Hello! I am a recent purchaser of my very first blood parrots. The first is Calypso, who is a purple Jellybean. the second, is a adolescent blood parrot, by the name of Davy Jones. I bought Calyspo first because i felt bad that the other BP's were picking on it, plus my favorite color happens to be purple, so i bought it. I know almost nothing about BP's but because of what I learned on the internet, i now know that Calypso will probably die soon cuz it's a dye-injected fish. I hope it doesn't cuz Calypso is a really nice fish. I bought Davy Jones 2 days later after i found out that having more than one would be okay. Now Calyspo won't stop picking on Davy Jones and it's getting stressed and going into what i like to call "hulk mode". Davy Jones is normally a yellow/grey striped color, but once Calypso starts picking on Davy Jones, it goes almost totally black and it's eyes dilate to pure black also. I don't think that can be good, cuz after reading some stuff on here i realize i also made the mistake of having too small a tank. Both fish are around two inches, and they're in a 5.5 gal tank. Will they be okay until i can get a bigger one? After i have to separate them, Calypso hides behind it's fence, and Davy Jones hides under the turtle statue. Idk what sex they are yet, or how old, so if someone can tell me how to tell that'd be great, and whether they'd be okay.
Comments
A good way to help break up
A good way to help break up territorial issues is to redecorate the tank and the introduce the fish at the same time. I agree that the API masters kit is much much more accuarate than the strips. The ammonia should be under .25.
Okay. today i bought them a
Okay. today i bought them a 30 gallon tank. That should be okay for two 2 inch fish until i can save up for a really big one right?
That should be fine for
That should be fine for around 6 months or so maybe a little longer. Just change at least 10 gallon a week.
I'm in the process of
I'm in the process of purchasing a 55 gallon tank. hopefully i'll have one and set up in less than two weeks. in the mean time i went out and bought water testing strips and a gravel cleaner. I changed about half of the water tonight, and every night i'm gonna change out about a half gallon of water. I've been researching like crazy. My test strips after i changed the water say that the Nitrates are very low, the Nitrates are at a cautionary level, water hardness is hard, Alkalinity is low to moderate, and ph is between 7.2 and 7.8. I need to find out the ideal conditions so my fishies will be comfortable. if anyone knows please let me know, in the mean time i'll try and found out. I also need to get a better filter. I added a small hollow log, b/c i noticed that they were mainly fighting over the cave hiding place, and i know they'll hide for like the first month or so, so i added that and a two plants so they can choose where to hide. once i get my new tank, i hope they'll be happier.
Thats good, they will like
Thats good, they will like the tank. What you need to test and the most important is ammonia, thats what you need to test.
okay. tomorrow i'm going to
okay. tomorrow i'm going to get some ammonia remover, a little bit of aquarium salt (i read that south american cichlids like a tiny bit in their water and it helps reduce nitrites), and some water softener. The test strips say that the nitrite level is around 1.0 and it should be below .5 . Also the water hardness is around 150 ppm and it says it should be between 50-150 ppm. For the Alkalinity it says to be between 120-300 ppm and mine is between 40-80 ppm. Do i need to get a PH increaser or Decreaser? I'm not sure how that works...
Don't get anything that
Don't get anything that changes pH. Its more important to maintain the same ph then have perfect levels. Get the salt and get the ammonia remover and test strips (I recommend the API Master Test Kit, test everything important and more accurate than strips)
okay. i can do that. AFter I
okay. i can do that. AFter I got the tank all moved around and that small log in there, The fish love it!
wow. thank god i just got
wow. thank god i just got paid, cuz i got the first one for my birthday and i don't have the receipt for it. I watched them for a long time last night cuz i was worried Calypso the Jellybean was gonna kill Davy Jones the Hulk and i discovered that everytime they fought, it was cuz of hiding places. Calypso is still acclimating to the new location, and has had the tank to herself for two days. now that Davy Jones is trying to acclimate and hide, he keeps going to Calypso's favorite hiding spots. There are only four things in there, a little bamboo fence, a bridge, a plant, a cave like turtle thingy plus the gravel. after i dug out the gravel from under the turtle and the bridge, they stopped fighting and started hiding. they only squabble when they feed.
I dont remember where, but I
I dont remember where, but I read that a good standard to go by, is 1 inch of Fish, per 1 gallon of aquarium. And You have to account for Gravel and decorations taking up some of the space in your tank. Too much fish for the tank size means stressed and sick fish! Get them at least a 10 gallon tank- and no more tankmates unless its a much bigger tank! I have 5 Large fish in 40 gal. but they all started out small and grew together- its nicely balanced now. It looked empty when they were little!
With south american cichlids
With south american cichlids thought its more like 4 inches per gallon. A 10 gallon is ok for babies but they will need at least a 40 gallon tank to live a semi-happy life. Blood Parrots on average reach 8-10 inches and can live over 10 years. Craigslist is the best place to get a cheap tank, you can find 40 - 55 gallon for under $100 easily.
As for the Jellybean they can still live pretty long but mostly likely not as long as a normal one. They can get to about 6 inches.
I started with 2 small blood parrots in a 20 gallon and moved up to a 55 gallon and then to a 75 gallon, pretty soon a 125 gallon. They don't grow as fast as an oscar but you will need to upgrade tanks if you want to keep them.
sorry to say but...you need
sorry to say but...you need to get a bigger tank fast very fast. 5 gal is way to small for 1 and you already have a dyed parrot and that weakens them now he is also in a tiny tank. to keep them both you need 40 gals or more. in the mean time test your water a lot. do small water changes almost everyday maybe even everyday. just make sure you treat the water and the temp is the same. dodt over feed. just a little once a day while in that tiny tank. when you get them into a biger tank the should be fine with eachother they fight now because the tank is way too small. if you cant get a new tank right away please bring them back. you dont want to kill them do you? good luck.