Quoyi parrot fish
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Greenstreet.1
5000 Club Member
Great fish one of my favorite that’s not a wrasse. There’s a Kids cartoon called splash and bubbles that I watch with my little ones that teach them about reefs they had an episode about the Quoyi parrotfish loved it.
Have one in a 220 (well, in a 75 QT, while the 220 goes fallow...) - not the first one I purchased. Had one that hid for a month, eating precisely nothing, before passing - and then this one.
Started out as a pale, greyish fish with only hints of color, but over time his color has come in strongly. Spends his days banging away at the liverock, hammering most algaes - so long as they're in convenient locations - and keeping that rock _clean_. (He allows GHA to grow long on the undersides of shelves, for instance!) Studiously avoids nicking any corals. Reacts _strongly_ to his reflection in a mirror. I've seen tanks with multiple Quoy's parrotfish in 'em, but this guy will not tolerate another parrot in his space. Gets along well with everyone - I've never seen him chase any fish more than about 1/4 of an inch, though other fish will occasionally chase him. Eats anything I put in the tank, but started with a preference for small foods - he'd take a busted swimmeret off the tail of a mysis over a whole brine shrimp at first. Started taking 1mm pellets pretty quickly, which was cool because I could leave a few of those rolling around in the QT a couple of times a day for him to snack on. In the second half of this video, you can see him considering whether to take another bite out of a mussel hung on a clip. (He'd already destroyed the nori that had hung on the same clip.):
Brilliant colors and patterns, like no other fish on my reef.
~Bruce (who could probably fix the spelling in the thread title, if you'd like...)
Started out as a pale, greyish fish with only hints of color, but over time his color has come in strongly. Spends his days banging away at the liverock, hammering most algaes - so long as they're in convenient locations - and keeping that rock _clean_. (He allows GHA to grow long on the undersides of shelves, for instance!) Studiously avoids nicking any corals. Reacts _strongly_ to his reflection in a mirror. I've seen tanks with multiple Quoy's parrotfish in 'em, but this guy will not tolerate another parrot in his space. Gets along well with everyone - I've never seen him chase any fish more than about 1/4 of an inch, though other fish will occasionally chase him. Eats anything I put in the tank, but started with a preference for small foods - he'd take a busted swimmeret off the tail of a mysis over a whole brine shrimp at first. Started taking 1mm pellets pretty quickly, which was cool because I could leave a few of those rolling around in the QT a couple of times a day for him to snack on. In the second half of this video, you can see him considering whether to take another bite out of a mussel hung on a clip. (He'd already destroyed the nori that had hung on the same clip.):
Brilliant colors and patterns, like no other fish on my reef.
~Bruce (who could probably fix the spelling in the thread title, if you'd like...)
Love mine. I can't get him to eat fresh or frozen but loves pellets. Will occasionally got after nori but it's not his favorite. I've seen him chase my clowns ones or twice but it wasn't a big deal. Great fish.
Greenstreet.1
5000 Club Member
Nice vid bud how is he with the wrasses ? Nice orange back by the way [emoji23] love my wrasses.
This guy gets along great with the wrasses - but I have also attempted a Caribbean striped parrotfish (Scarus iseri) which was anything but wrasse-safe. After going through QT, put that guy into a tank with a couple of fairy wrasses, and within 24 hours he was ripping their scales off.
Wound up rehoming the striped parrot. I love wrasses too!
Introducing the Quoy's to wrasses - no problems. Introducing wrasses to the tank, with the Quoy's already established - no problems.
Parrots are pretty closely related to wrasses, both are labrids.
Should also note - the Quoy's is also capable of some color-change, with the pink areas going from near white to almost plum, depending on his mood. When stressed, he can take on a "camouflage" overlay - you'll probably see that during acclimation.
~Bruce
Wound up rehoming the striped parrot. I love wrasses too!
Introducing the Quoy's to wrasses - no problems. Introducing wrasses to the tank, with the Quoy's already established - no problems.
Parrots are pretty closely related to wrasses, both are labrids.
Should also note - the Quoy's is also capable of some color-change, with the pink areas going from near white to almost plum, depending on his mood. When stressed, he can take on a "camouflage" overlay - you'll probably see that during acclimation.
~Bruce
What a wonderfully eclectic fish collection! Beautiful Bruce!
My second Quoyi is in QT right now (day 9 of TTM). My first made it through QT with zero problems and was eating any frozen food I put in the tank. He would eat a whole cube of frozen mysis a day! After a few weeks in the DT he started acting funny. He would get wildly excited like he always had when food was introduced but he would dash back and forth without ever eating anything. It was like he didn't recognize food he had previously eaten with gusto as being food. He eventually passed despite my efforts to get him eating again.
The one I have in QT now is pretty amazing. By day 4 he would rush to the tank to greet me when I approached. and by day 6 he would eat out of my hand. He is the most intelligent fish I've had. Colors are stunning.
My plan is 4-6 weeks in a cycled observation QT after completing TTM. I'll try to get him eating as many different foods as possible and get him torpedo fat before going in the DT. He definitely does not like the other Quoyi that lives in the bottom of the tank and he will make short charges at the small Yellow Fin Flasher wrasse that's in QT with him. I don't think he would tolerate another parrot fish.
TTM(tank transfer method) is a way to preventatively treat for Ich.
It takes advantage of the parasites life cycle to eliminate it from any infected fish. The infectious stage on the fish usually drops off after 3-7 days and within a few hours encysts on hard surfaces in the tank. Between 5-72 days later it "hatches" after multiplying many times. This free swimming stage infects fish. By transferring to a new, sterile tank every 3 days you effectively eliminate all the stage attached to the fish because you transfer to a new tank before the encysted stage has a chance to "hatch". Theoretically you would have them gone after 7 days but the convention is to treat for 12 days....4 transfers as a safety factor.
It is only for Ich treatment/prevention and the disadvantage is that it won't treat for velvet as copper will. The 4 weeks after TTM are to observe for any other problems and getting the fish well nourished and used to associating me with food. I usually treat for parasites in transfer tank 2 and 4 but in some fish I wait till tank 4 and then again in the observation period.
I watch closely for any fish that show signs of velvet during TTM and convert to copper or chloraquine phosphate at that time. Clear as mud?
It takes advantage of the parasites life cycle to eliminate it from any infected fish. The infectious stage on the fish usually drops off after 3-7 days and within a few hours encysts on hard surfaces in the tank. Between 5-72 days later it "hatches" after multiplying many times. This free swimming stage infects fish. By transferring to a new, sterile tank every 3 days you effectively eliminate all the stage attached to the fish because you transfer to a new tank before the encysted stage has a chance to "hatch". Theoretically you would have them gone after 7 days but the convention is to treat for 12 days....4 transfers as a safety factor.
It is only for Ich treatment/prevention and the disadvantage is that it won't treat for velvet as copper will. The 4 weeks after TTM are to observe for any other problems and getting the fish well nourished and used to associating me with food. I usually treat for parasites in transfer tank 2 and 4 but in some fish I wait till tank 4 and then again in the observation period.
I watch closely for any fish that show signs of velvet during TTM and convert to copper or chloraquine phosphate at that time. Clear as mud?
Beautiful!
Yours looks like a young male, whose colors will only intensify. As with most (all?) labrids, they're protogynous hermaphrodites. They mature first as females, then transition to male as they grow larger. I've seen just about one video of a female, she was grey with paler bands.
I used Coppersafe to treat against ich and velvet, and General Cure to treat against both external and internal parasites. The Praziquantel in General Cure works well enough, in-water, to treat for flukes, and mixed with food and Seachem's "Focus" product, can treat for internal parasites as well. I have a sneaking suspicion that they often have those...
I've heard of these guys appearing to do well for a while, and then - for whatever reason - suddenly failing to thrive.
My fingers are crossed! (and covered in bristleworm spines...)
~Bruce
Yours looks like a young male, whose colors will only intensify. As with most (all?) labrids, they're protogynous hermaphrodites. They mature first as females, then transition to male as they grow larger. I've seen just about one video of a female, she was grey with paler bands.
I used Coppersafe to treat against ich and velvet, and General Cure to treat against both external and internal parasites. The Praziquantel in General Cure works well enough, in-water, to treat for flukes, and mixed with food and Seachem's "Focus" product, can treat for internal parasites as well. I have a sneaking suspicion that they often have those...
I've heard of these guys appearing to do well for a while, and then - for whatever reason - suddenly failing to thrive.
My fingers are crossed! (and covered in bristleworm spines...)
~Bruce
Bruce, how much General Cure do you use when you mix it with food/Focus? How often and how long do you feed it?
One level "Seachem measure" of Focus, one Seachem measure of General Cure, and about a tablespoon of food - two cubes-ish. I'll dust the cubes with food and focus, add a few drops of Selcon, and allow them to thaw. Mix thoroughly and feed about 1/3 of the mixture per hour or so for three hours. (That's just the way I feed my tank.) Fed this way, the medications are pretty reef-safe.
The mixture should be fed for about 10-14 days to eliminate internal parasites.
Most common symptom of internal parasites would be stringy white poop. I've seen that come in two styles - a long "kite-string" of whitish feces trailing from the fish's cloaca, and a more normal looking poop that "exploded" into white threads upon leaving the fish's body. Looked like somebody dynamited my grandmother's sewing box.
~Bruce
The mixture should be fed for about 10-14 days to eliminate internal parasites.
Most common symptom of internal parasites would be stringy white poop. I've seen that come in two styles - a long "kite-string" of whitish feces trailing from the fish's cloaca, and a more normal looking poop that "exploded" into white threads upon leaving the fish's body. Looked like somebody dynamited my grandmother's sewing box.
~Bruce
Instigate
Valuable Member
Just two cubes? When preparing these meds I get a table spoon measuring scoop and fill it. But it takes like 4-6 cubes of the hikkari mysis to fill the spoon for me.
