Haha, that'd be pretty sweet. But I doubt that will happen. I paid $9 for this BP, and I was just hoping it was a KKP and not a low quality one.
King Kong or Regular Parrot?
- Thread starter sheheartsfish
- Start date
It is a low quality Blood Parrot but that doesn't make it a low quality fish. I have a couple of these and they have turned out nicely. They are just low end ones that don't fit that typical Blood Parrot style. Walmart and Petsmart are known to sell these though some local stores carry them as well because they are generally cheaper.
Here are couple of mine
female
male
Here are couple of mine
female
male
Yours look nice 
I got mine from Petsmart. I guess that's why they were on sale, since they are low quality.
But I still am liking mine regardless of quality.
I went to my LFS last week, and for the first time they had one blood parrot. They want $20 for it though.
That seems pretty overpriced, as it is only 2-3". I feel bad for it, as it has no hiding spots in the tank and is in with
a bunch of 1" African Cichlids. I am going to see if they'd take $10 for him tonight if they still have him.
I got mine from Petsmart. I guess that's why they were on sale, since they are low quality.
But I still am liking mine regardless of quality.
I went to my LFS last week, and for the first time they had one blood parrot. They want $20 for it though.
That seems pretty overpriced, as it is only 2-3". I feel bad for it, as it has no hiding spots in the tank and is in with
a bunch of 1" African Cichlids. I am going to see if they'd take $10 for him tonight if they still have him.
There is a wide continum between parrots and the origional shape of midas/sysnpilum. The generally accepted qualification for kkp at least to the people i"ve talked to is that it can close its mouth and has no notch. But then again some say it has to be able to develop a nuchal hump.
heres one of mine.
He has only a small dent in his forehead and has a fully formed mouth. But is he a kkp?
The other day I picked up a parrot with no notch at all, just a perfectly curved forehead like lots of kkp ive seen. but that one dosen't close his mouth all the way (however it can move)
on the other hand, Ive seen lots of "darmo's" (rarefish's kkp) that cannot completeley close their mouths, which are also considered "king kong parrots".
Heres something to read on the topic from happybreed,
probably one of the only "authoritie"s extant at this time on the type of cichlid
http://www.happybreed.com/en/species.htm
Blood Parrot is the earliest defined type of the Cichlid bred, King Kong Parrot is the typical type of Cichlid hybrid at earlier stage, therefore, King Kong parrot has been comparing with latest hybrid Cichlid; but the Blood Parrot¡¦s shape is smaller, with bigger head, more protruding eyes and V-shape mouth; King Kong Parrot has longer size with reddish orange
¡@ colour, dorsal fin are shorterthan anal fin, the shape is similar to the Red Devil, when it grows to the size of 18 cm, the shape of the mouth changes to triangle with more protruding jaw, only 20% of them grow to the size of half kilogram.
of course theirs and my definitions differ slightly. and this is of course because of the differet relationship to the particular breed of fish that our respective cultures each have. I consider the happy breed opinion to be more difinitive in a traditional sense; this explains at least for me why many thai king kongs I've seen have a shape similar to damos with the mouth described by happybreed. Of course many king kongs in america look different, I would imagine it is because most blood parrots in america are bred from later generation blood parrot stock consisting of mostly females paired with males that are F1 outcrossed to a parent species or in some cases just the origional species, midevil or red sysnpilum. This is because of the relative rarity of fertile blood parrot males and the nature of their gene pool.
This is why I believe we see so many blood/king kong parrots here that look like the firsh you and I have. fish that look more like midevils, and who are often just mixes of the species. Given this knowledge, we could assume this the reason why a dfferent set of factors has arisen for the differentiation of "king kong" or "blood" parrot cichlids between oriental and occidental nations. Overall it is just a matter of "branding" and having a brand name, all king kong parrot really is.
Whether you think that fish is a king kong parrot, a blood parrot, or some other kind of short body fader depends on whether you subscribe to the eastern or western colloquial definition of the difference.
Hope that helps : P
I'm currently working on collecting a number of these fish in order to strain them out and develop a breed of "mini midas" that looks like the fish pictured above. IF you or anyone else reading this would like to sell theirs, please PM me. I need females. Female F1 parrot x midas are great too.
heres one of mine.
He has only a small dent in his forehead and has a fully formed mouth. But is he a kkp?
The other day I picked up a parrot with no notch at all, just a perfectly curved forehead like lots of kkp ive seen. but that one dosen't close his mouth all the way (however it can move)
on the other hand, Ive seen lots of "darmo's" (rarefish's kkp) that cannot completeley close their mouths, which are also considered "king kong parrots".
Heres something to read on the topic from happybreed,
probably one of the only "authoritie"s extant at this time on the type of cichlid
http://www.happybreed.com/en/species.htm
Blood Parrot is the earliest defined type of the Cichlid bred, King Kong Parrot is the typical type of Cichlid hybrid at earlier stage, therefore, King Kong parrot has been comparing with latest hybrid Cichlid; but the Blood Parrot¡¦s shape is smaller, with bigger head, more protruding eyes and V-shape mouth; King Kong Parrot has longer size with reddish orange
¡@ colour, dorsal fin are shorterthan anal fin, the shape is similar to the Red Devil, when it grows to the size of 18 cm, the shape of the mouth changes to triangle with more protruding jaw, only 20% of them grow to the size of half kilogram.
of course theirs and my definitions differ slightly. and this is of course because of the differet relationship to the particular breed of fish that our respective cultures each have. I consider the happy breed opinion to be more difinitive in a traditional sense; this explains at least for me why many thai king kongs I've seen have a shape similar to damos with the mouth described by happybreed. Of course many king kongs in america look different, I would imagine it is because most blood parrots in america are bred from later generation blood parrot stock consisting of mostly females paired with males that are F1 outcrossed to a parent species or in some cases just the origional species, midevil or red sysnpilum. This is because of the relative rarity of fertile blood parrot males and the nature of their gene pool.
This is why I believe we see so many blood/king kong parrots here that look like the firsh you and I have. fish that look more like midevils, and who are often just mixes of the species. Given this knowledge, we could assume this the reason why a dfferent set of factors has arisen for the differentiation of "king kong" or "blood" parrot cichlids between oriental and occidental nations. Overall it is just a matter of "branding" and having a brand name, all king kong parrot really is.
Whether you think that fish is a king kong parrot, a blood parrot, or some other kind of short body fader depends on whether you subscribe to the eastern or western colloquial definition of the difference.
Hope that helps : P
I'm currently working on collecting a number of these fish in order to strain them out and develop a breed of "mini midas" that looks like the fish pictured above. IF you or anyone else reading this would like to sell theirs, please PM me. I need females. Female F1 parrot x midas are great too.
Oh yeah regarding the sale of them at petsmart... petsmart red blood parrots (at least where i'm from, probably yours 2 since they use the same farms) are made with bp female and red sysnpiulm male... they are culled first for oddities and the rest are injected with hormone to boost their red. (they do the same with oscars and red devils, which is why most of them are male).
The removed fish that were not hormone injected are then sold for 9.99 and the red ones 25$ after a few months.
Thats why you can find fish like these in the 9.99 bin sometimes and those are usually unfaded. most of the culled fish will fade to yellow, a hormone change has to happen I believe for them to take on the colour form of the red synspilum.
I have noticed this fish can change the expression of its colour phase to conform with the previling colour of the group, this could possibly be a survival mechanism in the midas, which i have noticed do the same.( for example, I once made a white jellybean parrot (f1) turn orange by fading it with a group of parrot x midas)
Sorry I don't mean to sound like i think i know everything about this, ive just been researchign it for years and this is what Ive come up with... of course nothing i'm saying is based in hardcore science, just my own experimentation and detective work along with the experiences of others
The removed fish that were not hormone injected are then sold for 9.99 and the red ones 25$ after a few months.
Thats why you can find fish like these in the 9.99 bin sometimes and those are usually unfaded. most of the culled fish will fade to yellow, a hormone change has to happen I believe for them to take on the colour form of the red synspilum.
I have noticed this fish can change the expression of its colour phase to conform with the previling colour of the group, this could possibly be a survival mechanism in the midas, which i have noticed do the same.( for example, I once made a white jellybean parrot (f1) turn orange by fading it with a group of parrot x midas)
Sorry I don't mean to sound like i think i know everything about this, ive just been researchign it for years and this is what Ive come up with... of course nothing i'm saying is based in hardcore science, just my own experimentation and detective work along with the experiences of others
