# The Creation Of Blood Parrot Cichlids (Pure Cruelty)



## smitty (May 7, 2004)

I was doing some reading and stumbled across this and it reignited the thought of this fish. I was wondering if this fish could talk what would it say to mankind.

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Cracked.com
The 6 Most Terrifying Pets Humanity Has Bred Into Existence
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Article from
Cracked
Apparently, there are absolutely no qualifications needed to start screwin' with the very foundation of an entire species, and the chief motivator for many selective breeders is 'I thought it would be funny'

#5. Blood Parrot Cichlids
The Aquarium Wiki
Apparently "the rainbow" tastes like high tide.

Developed in Taiwan specifically for the demanding 1980s pet market, which, much like the 1980s music market, valued nothing so much as ostentatious colors and genetic abominations, blood parrot cichlids are an unfortunate breed. They possess a slew of abnormalities, like a deformed mouth that interferes with chewing food, a malformed spine and swim bladder disorders. But so what if your fish can't eat, swim or exist properly -- it looks like somebody spilled a pack of Skittles in the aquarium! And as if urinating right down the helix of DNA itself wasn't enough, the fish are also routinely tattooed with special messages:

Modern Pet Centre
Where's the one that hearts NY?

And yes, those lips are tattooed to look like fish lipstick. Which really just goes to show: You can teach somebody how to meddle with the very structure of life itself, but there's just no teaching class.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

This is a bit of a hot topic, because most folks who buy blood parrot cichlids have no idea what they are getting, but can get very defensive when confronted with the truth. If you own blood parrot cichlids, please don't consider this a personal attack, but there is no arguing that the creation of these fish constitutes cruelty to animals, plain and simple. They cannot swim properly due to a deformed spine, and they cannot eat properly due to a deformed mouth, so there is no hope for them to ever lead the life of a normal fish.

Breeding blood parrots is like breeding three legged dogs. Don't get me wrong, I personally know folks who have adopted a three legged dog from the shelter, and I admire them for giving the dog the best life it can still have. But that's different from breeding a dog that will be born three legged for the amusement of seeing it hop around in a funny way! If you are considering buying a blood parrot cichlid, please think hard if you want to support this practice, and ask yourself if you can still be amused by the unique swimming pattern of these fish now that you know what it means for them!

FWIW, the German Cichlid Association (DCG), the world's largest aquarium association, aims to classify blood parrot cichlids as 'torture breeds', which would make them illegal to keep under German animal protection law. (http://www.aquaterralev.de/fachbeitraeg ... tenstaeck/)


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

You gave a great analogy and I agree it should be banned


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

Personally I think it is human cruetly and selfishness. But I wonder how is it okay for blood parrots to be that way but if you went to the fish store and seen a guppy, Jack Dempsey or any other fish shaped like that we would not dare allow the store to sell it to us because we would consider it deformed. However because humans intentionally breed blood parrots to look like that it is okay.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

As I said, I believe folks who buy blood parrots by and large have no idea that the fish are deformed. Usually people are somewhat shocked when they find out, but they like their fish, and once they own it they want to hold on to it. Frankly, looking after it as best as you can is the best you can do if you have one. It's the folks who breed these fish who have something wrong with their head!


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

Not blood parrots allone. All Line bred fish should be banned.

Like the firefish. Or those sad deformed goldfish

Thousands of fish het discarted for breeders to get the shape and colour they want! Pure animal cruelty.

It bad enough fish get taken out of nature for them to be put in captivity.


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

I remember when the Electric Blue Jack Dempsey first appeared and how so many had deformed eyes. That was another fish that I never bought nor will never own.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

wortel87 said:


> All Line bred fish should be banned.


That's where you lost me. Line breeding can be used to create "man made fish", like red peacocks, as well as maintain fish in captivity as close as possible to what's found in nature. In fact, the only way to maintain healthy stock of a fish in captivity that is already extinct in nature is line breeding! It is the practice of creating deformed fish that needs to be shunned, not the practice of line breeding!


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

+1. check out the "cares program", its fish that are extinct or close to extinct in the wild. I too agree with the op about man made "frankenfish", but do not think that all line breeding is wrong. Especially since some of the fish that are only around in captivity is are a result of us humans destroying or taking away their natural habitat (but thats a discussion for another day).


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

The Cares Program is a great program, and well worth supporting. You should look into it if you have a fish room! And sumthinfishy is right, it could never work without the use of line breeding techniques.

As far as man-made fish are concerned, I don't even have a problem with people selecting for desirable traits like great color. If you are breeding red peacocks, who isn't going to choose the reddest male and female to breed with if you have the choice between multiple fish? And if the result is a peacock that's redder than what you'd find in nature, no harm done. Only if you create deformed fish, fish that cannot live the normal life of a healthy fish because of the way they have been bred, that's when we have a problem. These are fish that can not swim properly, breath properly, eat properly, see properly, and so on. Blood Parrot Cichlids clearly cross this line!


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## Aaron S (Apr 4, 2015)

I agree with the majority of opinions on here (but also hate those "glowfish" at big box LFS).


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

Aaron S: You are right the glowfish is another sad story.


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