Need Some Help To Decided On Blood Parrot Housing

[jmarcf]

Hi People,

I currently have 2 juvenile Blood parrots in a 45g and 1 juvenile JD in a 30g. I also purchased a 60g tank today and in the process of setting it up.

Now my issue is the larger BP keeps biting the smaller one and has removed scales from both sides of the poor smaller BP. What I would like to do is move the bigger BP to the 60g, move the JD to the 45g, and the smaller BP to the 30g until it's healed and try to reintroduce it to the 60g.

My questions are, is this the best way to go about it? Will I have issue with the bigger BP being more aggressive if I try to put them back together at a later stage? Would it be better to just move the smaller BP to the 60g first and once healed move the other over to the 60g?

 

[V227]

IMO, instant cycle your new 60 gal. Installing your fully cycled power filters on it. Concentrate on designing a hardscape with plenty of hiding spaces and line of sight obstructions. Introduce both BP's and JD into the tank. Introduce a good sized school of large Tetras like Buenos Aires or Diamonds as Ditherrs / Target fish. Don't worry, your cichlids probably won't be able to catch the tetras, and are likely to just ignore them.
If equilibrium is not achieved, then you might consider adding a Firemouth, or a solo Convict cichlid to dilute the aggression.

 

[jmarcf]

Thanks for the reply, I won't be housing the JD and BP'S together, my JD hates other fish, he won't even live with a BN pleco unfortunately. Someone suggested needing to have at least 3 BP's but I'm worried about the 60g tank being too small for 3.

 

[King Fisher]

Thanks for the reply, I won't be housing the JD and BP'S together, my JD hates other fish, he won't even live with a BN pleco unfortunately. Someone suggested needing to have at least 3 BP's but I'm worried about the 60g tank being too small for 3.

Bigger is usually better. Lol. If your JD is highly aggressive why not house him in the 30 gal by himself. The BP's with lots of plant cover should be good in the 60g. I also agree with the previous post of adding tetras or a schooling fish for distractions. You would probably be good with 3 BP's in a 60g. Or cut to the 2 BP's and add a school of small fish.