Order Perciformes
Family Cichlidae
Cichlasoma hybr. “Red Parrot” — Red Triple Hybrid Parrot.
Keeping Red Parrots in an aquarium.
Family bonds in fish are very strong; once a male chooses a female, he stays with her forever. You can keep a single pair of fish or several, for example, three pairs in an aquarium. If you introduce unformed pairs into the aquarium, you need to monitor the fish, and as soon as pairs are formed, remove the other fish, otherwise, they may be beaten to death. Parrots should be kept either in pairs (it does not matter if the fish are of different sexes or the same sex, as the sex is very difficult to determine anyway) or in groups of 5 or more individuals. The most unfavorable numbers are 3 and 4. In this case, if a pair forms, it will viciously terrorize the rest. A formed pair of fish chooses a territory and fiercely guards it against other fish. A larger group of fish always lives very peacefully. Red Parrots are characterized by active movement in the aquarium.
If there are piles of rocks or artificial shelters in the form of grottoes or caves, they play games, hiding in caves or chasing each other. True, during the adaptation period in a new aquarium, they may hide timidly in plants or shelters for a long time, coming out only for feeding. However, having adapted to the aquarium, they behave even impudently, especially during feeding, managing to snatch food from the mouths of predators and leaving only leftovers to more delicate fish like discus and angelfish. This must be considered when keeping them with other fish by feeding food that spreads throughout the aquarium (e.g., glassworms) or introducing small food in several places simultaneously so that the Red Parrots do not manage to eat it all quickly.
Minimum aquarium volume starts from 150 liters per pair. Substrate — coarse gravel, in which the fish love to dig. Due to the fact that the fish constantly dig in it, they uproot all plants along with their roots, so it is best to use artificial plants as decorations. The aquarium must contain a large number of shelters; they really love shelters and will hide in various grottoes, driftwood piles, and under coconut shells at the slightest opportunity. But as soon as food appears, the fish are right there at the front of the line for food. Their only flaw is a love for large-scale nest building. In doing so, they are able to dig quite large holes in the substrate and noticeably change the bottom relief of the aquarium. If you do not want parrots to build nests and dig in the substrate, do not raise the water temperature in the aquarium above 25°C, then they will not strive to reproduce.
Red Parrots get along well with almost any fish, except the very smallest — despite their peaceful nature and small mouth, they relatively easily catch and swallow small fish like tetras (neon or glowlight tetras). Larger fish have nothing to fear, because due to the peculiar shape of their mouths, parrots cannot close their jaws completely, i.e., put their teeth “to use”. They are compatible with similarly-sized neighbors provided there is enough space and hiding places in the aquarium. The best partners for parrots are Labeo sharks, black ghost knifefish, arowanas, small and medium South American cichlids, medium and large catfish, large characins, large barbs, and bala sharks.
It never happens that they inflict injuries on anyone or beat them to death. But pushing someone with their nose? That they do with pleasure. They attack an opponent as a pair until they put them to flight. Keeping these fish separately is also possible. Maintenance conditions: dH up to 20°, pH 6.8-7.8, temperature 24-30°C. It is advisable to use aeration, perform water purification using filters, and change 10-15% of the aquarium water volume per week.
They actively feed on all large foods, including artificial ones. Parrots are unpretentious in feeding — they consume any live food and most quality dry foods. The best food for them is bloodworms and floating pellets for cichlids. Food: live, combined, vegetable components must be included in the diet. Parrots prefer foods of animal origin. Foods: frozen bloodworms, glassworms, small pieces of fresh-frozen fish, various granulated foods containing crude protein, fiber, fat, and additives of lysine, calcium, sodium, and phosphorus, i.e., components necessary for the normal existence of adults as well as the proper development and rapid growth of juveniles.
To enhance the red tones in parrots, you can include pink salmon meat, shrimp, squid, scallops, and special compound feeds with a high protein content in their diet. Coloring noticeably improves when feeding foods rich in carotene to enhance the red color. Nowadays, many companies produce specialized complex food in the form of flakes with high color-enhancing properties, which is intended for the daily feeding of “parrots” and other fish species kept in aquariums.
However, foods must be alternated. It is advisable to supplement the fish’s diet with purely plant-based foods. When using granulated foods, it is recommended to pre-soak them in warm water before feeding. The food given to the fish must be eaten within 3-5-minutes; otherwise, it will significantly affect water quality. If there is excess food, it must be removed. Often, to solve this problem, various bottom-dwelling catfish are purchased, which intensively eat leftover food that has settled on plants, the bottom, and the aquarium walls. Usually, armored catfish are used for this purpose, such as bristlenose plecos (common or starred), Synodontis, Bunocephalus, Platydoras, Panaque, sailfin plecos (Pterygoplichthys), and Plecostomus.
They have an excellent appetite, and this circumstance, unfortunately, leads to accidents. As a rule, this is most dangerous during evening feeding. Parrots do not have time to eat all the food before the lights go out, and in the morning, just waking up, they begin to intensively finish off the food. But it has been lying in the aquarium all night and has already spoiled. Despite this, the parrots eat it. Fish that manage to eat more get severely poisoned. The first manifestations of poisoning, depending on the content of dissolved organics in the aquarium water and the degree of poisoning, can in some cases be behavior similar to oxygen deficiency in water. In other cases, it manifests as bloating, loss of coordination, and fish lying on their sides on the substrate.
The first remedy in both cases is siphoning dirt from the substrate and replacing 30% of the water with fresh water. Then add: 5-10 mg/liter of methylene blue along with rock salt 2-3 g/liter. It is necessary to monitor the effect of the “laxative”; if it does not yield results within an hour, a repeat 30% water change is necessary. As a result, the fish should stop swimming near the water surface gulping air; in more severe cases where fish lay on the bottom, visible improvement occurs after a few hours. Unfortunately, if measures are not taken in time, some fish cannot be saved.
The second mystery is their complete inability to reproduce offspring, although things sometimes reach the point of spawning, after which the eggs subsequently die. Sometimes females even lay eggs, but males cannot fertilize them, and they remain unviable. Perhaps the fish undergo some kind of sterilization at a certain stage of development, or the hybrid itself is sterile. Our aquarists managed to breed this fish almost immediately after importation, but it turned out that the offspring looked nothing like the parents. This circumstance gave rise to many rumors and speculations that savvy Asians treat red parrot eggs and fry with various hormonal preparations. In fact, this is not true. Breeding failures are explained by the fact that the parrot has no analogues in nature; this fish species was bred through artificial fertilization from several species of American cichlids.
Red parrots available in trade today are generally fertile and can reproduce in the aquarium without past problems. It is enough to slightly raise the water temperature above 25°C, and the fish immediately awaken their reproduction instinct and begin intensive nest building. They can breed just like other South American cichlids and usually spawn in caves or under a rock. At the same time, the red parrot is capable of digging quite large holes in the substrate and significantly changing the relief at the bottom of the aquarium. However, they are not always the best parents, and you may have to raise the fry away from their parents by removing the eggs after fertilization. But it is recommended to give the parents 1-2 opportunities to test their parenting skills before using this method. Upon reaching 1.5 years of age, parrots begin to spawn. In general, this differs very little from the spawning of South American cichlids.
Preparation for spawning begins with the fish digging holes in the aquarium substrate. Usually, they do this under a wall or a rock. They dig up plants that “get in their way”. This is one of the problems of creating a beautiful landscape. If you take the trouble to plant greenery in the crevices between large rocks or use soft rocks with through-holes, you can preserve the landscape’s appeal while preparing parrots for spawning. You can use another technique. A spawning site for parrots is created in the aquarium. For this, a large rock with one flat surface is needed. In one of the corners of the aquarium, this rock should be placed so that the flat surface forms a 45-60 degree angle with the substrate surface, and an air pump diffuser should be placed closer to this rock. Parrots often clean such a place for upcoming spawning, diligently cleaning the surface and laying eggs.
In most cases, if water preparation is not specially handled, the eggs turn out unfertilized. The fish tend the eggs, but after 2-3 days they start turning white, and the fish eat them. To obtain fertilized eggs, you need to perform 10-15% water changes with distilled water, bringing the water pH to 6.6-6.8. Of course, the amount of dissolved organics must be kept to a minimum. Most of the fry will look a bit like the mother — crooked, lopsided, usually just as uglily flattened, but close to the father in color and head shape. Sometimes you even get “parrotlets” that exactly copy the mother in body shape. But the coloration will inevitably contain defects. With proper care and maintenance, they can live up to 10 years and delight their owners with affection and quite amusing behavior.
Chuco godmanni, Chuco intermedia, Tomocichla asfraci.
Cichlasoma hybr. “Red Parrot” – Red Triple Hybrid Parrot. 
