parrot chichilds

Question
hi karen, i have a 5 foot tank and seven parrot fishes ,i would like to know if parrot fishes breed , and what are the nessccary tank conditions for them to breed
thank you

Answer
Dear Subashini,
If you are speaking of the "hybrid" parrot cichlids and not the "true" parrot cichlid..Then unfortunately you will probably have zero luck trying to spawn them. This is because parrot fish are sterile (lik      s) and their eggs simply will not hatch. But recently there has been sometimes instances of fish farmers coming out with parrot fish which are able to lay eggs and hatch out fry.
If you would like to try to spawn yours a breeding tank can be setup as followed-
*Raise the temperature about 2-3 F (don't go past 84F)
*Do frequent water changes, ideally daily  at least 20%
*Feed live brine shrimp and plenty of good quality frozen foods and normal pellets or high quality flake
*Often it is said that a pH higher than 7.2 will yield a low to almost non-existant hatchrate. Remember to never do a drastic pH adjustment or you will risk stressing your beloved parrots.

~Spawning behavior is first reconized when two fish pair up and spend most of their time together. Soon they will start to build a nest, a dug out pit in the substrate with a preferred nest site under a rock or driftwood. And they will defend the area from the other fish (like most cichlids)

~Once the fry hatch the parents should take care of them. The babies feed of their yolk sac for about 2 days and then they must be fed newly hatched brine shrimp. Now once you notice the pair no longer tending to their fry, you should be sure to remove them from the tank and put them in at least a 10 gallon aquarium to finish raising them. Otherwise the pair may end up eating their fry if they are ready to lay eggs again.

I really hope this helps! Remember, again, most male parrot fish are sterile but many times parrot cichlids will lay eggs and defend a nest site, but the eggs will not be fertilized and soon fungus over.

Only my very best wishes,
Karen~