The Occupants
During the Summer of 2000 Henry and I would frequent a local fish store and noticed a tank that had several fry in it sitting against the back wall of the store. We inquired about the fry that were in the tank. There was nothing to identify what they were on the tank. We were told that the fry were called Freshwater Parrotfish, a hybrid that a local aquarist had bred. While all the fry were of the same brood several of them were quite abit smaller than the rest and it was apparent that they were having to compete for their food and not being very successful. Henry and I decided to bring the smallest and the ones that looked most frail home with us and try and 'save' them. We brought home 5 of the fry and began feeding them freshly hatched brine shrimp and they began to flourish. We had originally been told that they were a cross between a Green Terror and a Red Devil. After researching the two species we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. *lol* As it turned out they were neither. Eventually we were able to identify that what they were was a cross between a Pink Convict and a Gold Severum. Quite adorable fish actually. They remind me of the little guy in the Pac-Man video game that scoots around the screen gobbling up all the little dots. They are very inquisitive and always busy doing something and actually doing nothing. To make a long story short, we were surprised one day in January 2001 when we noticed some fry in the Barb tank and on further observation we figured out they were Parrot fry. We never thought that they would breed and we believed them to be too young for this anyhow. I became enchanted with their parenting skills and the way they would attempt to protect their young from the other fish. The most critical time seems to be from when the eggs hatch to the time they become free swimming. Once they get over this hurdle we have found them to be vibrant fish. I feel that I must defend this species of fish because I know that cross breeding is looked down on in some fish circles. In this case, these fish are definitely an asset to our family of fishies. So, while they do not resemble what a Parrotfish resembles whatsoever, we call them our Parrotfish. Our Parrots share their tank with 4 full grown Corydoras and a Rubbernose Pleco.

It's important to note that we do not endorse cross breeding of fish. We found some fish that were in need and caring about fish as we do, we wanted to give them a chance.