# south american parrot cichlid



## animal lover (Jan 8, 2009)

i was wondering does anyone own a red parrot cichlid...... i think they're pretty cool... i was wondering some of the care for them and what are they compatible with


----------



## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

i assume you are talking about the Blood Parrot Cichlid, they are a hybrid (A. citrinellum x V. synspilum with a recessive gene causing the short body effect), therefore determining tankmates will have to be off of your individuals personality, they range from peaceful to highly aggressive (i had one kill my flowerhorn of the same size... in a 90g tank) so buy the parrot then go from there based on aggression.

but i have to add they need a decent size tank, a 4' 40g being the minimum, they get around 8" long and about a width of about 4", so a large tank is definitely recommended, Parrots that are kept in 29g tanks are often stunted at 5-6", *this is not there maximum size *

heres a couple (poor quality) pics of my old 8" parrot:


----------



## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

How does a fish that cant close its own mouth kill a flowerhorn?!


----------



## elgu3ro88 (Dec 16, 2008)

uh i have 1 in a tank with 2 jack dempsey, a jewel cichlid, and a red tipped shark and they all just chill and mostly hide all day.


----------



## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

Joels fish said:


> How does a fish that cant close its own mouth kill a flowerhorn?!


they are still more then capable of biting, and a lot of people dont realize some can close there mouth when biting. they usually sport a few teeth as well.

it doesnt take much really, once the parrot has dominated the flowerhorn, all it has to do is keeping biting it in the corner, game over.

all it takes is a dominating parrot, this pic should answer your question:

















at the time i was to dumb to remove the parrot, and i still regret that day i woke up to find the flowerhorn torn apart on the bottom of the tank...

i still do love the look of the nuchal on that parrot, he was a dominant prick though.

the aggression of the parrot really depends on which gene pool he takes after, the midas or the synspilum, there is a big difference in aggression there.


----------

