Blood parrot cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

Plan on a tank of at least 120 liters for one fish, more if you keep several. They're mostly peaceful for cichlids but do best kept solo or with calm, similar-sized tankmates. Keep the water warm, in the mid to high 20s C, with a pH around neutral. They take pellets, frozen foods, and sinking foods; color-enhancing food helps hold their orange. Their mouths close poorly, so use feeds they can actually grab.

In the wild

The blood parrot is a man-made hybrid, so it has no wild habitat at all. Its parent species come from Central American rivers and lakes, which points to what it likes: warm, roomy water with caves and hiding spots. Give it a tank with smooth decor and open swimming space, since its body shape makes tight squeezes awkward.

Good to know

This is a cichlid hybrid, generally credited to crossing Amphilophus citrinellus with Vieja synspilum, with no natural occurrence. It grows to around 20 cm. The same crossbreeding that produces its round body and small beak-like mouth often leaves it with a deformed mouth and spine, and most are functionally infertile, so breeding is essentially unrecorded.

Common questions

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