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Blood Parrot FishBloody Parrot ~ Blood Parrotfish ~ Jellybean Parrot
Latest Reader Comment - See More I bought 2 blood parrot fish as rescue fish. They are beautiful. Romeo and Lil Girl I call them and both were approx. 3. They are wonderful pets and I adore them.... (more) monie 2010-02-01 The Blood Parrot is just about the most curious result of cichlids interbreeding, and has created quite a stir in the aquarium hobby!Blood Parrot Contents It is not uncommon for cichlids to interbreed in a hobbyists aquarium. When they are in spawning mode, they will often respond to a fish of the opposite sex whether it is the same species or another fish of a closely related species. The Blood Parrot, also called the Bloody Parrot or Blood Parrotfish, are a unique hybrid fish. They do not occur in nature.
The Blood Parrots have a very small mouth and a roundish "balloon" shaped body. Perhaps they are called Parrotfish because their nose looks like a 'parrots' beak. They can be solid or have a "calico" patterning or blotching., are available in a variety of colors. They range from basic pale or bright yellows, to oranges and reds. Dyed fish sport purples, pinks, blues, and more colors. These are generally sold as the 'Jellybean Parrot' and 'Bumble Gum Parrot' though there are also names that describe them by their color such as 'Purple Parrot'. Then there are Blood Parrots described by their physical appearance such as the 'Love Heart Parrot' which has no tail fin. The Blood Parrots are a peaceful, shy fish that should not be kept with real aggressive tank mates. However, if you keep them in a community aquarium with similar sized fish, be aware that they can be territorial. They like an aquarium with lots of rock formations and caves for retreating and hiding. Plants are not essential though they do not harm them.
These fish should not be confused with the Parrot Cichlid Hoplarchus psittacus which is another freshwater cichlid from South American that is quite aggressive. There is also no relation to the saltwater Parrot Fish Callyodon fasciatus. For more Information on keeping this fish see:
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| Latest Comments |
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| I bought 2 blood parrot fish as rescue fish. They are beautiful. Romeo and Lil Girl I call them and both were approx. 3. They are wonderful pets and I adore them.
Romeo became ill within 2 months and slowly went down hill, fighting ick and other dark marks on his body, losing his brilliant orange color. 4 days ago he developed swim bladder disease. I was devistated and tried everything I could do, talking with pet stores, internet, friends, etc. He died this morning after living on the bottom the the tank upsidedown. It was awful!!! I cried and I cried. I am now afraid for lil girl's mental health and planning on getting a new friend for her. I hope this is the right thing to do. Missing Romeo. Monie
2010-02-01 |
| Oh man, I love blood parrots! The first one I had was dark yellow with ~19 cm and it lived for 12 years! Extremely sociable. During that time I also had a yellow-pink female Midus Cichlid (~23 cm) which lived for 13 years and they were inseparable. When the Midus Cichlid died, the blood parrot was so affected by it, that he stopped moving and eating and died 5 days later. That was a very sad week for me... That blood parrot, contrary to the usual shy behaviour, was a bit exhibitionist and he was extremely curious about anything! The times I put my arm inside the aquarium for arranging the sand or plants, for example, the blood parrot was all curious about what as I doing and was all over my hand trying to figure out what was happening, while all the other fish hid themselves somewhere. He actually let me touch and caress him, something I've never seen a fish do!! He was so funny to look at. I miss him. Just wanted to share this with you.
2010-01-30 |
| I have had my tank for about 2 years. I started out with 3 Balloon Mollies. Now I have about 15. I saw 2 parrot fish and I fell in love. I bought both of them, one was pink and one was blue. Now the pink one is almost a peach color and the blue one is now a peach/white. I was not told that they had to be keep at a certain temprature or they would loose their color. My Balloon Mollies were fine with no heater and populating well. I just bought a heater for them and my question is: Will they get their color back now that the tank is set to 80-82.
2010-01-22 |
| My friends and family think I'm nuts when I talk about playing with Daisy, my 1 year old Blood Parrott who outgrew her hiding place while inside it! Thankfully, we got her out unharmed. I have never enjoyed a fish so much! She's mean though, can't handle a tank mates. Killed a sucker fish and some snails.
2009-12-17 |
| how do i know if there a male or female
2009-07-27 |
| Some of the coolest comments: |
| I have two large blood parrots in a 75 gallon tank with 1 small gold nugget pleco. I have a bare bottom tank with lots of drift wood which they both love. I have 2 eheim 2217 filters with spong pre filters. I do 2 weekly 35 gallon water changes with the tap water filter. My ph- 6.5 gh- 35ppm dh- 35ppm. ammonia-0 nitrites-0 and nitrates-o. Temp-80 degrees. I ALSO USE CHEMI-PURE which I change once a month. I have dedicated this tank only to these two blood parrots. Its like having two dogs, they greet me when I come home from work, they are really cool. I feed them frozen blood worms, parrot pellets, discuss pellets, and some high protein flake. It would be cool if I had a male and female but I have never seen any eggs. The biggest secret is the water changes, filters only play a small part. joe h 2009-09-28 |
| Blood parrots do fine with larger community fish. Due to them not being able to bite to defend themselves, I would not put them in a tank with aggressive fish as they can not defend themselves. All they can do is a lot of pushing. Another mild cichlid should be OK such as the Severum, tho.
"Bubblegum" parrots are those that have been dyed. "Jellybean" parrots are the off- spring of your female blood parrot with a convict. Jellybeans are often mistakenly referred to as dyed which is incorrect information. Male blood parrots are infertile so if you have a pair of BP and they spawn, don't get exicted. The eggs will not live. The female can have fry with a few other male cichlids, tho.
Parrots can get Blood Spot Disease from poor water conditions. I do 50% water changes in all my fish tanks including that of my blood parrots. Some parrots also get black skin pigmentation so do not confuse this with the black spot disease. 2009-06-27 |
| Comments Dr Jungle REALLY Likes to Hear! |
| This web-site was most helpful in answering many questions I have had about my two blood red parrot fish. They, I can't tell which one, have been spawning, three times over the last several months, fiercely guarding the eggs and then eaten them. Our local pet store said I was nuts, that they didn't lay eggs or breed. I will research even further to learn what a non-hybrid is.
Thank you. 2008-02-23 |
| We have five Jelly Bean Parrots and One Sweet Heart Parrot fish. They range from about 3" to 6". We have had them for about two years and love them very much! The fish are part of the family and each have a specific mood that fits right in with us! They enjoy a 55 Gallon tank with plenty of logs and rocks to peek out of when our nephew stops by! This site has been very helpful in maintaining a clean and healthy environment for our little babys. Thanks for the great advice through the years!!!! 2007-11-09 |
| I have six, rapidly growing Parrots in my 55 gal. tank.
Two orange, one pink 'Candy' Parrot, one red 'Heart' Parrot (really is shaped like a Valentine) and two fellows that started out green with black that have "morphed" into peach-colored with touches of black.!
Very interested in seeing what they will eventually look like!
So far, no pairing noted..which is fine with me as I have 7 fancy veil-type juvenile Angels in another tank that I'm hoping will pair up and spawn.
THANKS for this site..There is so much to learn about these fish..and so little information out there! 2006-10-09 |
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