Kentaaa
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I am in the process of starting up my very first Cichlid-only tank. Right now I am in the planning stage. Before setting up a new tank I like to first create a spreadsheet to plan my stock, plants, equipment, decor, etc. so I can ensure that I am not over stocking, all of the inhabitants are compatible, and I have adequate equipment for them. I will usually spend a couple weeks going back and forth making corrections, scratching things out, and penciling other things in. The joy of being both OCD and indecisive. I sometimes will even make a "Pros & Cons" chart if I cannot decide on a stocking arrangement (for example, African or New World Cichlids). Once I make my final decisions I then turn the final copy of my plan into a checklist/shopping list and start acquiring everything on the list (of course the actual fish being last). I try to make absolutely sure what I want instead of making an impulse buy. There is nothing worse than purchasing a fish off of a whim and then either changing your mind or discovering another species you like even more and finding out they are not compatible. It then becomes human nature to start despising the fish you originally chose and then subconsciously become "lax" and lazy when it comes to caring for it because somehow someway you blame the fish instead of yourself for your lack of research.
Anyways, every evening for the past few weeks, when I have free time, I have been scouring the Internet reading articles, forums, and any other bits of information I can find to not only learn about Cichlids as a whole but to also try to find the perfect species in which to keep. I also purchased a stack of books about Cichlid care, Cichlid varieties, as well as general fish keeping books containing sections on Cichlids. I have been fish keeping (on and off) for about 15 years but the only tanks I have ever had were cold water, tropical communities, brackish (specifically puffers), and nano reefs. I want to make sure I am well versed in the subject before purchasing any Cichlids and jeopardize their health.
The first species that caught my eye was the Flower Horn. After extensive research on this particular species I began to change my mind. I was originally planning on purchasing a 60-75g aquarium. I did read from a few different sources that this size would be okay, but the majority of information stated that a tank size of at LEAST 100-125g was appropriate for one Flower Horn. Although this would definitely be do-able I am uncertain whether or not I want to have a tank that large for one specimen. Which brings me to my next problem, tank mates. My FAVORITE part of fish keeping is watching fish interact with others as well as their environment. My favorite tanks are those which have many different personalities, traits, and behaviors. A multitude of colors, shapes, sizes, and characteristics make any tank exciting and vibrant. Although a species-only tank can be very rewarding, I have a feeling I would get very bored and uninterested watching one fish swimming back and forth in a mundane repetitive fashion. My LFS has a BEAUTIFUL adult Red Dragon (I believe that is the trade name for the red and black variety) Flower Horn on display. There is a Purple Rose Queen in the tank as well. Despite the Rose Queen only being a few inches smaller than the Flower Horn, it still cowers behind the filter and equipment at the back of the tank almost perpendicular to the ground. I have always heard that when fish stay in a "handstand" position they are extremely stressed. Now I know tank mates with Flower Horns are a myth.
The next species that I would like, and am leaning more towards, is a (Blood) Parrot Cichlid. I have been infatuated with this species since the beginning. I find the shape of their bodies as well as their coloration spectacular. There are a few cons however. I read from multiple sources that since Parrots only have a "beak" they cannot fight back an aggressor therefore these fish do not do well in Cichlid tanks. Again, they should either be kept signally or in a non-aggressive community setting. As I previously stated I've already had MANY community tanks and I am looking to setup something different. I've received a lot of criticism here in the forums from members saying purchasing a hybrid Cichlid is cruel and wrong. My philosophy on that is, there are ALWAYS going to be hybrids out there. Thousands are born every day. So since they are already in existence, I might as well give them a good home. I know if I was a fish I would want to be adopted as soon as possible so I don't have to live in a dirty, cramped, overcrowded fish store tank. I would NEVER consider purchasing a tattooed and/or died Parrot (or ANY fish for that matter) and that is a practice that is truly horrific. With that being said, I would like to ask everyone nicely to please keep any criticisms and/or personal opinions to themselves. I am aware that many people strongly oppose hybridizations and your opinions are already noted.
This brings me to the main question/point of this post. While I was Googling Parrot Cichlids a picture popped up of a Parrot x Flower Horn hybrid. I INSTANTLY fell in love. I then dug deeper and found a few more that I liked. Some images said what type of fish/hyrbrid was pictured, however most of them either did not specify, or were in what I believe was Thai. I wanted to see if anyone knew from the images below what species these are and any other details pertaining to them.
I was thinking of doing either a 60-75g setup with one regular Blood Parrot, one Parrot x Flower Horn hybrid, and one Parrot x Red Texas (?) hybrid. Will a tank of this size accommodate these three individuals? Also, are they all compatible? I have seen a few different videos on YouTube that showed tanks with both standard Blood Parrots and Flower Parrots coexisting perfectly fine. I cannot however find ANY information regarding the Texas Parrot. I have scoured the Internet with no luck. Does anyone know any information regarding this particular hybrid? I would absolutely love to own one but it's hard enough trying to find any information about this species, let alone trying to find somewhere that sells them. Has anyone ever ran across one for sale? Or does anyone know of any particular online stores that carry them? I'm open to anything whether it be a large scale company, a personal/small scale breeder, or even classifieds.
I was considering contacting Seagrest Farms and asking them either if they stock them or if they can get their hands on them. I'm hoping maybe they could at bare minimum point me in the right direction considering how they are one of the largest ornamental fish suppliers in the world and lucky for me their facility is only two hours away! (Score!). All of our LFS in town use Seagrest as their primary stocking vendor. I have an acquaintance that manages one of these stores and in the past she has ordered me a few specialty harder to find fish. Therefore, if Seagrest does stock them (or can find them) it would be A LOT more practical than ordering from a store or breeder online. You are definitely at a disadvantage if you just want one fish due to the $35 shipping charge that online retailers charge. It really does not make sense to order online unless you are purchasing multiple specimens.
These next photos are of the species I could not find names for. Like I said a lot of these pictures' captions were in Thai so I do not even know if they've been seen in the American market yet. In my opinion some of these look like parrots. I would love to know what kind they are. Now I did manage to find a small snippet of information that stated that some of these are "Short Body Flower Horns". Some of these may also be regular Flower Horns just in their juvenile stage. I have never heard of a dwarf variation of a Flower Horn but they may be the perfect compromise to my conundrum. Does anyone have experience keeping them? Can they be housed in a smaller environment than full size Flower Horns? Also, can they be housed with tank mates of either different species or more than one of the same species? Finally (and probably the most important) does anyone know of any places online to purchase these? All I could find by briefly searching online was a classified ad for one "Short Body FH" in the UK. Of course this does not help me at all considering the fact that I live in the USA (bummer). So once again, if anyone could provide me with ANY information at all about any of these species pictured below I would be ever so grateful! I am having no luck at all trying to identify any of these species or finding any care instructions on my own. I would absolutely LOVE to own any of these.
(I have numbered each picture to make referencing easier)
^(I'm thinking #5 is just a standard juvenile Flower Horn)
*Disclaimer: I do NOT own or claim to own any photos displayed above. They were all pulled directly from Google Images and are for demonstrative purposes only.
Sent from my iPad
Anyways, every evening for the past few weeks, when I have free time, I have been scouring the Internet reading articles, forums, and any other bits of information I can find to not only learn about Cichlids as a whole but to also try to find the perfect species in which to keep. I also purchased a stack of books about Cichlid care, Cichlid varieties, as well as general fish keeping books containing sections on Cichlids. I have been fish keeping (on and off) for about 15 years but the only tanks I have ever had were cold water, tropical communities, brackish (specifically puffers), and nano reefs. I want to make sure I am well versed in the subject before purchasing any Cichlids and jeopardize their health.
The first species that caught my eye was the Flower Horn. After extensive research on this particular species I began to change my mind. I was originally planning on purchasing a 60-75g aquarium. I did read from a few different sources that this size would be okay, but the majority of information stated that a tank size of at LEAST 100-125g was appropriate for one Flower Horn. Although this would definitely be do-able I am uncertain whether or not I want to have a tank that large for one specimen. Which brings me to my next problem, tank mates. My FAVORITE part of fish keeping is watching fish interact with others as well as their environment. My favorite tanks are those which have many different personalities, traits, and behaviors. A multitude of colors, shapes, sizes, and characteristics make any tank exciting and vibrant. Although a species-only tank can be very rewarding, I have a feeling I would get very bored and uninterested watching one fish swimming back and forth in a mundane repetitive fashion. My LFS has a BEAUTIFUL adult Red Dragon (I believe that is the trade name for the red and black variety) Flower Horn on display. There is a Purple Rose Queen in the tank as well. Despite the Rose Queen only being a few inches smaller than the Flower Horn, it still cowers behind the filter and equipment at the back of the tank almost perpendicular to the ground. I have always heard that when fish stay in a "handstand" position they are extremely stressed. Now I know tank mates with Flower Horns are a myth.
The next species that I would like, and am leaning more towards, is a (Blood) Parrot Cichlid. I have been infatuated with this species since the beginning. I find the shape of their bodies as well as their coloration spectacular. There are a few cons however. I read from multiple sources that since Parrots only have a "beak" they cannot fight back an aggressor therefore these fish do not do well in Cichlid tanks. Again, they should either be kept signally or in a non-aggressive community setting. As I previously stated I've already had MANY community tanks and I am looking to setup something different. I've received a lot of criticism here in the forums from members saying purchasing a hybrid Cichlid is cruel and wrong. My philosophy on that is, there are ALWAYS going to be hybrids out there. Thousands are born every day. So since they are already in existence, I might as well give them a good home. I know if I was a fish I would want to be adopted as soon as possible so I don't have to live in a dirty, cramped, overcrowded fish store tank. I would NEVER consider purchasing a tattooed and/or died Parrot (or ANY fish for that matter) and that is a practice that is truly horrific. With that being said, I would like to ask everyone nicely to please keep any criticisms and/or personal opinions to themselves. I am aware that many people strongly oppose hybridizations and your opinions are already noted.
This brings me to the main question/point of this post. While I was Googling Parrot Cichlids a picture popped up of a Parrot x Flower Horn hybrid. I INSTANTLY fell in love. I then dug deeper and found a few more that I liked. Some images said what type of fish/hyrbrid was pictured, however most of them either did not specify, or were in what I believe was Thai. I wanted to see if anyone knew from the images below what species these are and any other details pertaining to them.
I was thinking of doing either a 60-75g setup with one regular Blood Parrot, one Parrot x Flower Horn hybrid, and one Parrot x Red Texas (?) hybrid. Will a tank of this size accommodate these three individuals? Also, are they all compatible? I have seen a few different videos on YouTube that showed tanks with both standard Blood Parrots and Flower Parrots coexisting perfectly fine. I cannot however find ANY information regarding the Texas Parrot. I have scoured the Internet with no luck. Does anyone know any information regarding this particular hybrid? I would absolutely love to own one but it's hard enough trying to find any information about this species, let alone trying to find somewhere that sells them. Has anyone ever ran across one for sale? Or does anyone know of any particular online stores that carry them? I'm open to anything whether it be a large scale company, a personal/small scale breeder, or even classifieds.
I was considering contacting Seagrest Farms and asking them either if they stock them or if they can get their hands on them. I'm hoping maybe they could at bare minimum point me in the right direction considering how they are one of the largest ornamental fish suppliers in the world and lucky for me their facility is only two hours away! (Score!). All of our LFS in town use Seagrest as their primary stocking vendor. I have an acquaintance that manages one of these stores and in the past she has ordered me a few specialty harder to find fish. Therefore, if Seagrest does stock them (or can find them) it would be A LOT more practical than ordering from a store or breeder online. You are definitely at a disadvantage if you just want one fish due to the $35 shipping charge that online retailers charge. It really does not make sense to order online unless you are purchasing multiple specimens.
These next photos are of the species I could not find names for. Like I said a lot of these pictures' captions were in Thai so I do not even know if they've been seen in the American market yet. In my opinion some of these look like parrots. I would love to know what kind they are. Now I did manage to find a small snippet of information that stated that some of these are "Short Body Flower Horns". Some of these may also be regular Flower Horns just in their juvenile stage. I have never heard of a dwarf variation of a Flower Horn but they may be the perfect compromise to my conundrum. Does anyone have experience keeping them? Can they be housed in a smaller environment than full size Flower Horns? Also, can they be housed with tank mates of either different species or more than one of the same species? Finally (and probably the most important) does anyone know of any places online to purchase these? All I could find by briefly searching online was a classified ad for one "Short Body FH" in the UK. Of course this does not help me at all considering the fact that I live in the USA (bummer). So once again, if anyone could provide me with ANY information at all about any of these species pictured below I would be ever so grateful! I am having no luck at all trying to identify any of these species or finding any care instructions on my own. I would absolutely LOVE to own any of these.
(I have numbered each picture to make referencing easier)
^(I'm thinking #5 is just a standard juvenile Flower Horn)
*Disclaimer: I do NOT own or claim to own any photos displayed above. They were all pulled directly from Google Images and are for demonstrative purposes only.
Sent from my iPad
