I just wanted to tell everyone how my parrots behaved from day 1 to 10 in my 30 gall tank.
Day 1 to 3 - One parrot (the bigger one) took over the cave in the tank and always used to be hiding inside it. It used to come out only to bully the smaller parrot.
Day 4 to 8 - I introduced a pair of cory fish and a single albino shark. They worked as the best tankmates. The parrots still seem to behave the same way as mentioned above.
Day 9 - I introduce 4 silver dollars in my tank. All of a sudden I see my BPS become active. They start being more responsive to food and keep running after the dollars.
Day 10 - I see another drastic change in the behaviour of the BPS. The bigger one no longer bullies the smaller BP. I now see them sharing the same cave and not running after each other. They seem to be loving eachothers company now and are more often dancing in the tank. I also seem them digging in the cave. Also, the bigger BP allows the smaller one to enter the cave now which he/she would never do before.
I am actually puzzled what has caused this drastic change in the behaviour of the parrots. Is the introduction of the dollars or is it that parrots take time to mix with eachother.
Any expert please answer.
Comments
Re: Day 1 to 10
Sure. Will try getting a bigger tank asap.
Hey Shaz the dollars are back
Hey Shaz
the dollars are back with the parrots now and everything seems good as before.
my only concern is that my albino shark is no more. Can parrots attack albino sharks? Not sure.
Anyways all is fine now.
Dollars back
Although the albino shark is said not to be compatible with blood parrots I don't see them killing it, do water test just to make sure nothing is amiss, then if you want to keep all these fish I think you should start thinking now how to get a bigger tank, don't think of the size they are now, think of the adult size they will all be,one parrot 30 galls another 10 for another parrot ,then allow for all the other fish(silver dollars are brill arnt they?
Ok... I have actually
Ok...
I have actually seperated the dollars from the parrots. The tank has again become a very quite place with the parrots back to the cave.
Will move them back sometime later and see what happens.
Experimenting!!!!!!
dollars out!
Why? You asked what would help your parrots be more active and relaxed, silver dollars were suggested and you found that yes behaviour was improved and all fish getting along, why on earth have you removed them?were they all fighting? Is it a question of tank size and fish ? if so, look to a bigger tank sometime but don't unsettle your fish, you should be aiming for a happy environment for your fish, every time you add fish your parrots will need to establish their territories again, now all you have are hiding parrots again!!!PS, a bit dodgy "expermenting" with fish as shy as parrots!
Tank Size
Be aware that you will need to upgrade the size of your tank. You are already overstocked for a 30gal. Silver dollars can get as big as the BPs will. You need at least a 55 now but will need something even bigger later on. There's this great website called Badman's Tropical Fish. You can find all kinds of info on your fish and research their sizes as well. I also recommend submitting your tank community on there for stocking evauation. Good luck!
parrot behaviour
Both, the shyness, the bullying and being territorial, are all absolutely normal (for parrots!) they would have sorted out their differences eventually and come looking for food,but adding the other fish tend to make them act like best friends and become more active and relaxed,enjoy before the next crisis, parrot behaviour will keep you on your toes (no experts here, just owner who have done that been there!