Parrot Cichlid Info sheet: Blood Parrots, King Kong Parrots, and Kirin Parrots.

Chrisplosion

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Blood Parrot Cichlid

Description

Common Names: Blood Parrot Cichlid, Red Blood Parrot, Red Parrot Cichlid, Red Parrot Fish

The Blood Parrot Cichlid is a hybrid fish that was first created in Taiwan in the mid to late 1980's. Its parentage has been highly disputed, but the most commonly speculated pairings are Midas Cichlid (Amphilophus Citrinellus) or Red Devil (Amphilophus Labiatus) with the Redhead Cichlid (Vieja Synspilum). This pairing has been back by the out come of a few different pairing and the resulting fry coming out as early Parrot Cichlids. The Taiwanese Department of Zoology also acknowledges that his is the true parentage of the Blood Parrot. One common misconception is that the are the result of Severum (Heros Severus) crossed with the Red Devil Cichlid (Amphilophus Labiatus).

Blood Parrots have a round body, a beak shaped head with an upside down triangle mouth. They are often seen in bright orange in coloration, but seen in other colors such as red, yellow, brown, and tan. Other colors have been produced such as green, blue, and purple by dyeing the fish, which shortens life expectancy.

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Tank Size
30 Gallons Minimum

A good rule of thumb is 30 gallon for one and 10 more gallons for each additional Blood Parrot. As with any fish, the bigger the tank the better.

Size and Growth

6 - 9" (15 - 24cm)

Blood Parrots grow slow when compared to other Central American Cichlids or Flowerhorn. Once they hit 4-5" their growth slows further. They typically can live anywhere from 5 - 15 years depending on the care given to them and other genetic factors.

When Blood Parrots are small they may show a tan/brown body color with black spots near the tail. These are unpeeled juveniles that should peel to orange/yellow as it grows.

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Some may never peel to orange/yellow and stray tan/brown. Lots of Parrots like this are usually sold cheaper than the normal orange ones at places like Petsmart.

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Water Condition

Temperature: 76 - 86F (24 - 30C)
pH: 6.0 - 8.5

Temperatures should be between 76 - 86F (24 - 30C) but the ideal temperature should be between 80 - 84F (24 - 29C). Temperatures lower than 80F (24C) seems to cause them to be more reclusive and cause the color to be more pale. The ideal pH should be between 7.0 - 8.0.

Feeding

Blood Parrots enjoy pelleted foods with occasional Blood Worm and Shrimp treats. A smaller pellet size should be used due to their mouths. Recommended pellet brands are Hikari Cichlid or New Life Spectrum Cichlid/Cichlasoma Formula 1 - 3mm depending on the size of the fish.

Feeding can sometimes be tricky as some have more deformed mouths than others or gill curl or other gill deformities. If the Parrot has trouble feeding from the surface then it is recommended to switch to a sinking pellet. You can also soak the pellets in water to soften them which are much easier to grab.

Thawed shelled peas should be fed once a week to add ruffa.ge to the diet to help prevent Swim Bladder problems.

Social Behavior

Blood Parrots, especially when young, can be very shy and reclusive. Its typical for them to hide when you first bring them home to hide and/or be very skittish and can take a few weeks for them to adjust to their new surroundings. Some ways for you to help them adjust is to make sure they have several hiding spots and adding some dither fish. Removing hiding spots will only make them more shy and could take longer for them to adjust.

Blood Parrots like all Central American Cichlids are territorial and not typically suitable for small community fish. If it fits in their mouth or close then they will try to eat it. Given the proper tank Blood Parrots typically get along fine with most Central and Southern American Cichlids although large overly aggressive cichlids should be avoided as tankmates or house with caution.

Due to Blood Parrots deformed mouths they cannot cause much damage to other fish although recently low quality Blood Parrots are being produced to sell at cheaper prices that do not have the deformed mouth and they can do damage.

Health Issues

Stress Spots: This is usually mistaken for Neascus (Black spot disease). Blood Parrots sometimes get Stress Spots which are black splotches on the body or fins and this is caused by stress. This is typically present you bring them home but can also show up when in cases of shyness, bullying, breeding, illness, or sometimes nothing at all. The splotches will usually disappear after awhile once the problem is taken care of.

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Swim Bladder Issues: They show an abnormal swimming pattern, may even float upside down or appear to be stuck at the surface of the water, being unable to swim down, or they may lie on the bottom, unable to rise. Fish with a swim bladder disorder will continue to try and feed, showing a normal appetite. This is usually caused by a poor diet.

To prevent this from happening it is recommended to feed shelled peas once a week for that days meals. This can also help with mild cases.

You can also ad 1Tbsp per 5 gallons of Epsom salt to the tank.

For severe cases add 1 Tbsp per gallon of Epsom Salt into a container of water. Place the fish in the Epsom Salt bath for 20 - 30 minutes. This can be done twice a day.

Sexual Differences

Blood Parrots are not sexually dimorphic which means you can not look at one and be able to sex it. The only proper why to tell the gender is to vent them.

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Breeding

Blood Parrots will start to pair off and breed around 2 - 3" (5 - 7.5cm). Nearly all male Blood Parrots are sterile which means they can not fertilize the eggs. Female Blood Parrots however can cross with any male Central American Cichlid or any Hybrid Central American Cichlid and the eggs be viable. South American Cichlid (except Cichlasoma Festae) and African Cichlid can not cross with female Blood Parrots.

If the eggs turn white then they are no good and should be removed to prevent dirtying the water. Good eggs should turn tan with a black dot and hatch after 2-4 depending on water temperature.

Low Quality Blood Parrots

Recently there has been lots of low quality Blood Parrots showing up in the market at stores like Petco, Petsmart, Walmart, and some local stores at significantly lower prices than they are typically seen. These Parrots are low quality in the way the ideal Blood Parrot should look like. These low quality parrots are being mistaken as King Kong Parrots because they posses normal closing mouths rather than the upside down triangle mouth and they do not posses the hump like body.

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Dyed and Mutilated Parrots

Blood Parrots and many other fish have been the victims of cruel cosmetic surgery where the fish is dyed or mutilated in order to "enhance" its beauty at the cost of greatly shortening its life span.

Dyeing: Dyeing (also known as artificial coloring or juicing), is achieved by a number of methods, such as tattooing, injecting the fish with a hypodermic syringe containing bright fluorescent color dye and dipping the fish into a dye solution among others. This process is usually done to make the fish a brighter color and more attractive to consumers. The coloring of the fish is not permanent, and usually fades away in six to nine months.

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These fish are usually referred to as Green/Blue/Purple Parrots, Jellybean Parrots and Bubblegum Parrots.

Amputation: Amputation is perhaps the worst and most inhumane method of cosmetic fish surgery. Its victims are usually Blood Parrots and Flowerhorn. The fish's tail is cut off with scissors while at a young age so as it grows the body produces a sort of "heart" shape as it grows.

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These fish are usually referred to as Heart Parrots and Love Parrots.

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Chrisplosion

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King Kong Parrots and Red Mammon Parrots

Description

Common Names: King Kong Parrot, Red Mammon, King Mammon

King Kong Parrots are a different breed of Parrot Cichlid than Blood Parrot. They are many strains of Parrot called King Kong but not all them are. True King Kong Parrots have normal working mouths usually, do not have the notched head that Blood Parrots do, typically have ability to show deeper colors than Blood Parrots, and usually grow larger than Blood Parrots.

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Red Mammon are essentially the highest grade of King Kong Parrot available. They have longer bodies, deeper Orange/Red color, sometime sunken eyes, and have the ability to grow large nuchal humps or "kok". True Red Mammon can be very expensive, sometime exceeding $1000 a fish. Regular King Kong Parrots are sometimes sold a Red Mammon because they can fetch a high price.

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Tank Size

55 Gallon Minimum for King Kong Parrots
75 Gallon Minimum for Red Mammon

Size and Growth

6 - 12" (15 - 30cm)

Since there are so many strains of King Kong Parrots size will vary greatly.

Water Condition

Temperature: 76 - 86F (24 - 30C)
pH: 6.0 - 8.5

Feeding

Feeding is the same as you would with your typical Cichlid. Recommended pellet brands are Hikari Cichlid or New Life Spectrum Cichlid/Cichlasoma Formula 1 - 3mm depending on the size of the fish.

Social Behavior

King Kong Parrots in general can be very nasty similar to that of a Midas or Red Devil. Shouldn't be housed with small community fish and caution when kept in Cichlid communities.

Sexual Differences

King Kong Parrots are essentially sexually monomorphic meaning they can not be visually sexed. Males can grow nuchal humps but its also very possible for females too as well so its not a reliable method of sexing. Its recommend you vent them.

View attachment 808886

Breeding

Nearly all male King Kong Parrots are sterile which means they can not fertilize the eggs. Female however can cross with any male Central American Cichlid or any Hybrid Central American Cichlid and the eggs be viable just like with female Blood Parrots.

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Chrisplosion

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Kirin Parrots

Description

Common Names: Flowerhorn Parrots, Flowerhorn Blood Parrots, Kirin Parrot, Kirin Fish, Kilin Parrots, Killin Parrots.

Kirin Parrots, commonly called Flowerhorn Parrots, are a hybrid fish created from Flowerhorn and Blood Parrots. They are the result of a few generation of line breeding and are rarely seen from the first generation of fry from crossing Flowerhorn and Blood Parrots. Kirin Parrots have the body of a Blood Parrot with the colors and marking of a Flowerhorn. They are often mistaken as short body Flowerhorn but are not the same. There are fairly new to the hobby and aren't yet sold as mainstream as Blood Parrots are.

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Tank Size

30 Gallons Minimum

Size and Growth

5-7" (12 - 17cm)

Water Condition

Temperature: 80 - 86F (26 - 30C)
pH: 6.0 - 8.5

Kirin Parrots should be kept a little warmer than you would keep other cichlids at. They thrive at temps around or over 80F(26C) and show colors better than lower temps.

Feeding

Feeding is the same as you would with your typical Cichlid. Although most having the typical Parrot shaped mouth, some might have trouble eating larger pellets so its recommended you soak them in water to soften them. Recommended pellet brands are Hikari Cichlid or New Life Spectrum Cichlid/Cichlasoma Formula 1 - 3mm depending on the size of the fish.

Social Behavior

Kirin Parrots typically have the same aggression levels as Blood Parrots as opposed to Flowerhorn which can be very aggressive. In smaller groups its possible to see aggression in smaller tanks. Given more room they seem to do better when in groups than in smaller tanks.

Sexual Differences

While its not 100% accurate, typically females will have a black spot on the dorsal fin. Most accurate way is to vent them.

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Breeding

Kirin Parrots will start breeding around 2-3" size. Most females are fertile and can breed with any Central American Cichlid and get viable spawns. It is unknown the fertility of male Kirin Parrots. They are considerably more fertile than male Blood Parrots but any exact numbers are unknown.

Identifying Kirin from Flowerhorn

Some wholesale have been selling Bonsai Flowerhorn as Kirin Parrots. The easiest way to tell if you have Kirin or Flowerhorn is the head and face area. Kirin Parrots should have the notched head like Blood Parrots and typically have the Parrot mouth.

Flowerhorn

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Kirin Parrot

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Miguel

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Great explanation Chris!
 

Zidartha

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Okay. So what would the offspring of a Super Red Dragon Male Flowerhorn and Female [FONT=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]Blood Red Parrot look like when grown? If anyone has a pic it would be greatly appreciated. I've seen these advertised and am curious to the ultimate size, shape and temperament.[/FONT]
 

jakeca77

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Nearly all male King Kong Parrots are sterile which means they can not fertilize the eggs. Female however can cross with any male Central American Cichlid or any Hybrid Central American Cichlid and the eggs be viable just like with female Blood Parrots.
Is this firsthand knowledge or is this just compiled from what people on the web have said?
 

Chrisplosion

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Is this firsthand knowledge or is this just compiled from what people on the web have said?
A combination of both. I have spent countless hours searching for cases of fertile males and never found any proven cases. I know theres the small possibility of fertile males but I'm not one to give false hope. And as far as cross with other Central Americans that has yet to be proven false, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a small pocket of CAs that can't just like there is a small pocket of SA that can (Festae).
 

jakeca77

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Mar 25, 2008
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OK ya, I was mostly just wondering about the KKP/Mammon males and fertility. I was curious because I thought I read that you were planning to get a male from Julie a while back but I don't know if that ever panned out. KKP are pretty different from regular parrots so I was just wondering because I know that there are many documented cases of people attempting with male parrots with no luck but I couldn't find anything about people trying with male KKP/Mammon, just people saying that it won't happen.

A combination of both. I have spent countless hours searching for cases of fertile males and never found any proven cases. I know theres the small possibility of fertile males but I'm not one to give false hope. And as far as cross with other Central Americans that has yet to be proven false, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a small pocket of CAs that can't just like there is a small pocket of SA that can (Festae).
 
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