Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
I bought the female for $25 from them. Im pretty positive they came in as princess parrots. The one I got today is almost 7". Im not sold they will both make it. I know the wholesaler around here charges $45 for them.
Getting a Quoyi to Eat
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I just ordered one from DD, should be here Tuesday. Thanks for all of the info in this thread. Hope it's not needed and he eats right off the bat.
Woah, that's a lot of Quoy's!
$33-35 is a price I've heard several times for Quoy's that are mislabeled as princess parrotfish - but I've never actually seen a princess in a LFS for less than $55 or so.
I've messed up too ... spotted a lovely 4-5" Achilles tang at another Petco, and brought it home - only to discover that it brought some velvety little friends along with, which are now hopefully choking on the copper in my QT. Lost the tang, in spite of a freshwater dip last night. Curses.
To date, the princess is snacking on bits and bobs here and there, but the Quoy's is still not eating that I've seen - and I'm sure the CopperSafe in the tank isn't helping.
~Bruce, hoping that everyone else's parrotfish give them a _lot_ less trouble than this one has given me!
$33-35 is a price I've heard several times for Quoy's that are mislabeled as princess parrotfish - but I've never actually seen a princess in a LFS for less than $55 or so.
I've messed up too ... spotted a lovely 4-5" Achilles tang at another Petco, and brought it home - only to discover that it brought some velvety little friends along with, which are now hopefully choking on the copper in my QT. Lost the tang, in spite of a freshwater dip last night. Curses.
To date, the princess is snacking on bits and bobs here and there, but the Quoy's is still not eating that I've seen - and I'm sure the CopperSafe in the tank isn't helping.
~Bruce, hoping that everyone else's parrotfish give them a _lot_ less trouble than this one has given me!
Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
Yeah, I have a lot now..lol. Not sure what Im going to do if they both make it. They are acting very strange. They kind of lay on their side and "flap" their pectoral fins.
It sounds as though they're still pretty new. They do seem to take a little while to get up to speed, but once they do they can really take off.
Based on @eatbreakfast's report on his experiences with multiple parrotfish, keep a sharp eye out for aggression, especially between the males.
~Bruce
Based on @eatbreakfast's report on his experiences with multiple parrotfish, keep a sharp eye out for aggression, especially between the males.
~Bruce
Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
Im not sure what Im going to do if they both live. I plan on at least trying to introduce one in a social acclimation box. I might have to sell the one. Not sure.
Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
So, they are both swimming together. Were one goes the other one goes, but once in awhile the big one nips the smaller.
Sounds cool ... for now, at least!
My son said he saw my two together - but that didn't translate into the quoyi following the princess out of the pipes . . . (-_-)
~Bruce
My son said he saw my two together - but that didn't translate into the quoyi following the princess out of the pipes . . . (-_-)
~Bruce
Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
The smaller one has begun eating mysis today.
That's great!
I've seen my princess picking at the diatoms forming on the PVC fittings, and plucking frozen food from the water. The princess' colors have intensified dramatically from what they were in the store, deep grey bands alternating with pink, and green striping on her nose. Very different from the quoyi!
I think tomorrow, I may try a piece of nori with a few drips of Selcon and garlic on it, wrapped around a piece of frozen LRS and rubberbanded to a rock. Sort of the reef equivalent of a burrito. Then maybe a clam on the half-shell for the snowday on Tuesday. (When I'm just as likely as not to head off to work in spite of all the blizzard warnings . . . )
~Bruce
I've seen my princess picking at the diatoms forming on the PVC fittings, and plucking frozen food from the water. The princess' colors have intensified dramatically from what they were in the store, deep grey bands alternating with pink, and green striping on her nose. Very different from the quoyi!
I think tomorrow, I may try a piece of nori with a few drips of Selcon and garlic on it, wrapped around a piece of frozen LRS and rubberbanded to a rock. Sort of the reef equivalent of a burrito. Then maybe a clam on the half-shell for the snowday on Tuesday. (When I'm just as likely as not to head off to work in spite of all the blizzard warnings . . . )
~Bruce
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Mine came in today and he definitely seems to be a shy fish as most have noted. He doesn't hide all the time but does hide if I move or when I first sit down in front of the tank. Going to let him settle down a couple more hours before trying to see if he wants to eat.
Absolutely _gorgeous_ fish!! One of the prettiest I've seen.
Good luck with him!
~Bruce
Good luck with him!
~Bruce
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Thanks Bruce, I was very pleased when I opened the bag!
He is pacing around a lot with his nose to the bottom of the glass. Makes me want to cut pieces of starboard to put in the bottom of my QT's. He did grab a piece of mysis and chewed on it but spit it out. Fingers crossed!
Mine tried to swim through the bottom as well - at Humblefish's suggestion, I taped brown craft paper to the bottom of the tank, and haven't seen that behavior much at all since. (I get to see mine come out for a minute or two each week . . . )
~Bruce
~Bruce
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I've got a piece of black tool chest liner under mine but I guess he still can see his reflection or something.
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He eats! Last night he grabbed a single piece of PE mysis but spit it out. Just now he ate Hikari mysis and LRS with gusto! Too soon to get to cocky since it's only been 30 hours since he arrived but I'm very encouraged!
If he's openly swimming and eating, you're halfway home!
Great news, Saltyhog.
~Bruce
Great news, Saltyhog.
~Bruce
Turns out my Princess is an impostor ... and that may be a good thing!
Looking at photos of princess parrotfish in the wild, I just couldn't find too many that matched the one in my tank, and now I think I understand why. My fish isn't a princess, it's a "striped" parrotfish, Scarus iseri. Many sources list the striped parrot as somewhat smaller than the princess, and one study found that the striped parrotfish feeds primarily on algae in the Caribbean, while the princess includes quite a bit of coral in its diet.
Princess parrotfish have a yellow blaze on their sides and thick orange markings on the top and bottom of their tailfin.
Striped parrotfish have an orange blush along their sides (though in my fish's case, not all the time...) and thin blue markings along the top and bottom of their caudal fins, with thin orange markings along the more central rays.
This is what it looks like when I drop frozen food into my QT:
How's everyone else's parrotfish doing?!
~Bruce
Looking at photos of princess parrotfish in the wild, I just couldn't find too many that matched the one in my tank, and now I think I understand why. My fish isn't a princess, it's a "striped" parrotfish, Scarus iseri. Many sources list the striped parrot as somewhat smaller than the princess, and one study found that the striped parrotfish feeds primarily on algae in the Caribbean, while the princess includes quite a bit of coral in its diet.
Princess parrotfish have a yellow blaze on their sides and thick orange markings on the top and bottom of their tailfin.
Striped parrotfish have an orange blush along their sides (though in my fish's case, not all the time...) and thin blue markings along the top and bottom of their caudal fins, with thin orange markings along the more central rays.
This is what it looks like when I drop frozen food into my QT:
How's everyone else's parrotfish doing?!
~Bruce
