,

 

Hi and welcome to breeding, it was once belived that the blood parrot couldn't breed because it was a hybrid but a surprising amount of people are having success now.

Sexing

As with some other species, it's difficult to tell the difference between males and the females unless they are about to spawn. Because there is so many variations in the types of parrots, it's almost impossible to distinguish the sexes by finnage or coloration.

One way to identify the male is when he pairs up and is ready to breed, he will get pinkish coloration on his throat and behind his gill cover. This the best indication of male. In general, males are also larger than females. Identifying the females is almost impossible until her egg tube is showing during pre-spawn.

Preparing a Spawning in the Aquarium

Conditions must be right in the aquarium for you blood parrots to spawn, and even then, it's not guaranteed that after the female lays eggs they will hatch. I've heard of several ways to encourage Spawning. They are as follows:

Raise the temperature in the tank 2-3º (do not exceed 84º) Do a 10-15% water change using R/O or distilled water Feed Live brine shrimp a couple times a week

PH for spawning should be no higher than 7.2. Optimally you should shoot for a 6.6-6.8 PH. Anything higher than 7.2 the birth rate will be low to nonexistent, because the covering on the egg will become to "tough" due to excess calcium in the water and the sperm will not be able to penetrate the egg to fertilize it. At an excessively low PH, the acidic water will damage the sperm and suffer the same fertilization problems. PH should me monitored closely and never changed more than .2 in a 24 hour period or you risk stressing your fish.

Spawning Characteristics

It is pretty easy to recognize spawning behavior. Two fish will pair up and spend alot of time together. You will notice the male doing what I call "The Sex Dance". He will move up to the female, turn his body sideways and shimmy his body making rapid tail and fin movements. This behavior can go on for days. Eventually they will build some sort of nest, usually a pit in the gravel or under a rock or driftwood. They will then defend the area from other fish in the tank. In most cases, the male seems to do most of the digging while the female defends the area.

Mating Pair of Blood Parrots

Blood parrots are gravel-spawners, meaning that they lay their eggs on the ground or on a hard surface like the leaf of a plant or on driftwood. Eggs that are not fertilized will turn white with fungus. It's the job of the parents to eat the fungused eggs so it does not spread to the fertilized eggs. It's a common occurrence for all the eggs to be eaten because most males are sterile and the eggs are never fertilized.

Caring for the Fry

Once the fry have hatched, you should leave them with the parents. If possible, removing the tankmates will reduce stress on the parents and allow more of the fry to develop. The fry will feed on their attached yolk sacks for about two days, then you will needs to provide them newly hatched brine shrimp. These can be purchased at most fish stores. After you notice the parents are no longer tending to the fry, you should remove the fry from the tank and put them in a 10 gallon aquarium to finish raising them. If you do not remove the fry, most of them will get eaten when parents are ready to spawn again.