infertile. Unfortunately....


 having seen parrots giving oscars as good as they get mother nature wouldnt neccessarily wipe them out as easily as you say, lake environments with a slower flow so they could swim without being taken miles away (same problems a discus would face in moderate flow) and a half decent insect larvae population to feed upon and they'd be fine, but as it would never happen its an un-provable/un-disprovable point

prove these several cases then... i'll quite happily retract that bit if you can

i'm well aware that not all hybrids are infertile (anyone finishes basic gcse biology knows that) such as the endler x guppy crosses and many malawi crosses, but bit pointless if you can not prove that parrots can produce viable fry.


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## Luca Brasi (Feb 7, 2010)

TUBBS said:


> having seen parrots giving oscars as good as they get mother nature wouldnt neccessarily wipe them out as easily as you say, lake environments with a slower flow so they could swim without being taken miles away (same problems a discus would face in moderate flow) and a half decent insect larvae population to feed upon and they'd be fine, but as it would never happen its an un-provable/un-disprovable point
> 
> prove these several cases then... i'll quite happily retract that bit if you can
> 
> i'm well aware that not all hybrids are infertile (anyone finishes basic gcse biology knows that) such as the endler x guppy crosses and many malawi crosses, but bit pointless if you can not prove that parrots can produce viable fry.


Search the PFK website. A friend had a pair breed in her shop and the fry survived, it's really not that uncommon.

CB Oscars are pussies in the cichlid world when compared to many CA species. Read up on the various species used to produce them and their native habitat, as well as whats there. Their colour wouldn't do them any favours. Nor would their feeding issues and poor swimming ability. But as you seem to think they're infertile anyway then it's a daft argument really. lol


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## Gemificus (Jan 26, 2007)

i know i'm gonna be shot down but i'm sticking up for parrots,

its not thier fault someone inbread them poor deformed fish, i have 2 they were pink when i bought them but have turned orange as they have aged they are fab very inquisitive i can even hand feed them, they live in a community tank with gorrami's and redtaild sharks, danios and minnows 

i like my parrots and as long as they are eating well and happy thats all that counts, i'm not breeding them and they add colour to my tank,
and again its not the fishes fault they look like that,

your just being fishest :lol2:


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## Luca Brasi (Feb 7, 2010)

Gemificus said:


> i know i'm gonna be shot down but i'm sticking up for parrots,
> 
> its not thier fault someone inbread them poor deformed fish, i have 2 they were pink when i bought them but have turned orange as they have aged they are fab very inquisitive i can even hand feed them, they live in a community tank with gorrami's and redtaild sharks, danios and minnows
> 
> ...


Not being "fishest" at all, as it's not their fault. It's the people who buy them whilst understanding what they are and how they are created that are the problem. After all it's the fishkeepers who sponsor the practise by funding the fish farms that create love hearts and died fish etc.


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## Paul B (Apr 16, 2008)

Aww the poor maligned Parrot fish. and yes it does look like a goldfish cross Cichlid doesnt it.

Demand has created the supply.

Would a Poodle last long in the wild let alone any of the outrageously interbred dogs and cats we happily pay hundreds and thousands of pounds for.

i agree to an extent with the purists and i cant understand injecting fish with Dye..... but how many of you have a dog or a cat and how many of you own a Wolf or a Lion. people in glass houses and all that. 

P


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## Luca Brasi (Feb 7, 2010)

Paul B said:


> Aww the poor maligned Parrot fish. and yes it does look like a goldfish cross Cichlid doesn’t it.


 
Yeah it does. Still as far as I’m aware bad taste isn’t a crime in the UK! lol




Paul B said:


> Demand has created the supply.


 
This is very true. Only an idiot would ever question the first rule of economics. However as many recent parrot related posts on here have highlighted, very few people understand what a parrot is. People know even less about the dubious practises used to create them. If they did, would there be such demand?




Paul B said:


> Would a Poodle last long in the wild let alone any of the outrageously interbred dogs and cats we happily pay hundreds and thousands of pounds for.


 
Dogs and cats is a bit of a broad brush really. Some would certainly survive. There are populations of feral felines (from ex domestics) all over the world after all.




Paul B said:


> i agree to an extent with the purists and i cant understand injecting fish with Dye..... but how many of you have a dog or a cat and how many of you own a Wolf or a Lion. people in glass houses and all that.





Paul B said:


> P




I don’t believe you have to be a purist to dislike or object to parrots. Many species of popular aquarium fishes are technically hybrids. Certainly many of the livebearers are. As are many of the tank strain discus. And you see hybrid mbuna for sale all the time. But these don’t suffer the same issues as parrots. I think it’s a little unreasonable to compare domestic moggies with parrots. Yes, you can argue that those breeds like bulldogs that suffer health problems as a result of mans interference but I don’t think things should be painted in such a black and white way.


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## Animalmadness (Dec 8, 2009)

I believe that hybridisation is ok so long as it doesn't affect the hybrid. If the animal starts to suffer as a result then its just cruel.


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

we have just 6 young ones in at work, im not gunna get one,


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