Blood Parrot

The blood parrot is an ornamental fish that emerged in Taiwan in the 1980s from hybridizing Central American cichlids. Its parents have never been officially disclosed; the midas cichlid and a species from the genus Vieja (or other species such as the severum) are thought to have contributed. It is not a species found in the wild.

It got the name "parrot" from its round, hump-backed body, large eyes and small, beak-like mouth. It should not be confused with the true parrot cichlid (Hoplarchus psittacus). Color forms include orange, red, yellow and the "King Kong" with a forehead hump.

Ethical debate: The shortened spine and the mouth that cannot fully close, both resulting from hybridization, can make feeding difficult. Some sellers color the fish by dye injection or tattooing, and the "love heart" form is produced by cutting off the tail fin. These practices are criticized on animal welfare grounds; defenders point out that fish bred by natural means can be healthy and long-lived. Not buying dyed, tattooed or fin-clipped fish is the most effective way to reduce these practices.

It has no natural habitat. Its ancestral species come from the warm, moderately hard fresh waters of Central America.

• Volume: At least 200 liters and 100–120 cm of length for 2–3 fish.
• Decor: Caves and large pots or stone hollows; it likes to hide. It digs in the substrate a little but usually does not do much damage to plants.
• Water: Moderately hard water around neutral; a 25–30% water change every week.

Omnivorous. Because its mouth does not fully close, small, slow-sinking granules are the easiest food for it to eat. Vary the diet with frozen bloodworms, mysis and brine shrimp. Foods containing astaxanthin are used to maintain the orange-red color. Watch for fish that cannot catch their food.

Docile compared with other cichlids, but it guards its own cave and breeding area. Because of the structure of its mouth, it is hard for it to do serious damage by biting.

Good companions: Calm fish of similar size: silver dollars, large tetras (Congo tetra), severum, angelfish (in a large tank), plecos, corydoras.

Avoid: Aggressive large cichlids (it gets outcompeted for food), very small fish and shrimp.

It can be kept alone, as a pair or as a group of 3–5. In a group it is less skittish. When a pair forms, it claims a territory around its cave.

Most males are sterile. Females lay eggs regularly and guard them; the eggs are usually unfertilized and become fungused. Occasionally offspring can be obtained with another cichlid or a fertile male, but this should not be expected in a home aquarium.

• Feeding difficulty: Because of the structure of the mouth, weak fish fall behind in the competition for food.
• Swim bladder problems: Can occur in fish with short, hump-backed bodies.
• White spot (ich): In newly arrived fish; quarantine is recommended.

Difficult to tell from the outside. The sexes are told apart by checking the papilla during spawning; females are usually recognized this way because they lay eggs regularly.