Little surprised I’ve got one.. Quoyi Parrotfish

[ShawnSaucier]

I’ve been reading about these forever, it feels like. I was returning some equipment, mentioned in another thread, and happened to be talking fish with the owner. Mentioned looking for that “Show” fish for my tank. It had just come out of quarantine 2 weeks ago and they placed it for sale last night. I did the normal reaction as most that think parrot+reef== tears . But with all that I’ve read about them, and I can’t recall a bad story other than from them not handling shipping well.
He’s been in the tank for an hour and a half exploring. What a beautiful fish I must say. Hoping I can get him eating when I feed later. Will get the reg. Camera out once he’s colored up and settled. Sorry for the IPhone blue..

 

[ShawnSaucier]

Anyone that has one in their reef, would love any advice

 

[Eva Rose]

Ask @Maritimer.

 

[saltyhog]

One of the things I've heard is they thrive for a while and then just seem to waste away. That's exactly what my first one did. I got my current one a little over 8 weeks ago and addition to my usual quarantine I treated him for 10 days with Focus/General Cure/mysis to treat for internal parasites. This is what some have suggested could be the problem for wasting away.

Mine has been the display for 10 days. He eats LRS, Hikari mysis, nori and blood worms with gusto.

 

[ca1ore]

Only a sample size of one ..... Got it through QT without issue, it appeared to be eating well once in the display ..... Then dead on the sand for no apparent reason. Wouldn't have been able to move it into the new acrylic tank anyhow, but still.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

So he’s eating, but the largest fish in the tank is going for the smallest pieces which is funny to watch. It has been a very long time since something in my tank has had me pull up a chair and watch for more than a few minutes.
I’ll look into the medicated foods. Have you seen any of this type of food affect any of your corals or inverts? I know it’s day one in the display, but all I can say is that it is like a gentle giant amongs my other fish. 5-6”-ish. Not sure if that will change.. So dinner tonight was LRS herbivore, 2 cubes of Mysis and 1 cube of mussels. More food than I usually feed, but the rest of the creeps in the tank pigged out. Also I have 2 nori/red seaweed stations on either end of the tank. Waiting to see if he checks those.

I should have my own QT set up. Hopefully I didn’t bone myself of my flippy friends.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

Only a sample size of one ..... Got it through QT without issue, it appeared to be eating well once in the display ..... Then dead on the sand for no apparent reason. Wouldn't have been able to move it into the new acrylic tank anyhow, but still.

Sorry to hear about this. I’m hoping I can avoid this from happening. I’ve got to say this has been a really intesting fish to watch today. Everyone seems to have settled in so far and I hope it stays like that. Been it has been calm for a first day, and he seems happy to be around a more natural setting instead of LFS QT and sales tank. At least that’s what I believe.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

One of the things I've heard is they thrive for a while and then just seem to waste away. That's exactly what my first one did. I got my current one a little over 8 weeks ago and addition to my usual quarantine I treated him for 10 days with Focus/General Cure/mysis to treat for internal parasites. This is what some have suggested could be the problem for wasting away.

Mine has been the display for 10 days. He eats LRS, Hikari mysis, nori and blood worms with gusto.

It’s a beautiful fish, and I really wish you luck. Please keep me updated as things progress

 

[ShawnSaucier]

Big boy in the tank

 

[ShawnSaucier]

Ask @Maritimer.

I PM’d Maritimer, thank you.

 

[Eva Rose]

I PM’d

Beautiful fish. I've always admired their rainbow iridescence. The way they shimmer in the water, you never tire of watching them. Good luck and post follow up pics

 

[Luno]

They are a stunning fish, I actually catch these guys quiet frequently while fishing. Because of how striking they are I've considered bringing one back for the tank. But was told not in a reef tank. I'd say a concern may go to the eventual size as well as some of the ones I've caught were pretty decent sized. Wonder why they don't take to captivity well as mentioned previously they seem like a pretty hardy fish in the wild

 

[ShawnSaucier]

They are a stunning fish, I actually catch these guys quiet frequently while fishing. Because of how striking they are I've considered bringing one back for the tank. But was told not in a reef tank. I'd say a concern may go to the eventual size as well as some of the ones I've caught were pretty decent sized. Wonder why they don't take to captivity well as mentioned previously they seem like a pretty hardy fish in the wild

What I have gathered from what little info I can find, is that they can carry a lot of internal parasites. So this may be the issues. I’ve read that they really kinda top out at 6-8”.
Now mine has been barely in my system ( under 24hrs at this point) he has eaten some frozen, but only the tiniest bits and has been pecking algae off my rocks. When I fed last night, the rest of the finned creeps were right up at the top of the water column pigging out and he was just lazily swimming around in the lower 1/3 every now and again grabbing a crumb that passed the others. This morning I broke out the bottle of New Spectrum 1mm pellets, he didn’t seem interested. I’ll try some frozen later. One of my worries is that the rest of the gang will all look like spooked puffers by the end of the week. “ Yes ,that is called a Regal Blue Hippo Ball Tang”.
It has been a very interesting fish to watch. As nighttime was setting in, he was shopping for a place to sleep which was rather comical. Very Goldie Locs..

 

[Luno]

Interesting you mention him going for very small bits of food. I've actually accidentally caught more on the jig for live bait which is using very small plastics. Always thought it was odd for such a large fish.

They may be different from the different areas they come from but here our legal length to keep one caught is a minimum of 25cm (roughly 10 inches) most I've caught have been at least 1ft. Also taking into account fish generally grow larger in the wild. We also get a humphead parrot (not a pretty looking one like the green) that grow to around 4ft!!

It will be interesting how you go with him in your tank, and with the parasite thing as well

 

[Maritimer]

There are a lot of different types of parrotfish, ranging in size from less than one foot to something like four feet long, with weight to match. (One of the fish in our hobby that bugs me a bit is the bicolor parrot. Commonly sold as a little white fish with an orange stripe across its eye that makes it look like a tiny U.S. Coast Guard cutter, the fish grows to something like two and a half feet long. How big is your tank?)

Quoy's parrotfish stays much smaller, and while it can sometimes reach lengths of just over one foot in the wild, rarely approaches that size in an aquarium. Reports from just about everyone are similar - this fish is an algae feeder, and studiously avoids munching on any corals. My own experience is in full agreement.

There are also a couple of smaller parrots from the Caribbean which are sometimes offered; the princess parrot, and slightly smaller striped parrot. I had a striped parrot which did well in quarantine, but when introduced to other fish, turned out not to be labrid-safe, and attacked any wrasse in the water with it.

Quoy's seem to sometimes tolerate others of their own kind - but my fish's reaction to his reflection in a mirror leaves no doubt that he wants to be an only-parrot. I'm OK with that . . .

Small foods seem to be these guys' preference when newly introduced, but they certainly can learn to deal with bigger chunks. Still, it's amusing to see such a relatively large fish daintily sipping at the tiniest of morsels! Not only do they possess that great nipping beak, but further back in their throats, they've got pharyngeal teeth that are capable of turning rock to sugar-fine sand. I mean ... really? With a dental battery like that, you're sipping capelin roe?!

~Bruce

 

[Skep18]

Very cool looking fish!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

@MickeyMouse had a beautiful one a couple of years back (I don't know if he still does). His was doing well, so maybe he can chime in.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

@MickeyMouse had a beautiful one a couple of years back (I don't know if he still does). His was doing well, so maybe he can chime in.

Seems he hasn’t been active in a long time

 

[MUSBFRANK]

My experience with these guys is that they'll pig out on almost any food and look great until roughly 6 months or so down the road, they just begin to lose body weight then eventually die. Algae should be a big part of it's diet, but the internal parasite suggestion sounds like that's the issue besides the correct diet.

 

[SMB]

My only experience is seeing them in the wild along with most Caribbean species of Parrot fish. Rarely have I seen them eat something out of the water column. They spend most of the daylight hours browsing the reef putting that beak to use on coralline algae and other encrusting algae and that is why many poop "sand". They do eat sponges but I think their diet is heavily weighted towards algae.
Many also will form a mucus cocoon at night.
It doesn't seem to surprising that they would waste away in captivity unless they have a lot of "vegetable" encrusted rockwork to graze on.
Good luck, they are a gorgeous fish.