Quoyi parrot fish

TUSI · May 3, 2016

Is quoyi parrot fish safe in a reef. Wondering if anyone have any experience with parrot fish in a reef

ReefQueen · May 3, 2016

I believe they are fine with smaller fish and inverts, but parrots are know to be coral munchers from my understanding. Not that they seek out corals to eat, but they will bite chunks off to get any algae. I watched a documentary a while ago that showed parrotfish biting through coral and rock (and then pooping sand) in their search for algae. I am not sure if this applies to all parrotfish, but with that mouth I can only assume it does

Breakthecycle2 · May 3, 2016

I have one. They are 100% reef safe. They will chew on rocks on the coral skeleton, but that is all.

fab · May 3, 2016

ReefQueen said:
parrotfish biting through coral and rock (and then pooping sand) in their search for algae.

This is what they do for a living every day on reefs. They are literally sand making machines... All of them.

TUSI · May 3, 2016

ReefQueen said:
I believe they are fine with smaller fish and inverts, but parrots are know to be coral munchers from my understanding. Not that they seek out corals to eat, but they will bite chunks off to get any algae. I watched a documentary a while ago that showed parrotfish biting through coral and rock (and then pooping sand) in their search for algae. I am not sure if this applies to all parrotfish, but with that mouth I can only assume it does

Breakthecycle2 said:
I have one. They are 100% reef safe. They will chew on rocks on the coral skeleton, but that is all.

fab said:
This is what they do for a living every day on reefs. They are literally sand making machines... All of them.

Thank you so much this is great help knowing your experiences. Makes my decision easier.

eatbreakfast · May 4, 2016

I observed one in a reef tank for a few years(not my tank, but I was there everyday). It never touched any corals.

I would also point out that there are two respondents to this thread that have firsthand experience with this fish, and there are two that don't. The ones that have firsthand experience have completely reef safe experiences.