Blood Parrot (No scientific name)

Common Name : Blood Parrot
Latin Name : none
Origin : Non (originated from Taiwan as a results of crossbreeding)
Temperature : 72-84ºF
Ease Of Keeping : Pretty easy
Aggressiveness : Semi-aggressive
Adult Size : Up to about 8"
Minimum Tank Size : 55 Gallon
Feeding : Will eat most things. A good quality cichlid pellet is a good choice for the staple of their diet, but variety will give the best results.
Spawning Method : They should be fed a rich diet of mostly live and frozen foods. The parents will both watch over the nesting site.
Life Span : 10 years

Facts:
There are many varieties of blood parrots including: Red Blood Parrot, Purple Blood Parrot, Love Parrot. The red blood parrot is actually more of an orange color instead of red and are the most common. The purple blood parrot is more of a red color and are rarer. The last parrot; the love parrot was bred so the tail and the dorsal fin would match up and look like a heart whenever they swim.
Blood parrots are a cichlid with lots of personality. They can be seen sleeping in the same flowerpot, playing with a ping pong ball with each other, ganging up to beat up a flowerhorn, etc.

Caring for Blood Parrot:
Blood parrots tend to dig in the substrate provided so a softer substance would be appreciated especially when they are ready to spawn. They tend to hide within the first few weeks of keeping them in your aquarium but will open up after a good feeding. Blood parrots do better in groups because of their playful nature and the fact that they will huddle with each other at night,

Compatibility:
Because of their bent spine and almost useless mouth, Blood parrots can be kept almost almost any type of fish. They do tend to get a little aggressive when spawning so fast swimming cichlids that can take a beating are the best bet!

Sexing:
It is almost impossible to sex a male blood parrot from a female one because they are hybrids unless they are in the spawning mood. In that case, check the gills and throat of the blood parrot and if they are a pinkish color, it is a male.

Breeding:
Blood parrots are substrate spawners and the male will dig the nest while the female stands guard. These roles are reversed when the eggs are laid. Almost all males are infertile so breeding with this cichlid with it's own nature is near impossible. But the females can be cross-bred with other cichlids such as convicts, red devil, midas, flowerhorn, etc.

Making Blood Parrots:
The Blood Parrot is a hybrid so it has no natural environment or a scientific name. The most common ways of producing blood parrots are:


Midas Cichlid (Cichlasoma citrinellum) and the Redhead Cichlid (Cichlasoma synspilum)

Severum (Heros severus) with the Red Devil (Cichlasoma erythraeum)

Red Devil (Cichlasoma erythraeum) +Gold Severum (Cichlasoma severum)

Red Devil (Cichlasoma erythraeum)+Green Severum (Cichlasoma severum)