The Blood Parrot is commonly known as the Red God of Wealth, God of Wealth Fish, and Fortune Fish. Its whole body is bright red, and its chubby body and soft fins make it very endearing. The breeding techniques are summarized as follows .
1. Water quality requirements
Blood parrots prefer soft water that is slightly acidic and has low hardness. Because the blood parrot's congenital lips cannot be closed, the ability to control water flow is poor, the water flow through the gills is small, and the ability to exchange oxygen with the gills through water flow is much worse than that of its male and female parents and other fish. . Therefore, the water body in which blood parrots are kept must have sufficient oxygen. It is best to equip the aquarium with biochemical filter cotton, water pump, and oxygen aeration equipment. The specific indicators are a pH value of about 6.5 and a dissolved oxygen of 8 mg/L.
2. Temperature control
The blood parrot has strong adaptability to temperature and can live freely in water temperatures of 20 to 30°C. However, the blood parrot is very sensitive to temperature. When the water temperature is low and the water temperature changes drastically, it is prone to stress reactions, causing the body color to become dull and lose its gorgeous luster, and even black stripes or markings may appear. During the feeding process, it is best to keep the water temperature within the range of 25 to 28°C. The difference in water temperature before and after each water change should not exceed 0.5°C.
3. Feeding and management
Blood parrots have a mixed diet. They will eat almost anything including artificial bait, flakes, granules, red worms, brine shrimps, water lice, etc., and they are quite greedy. Therefore, it is easy to feed blood parrots. It is not easy to create a strong and colorful blood parrot. Feed feed regularly and quantitatively every day, reasonably match the nutrition of the feed, and feed fresh shrimps and small fish regularly. It is best to use artificial feed specially prepared for blood parrots, such as Baoxianhong, Ramahong, Baoli, etc. Etc., this kind of feed added with astaxanthin and D-carotene is not only convenient to feed directly, but also can make the body color of blood parrots more bright and beautiful.
4. Disease prevention and treatment
(1) Bacterial diseases. Symptoms include red and swollen gill filaments. In severe cases, the gill filaments turn white due to blood loss, the eyeballs are bulging and cloudy, the abdomen is swollen and water accumulates, and the genital pores and the skin near them are congested, red and swollen. The sick fish floats feebly on the water surface and cannot sink. The treatment method is to soak in 150 ml/m of formalin solution for one hour and then change the water completely. You can use it again after two days. At the same time, feed the fish with medicinal bait. Mix erythromycin in the bait at a dose of 50 mg per kilogram of fish per day and feed it continuously for three weeks.
(2) Fungal diseases. This type of disease often occurs in the alternating seasons of autumn and winter. Some small wounds on the surface of the fish are infected with mold, and gray-white fluffy saprolegnia is attached to the wounds. The treatment method is to soak with the traditional Chinese medicine Saprolegnia 1 mg/L, and change the water completely the next day.
(3) Parasitic diseases. This type of disease often occurs in the alternating seasons of autumn and winter and spring and summer when the water temperature changes drastically. The surface of the sick fish is covered with small white dots. Over time, it can also cause a variety of bacterial diseases. The treatment method is to soak in copper sulfate solution 0.3-0.5 mg/L for 24 hours and then replace 1/2 of the water.
Feed color-promoting feed during the critical period
You may know the origin of blood parrots, which are red devils (Cichlasoma synspilum) father and purple fire mouth (Cichlasoma citrinellum) mother. One offspring (F1), but did you know that each blood parrot is distinguished by the shape of its beak, head and back, and body color, and none of them are exactly the same! ! After the baby blood parrot is born, it does not have any characteristics of the blood parrot. Instead, it looks a bit like the common cichlid fish species in Central and South America. After about 20 days of raising, the appearance of the little blood parrot will slowly change. The muscles on the head and back will gradually bulge and the thickness will also begin to increase. The body color will gradually change from striped black to gray silver. At this time, the red pigment in the blood parrot's body has begun to accumulate and proliferate. However, the body color of the small blood parrot, which is about 3 centimeters tall, is not red at this time. It will only appear red about 50 days after birth and when the size is about 5 centimeters. body color. It is recommended that owners feed the blood parrot with "color-promoting feed" at this time, which can not only fully provide the nutritional needs of the blood parrot, but also accelerate the blood parrot's early transformation into fiery red.
During this period, if the blood parrot is not properly cared for in terms of nutrition and its body color does not turn red, there is no need to expect that she will turn into a "swan", because this is an important and critical period that determines her body color throughout her life.
Another characteristic of the blood parrot is its round and cute appearance, but this is not caused by eating a lot of feed. If you want to cultivate such a round and plump blood parrot, you should start from two major directions: First, Provide sufficient food for the development of small fry during their development. Secondly, the choice of feed should be a high-protein feed with a protein content of around 32% (generally the ingredients will be indicated on the outer packaging of the product), so that you can have a round blood parrot. It’s about a 1:1 standard figure! !
The blood parrot is the first to cry for help if the water contains insufficient oxygen. Generally, the blood parrots on the market are roughly divided into three levels, namely special A level, A level, and B level. Of course, there will be different price differences according to different levels. The lifespan of a blood parrot can be as long as 4 to 5 years, but a blood parrot that is about three years old is already considered an advanced age. However, based on the age of the parent fish, we estimate that the blood parrot should have a lifespan of about ten years. A four- to five-year-old blood parrot is about 15 to 20 centimeters tall, and will be followed by various symptoms of fish aging. Generally, the symptoms of fish aging include fading of body color, curvature of spine, loss of fish scales, reduced activity, etc. Once these symptoms appear in blood parrots, owners should have kept these funny and cute blood parrots for a long time. It's time. Fish mainly breathe through the gills and oxygen in the water. However, because the blood parrot has an innate lack of respiratory organ function and only has half a set of respiratory organs, the water flow into the gills is greatly reduced. Therefore, the blood parrot is inferior to other fish in terms of respiration. Breeding is even more difficult. Once the dissolved oxygen in the water is insufficient, blood parrots will be the first to feel it; that is to say, there must be enough oxygen, otherwise the blood parrots in the aquarium will say goodbye together. Although the blood parrots will not all die immediately due to lack of oxygen, their tolerance to the environment and resistance to viruses will be sharply reduced. It is distressing to see a tank of sick fish.
Due to problems with the respiratory organs, here is a brief summary of the common diseases of blood parrots. They can generally be divided into the following diseases: 1. Bacterial diseases: gill ulcers and body surface injuries are the most common. common. Symptoms include reduced activity of the fish, loss of appetite, rapid breathing, etc. At this time, the gills are actually in serious tension, but it is still difficult to see from the outside. Only by opening the gill cover for inspection can the ulcerated tissue be seen. Antibiotics can be used for treatment and prevention. Generally, potions for treating gill rot can be used for simple prevention and control. 2. Fungal diseases: These diseases are mainly caused by fungi. Generally, fish are only covered by fungi, most of which grow on the body surface. At this time, the fish will only scratch the bottom of the sand or the tank wall. Generally, it can be easily prevented and treated with potions for treating saprolegnia, but as long as it is given good A good environment and suitable temperature can actually reduce fungal problems. 3. Parasitic diseases: Parasitic diseases will occur in aquariums with extremely poor water quality, mainly white spot worms and flagellates. Once there are too many parasites on the body, the blood parrot will gradually become thinner and lose color. However, generally parasitic diseases are easier to treat. As long as you take a medicated water bath, supplemented by commercially available medicine for treating white spot disease, the white spot parasites will naturally disappear. The medicine will cure the disease