# Blood Parrot



## cousiniguana (Apr 3, 2014)

I know nobody else IRL will consider this as exciting as I do, so I thought I would come here and share it.


I recently had a rainbowfish fall ill and die (quarantined at first sign). I knew I could not get another locally but decided to swing by Petsmart just in case. I went the day right after fish shipment as my local petsmart has lately been pretty short on fish selection. No rainbowfish, but they had gotten in a single blood parrot. These guys have always appealed to me and I had a "what the heck, it's just about my birthday" moment and bought the little guy.


I know there's a chance it may not work out with this guy in my current setup. I am prepared for that. I also know that there is a pretty decent chance that it will, especially if he is introduced as a youngster. And by the time he gets to a more serious size the guppies time will have naturally expired.


But let me say, this is an awesome fish! Most of the fish I have kept spend their time swimming around and doing their fish thing. After a first day of shyness, this dude spends his day watching us. He already hand feeds and it's almost like I can see him thinking. What an amazing level of personality. I've only had maybe two bettas out of 10 that even came near this level of awareness. Extra bonus: I can expect this guy to live 5-15 years.


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

I have had several Blood Parrots before, they are my favorite cichlid. While yes they do have a somewhat aggressive personality like other cichlids, most cannot do anything but body slam you if their mouths are stuck open. However some petstores have been selling lower quality ones that can move their mouths, so watch out for that.


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## cousiniguana (Apr 3, 2014)

Aluyasha said:


> I have had several Blood Parrots before, they are my favorite cichlid. While yes they do have a somewhat aggressive personality like other cichlids, most cannot do anything but body slam you if their mouths are stuck open. However some petstores have been selling lower quality ones that can move their mouths, so watch out for that.


Very correct. This dude has that "smiling" open mouth. I was very careful to check. I expect some chasing and maybe some pushing, but it looks like all the fish 2" and over will be safe from consumption and will be able to outrun him and hide in the dense cover. I am also planning on keeping my heavily planted tank using some root protection for my swords and having a large number of non-rooted plants. Only my ludwigia and a few crypts are rooted besides the swords. Have you ever tried them with plants Aluyasha?


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

I have tried live and fake plants in the past. Like a typical cichlid the ones I had (once they got about the size of my hand) would try to pull the plants up and move them. They did not get to be as destructive as they would have liked, only being able to lay the plants down. I just made sure I had tough, thick stemmed plants.


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## MysticSky22301 (Apr 16, 2016)

I'd love a picture and what's with the mouth? Are they not supposed to be able to Move? I'm a little confused lol I don't keep cichlids not until my goldfish get a pond any way


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

MysticSky22301 said:


> I'd love a picture and what's with the mouth? Are they not supposed to be able to Move? I'm a little confused lol I don't keep cichlids not until my goldfish get a pond any way


Blood Parrots are a man made hybrid from a red devil and another cichlid (debatable which one), it created a fish whose mouth is permanently stuck in an open smile. They eat by "herding" food into their mouths and crushing it with their throat muscles. 
They are kind of like the pugs of the fish world. lol


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## MysticSky22301 (Apr 16, 2016)

Oh I've seen one! He was a pretty peach color but I felt sorry for him the lady said he had a hard time eating.


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

They are normally some shade of peach/orange/red. Some do come dyed other colors though. There are also "tailless" versions too, so they are shaped like hearts. 

@cousiniguana Do you have a picture of your setup?


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## cousiniguana (Apr 3, 2014)

I am rescaping some these next couple of days and did a major trim yesterday. I'll get some current pics up ASAP. This fella is quite the greedy eater. I'm trying to not overfeed him, but he's a horrible beggar. There are two main feeding times for my tank, but I usually give in and hand feed him a flake or two in the afternoon. I have some appropriate sized pellets for him coming on Saturday.










That picture was from right after I set up, please imagine it way way way more overgrown. I am also going to replace that chunk of petrified wood in the middle (next to big cave) with a terra cotta strawberry pot. So far the BP seems to enjoy the space under the driftwood the most. I would have thought he would dig the cichlid stone, but who knows the mind of a fish.


MysticSky: I will try to get of pic of him today. The only picture I have of him right now was when he was at Petsmart and he was definitely not looking his best at the time.


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

Beautiful tank! Yeah it is advised to have caves for blood parrots but none of mine liked using them, they always preferred either swimming around or sitting under a plant in a dip where they removed the gravel. lol


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## cousiniguana (Apr 3, 2014)

Meet soon to be named Blood Parrot:


















My tank as of this afternoon:










The current king of the tank (but not for long I think):


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

Wow he looks so tiny in that big tank. lol


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## cousiniguana (Apr 3, 2014)

@Aluyasha

Any guesses on gender?


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

I loved my babies! They died years ago but I loved playing with them as a kid. They had such personalities! They would love to be touched and one would swim into my hand to be rocked like a baby!


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

I don't think you can really tell gender on blood parrots. I have heard that males have pointier fins than the females, but some females can have it too, and because yours is a baby it is even harder to tell.


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I have blood parrot I believe I have a female she has the rounded tube hanging down and she exhibits nesting behavior. She is about 6 inches long now and about 4 inches high. She is a little over a year old and has outgrown a few flower pots since I have had her. She loves to moves things around in her tank. Her mouth is is fairly normal I went in the opposite direction make sure to select for a normal mouth. The deforrmed mouth is one of the big objections that people have in them being a hybrid fish. The down side is she can bite me and she did when she very young and it drew blood and caused me to get an infection that required antibiotics. The doctor could not believe a fish had bit me. She mostly attack the siphon while cleaning and seems to look forward to it. You will need a 75 gallon tank by the time your fish is full grown. I didn't notice what size you said you have some people try to slide by with 55 gallon. She eats organic lettuce, loves it, loves it, loves it! He next favorite is Omega One algae rounds broken into small pieces. These fish do need vegatable matter at least in the form of algae wafers to avoid getting hole in the head disease. She also eats a mix of new life spectrum cichlid pellets extra red and Omega One Cichlid. She will bang her head on the tank, suck and splash water to get my attention. A very fun fish! I named her Lucinda which means "light bringer".


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