To get a Blood Parrot or not?

[Gibbiceps]

Hi, I recently lost my beloved Severum to a mouth tumour and am thinking of getting a Blood Parrot to fill the emptiness in my tank as I've always wanted one. What experiences do people have with BP's?

The tank is 6 foot, established, has an EBJD, two EB Acaras and two Leopard Bush Fish (plus two Syno's) with plenty of caverns and hiding spaces at the back but very spacious open water at the front. All the cichlids are very well behaved and show pretty minimal aggression; at most the EBJD will chase the Acaras if they go near into his cavern. All fish are roughly around 5-6 inches.

Thanks.

 

[Man-made Monsters]

Blood Parrots are semi aggressive but usually, because of the shape of their mouths, they aren't able to bite other fish. But they can still be bullies. They are usually sold by most shops at around a 3-4 inch size but if given a big tank space, like the 6ft tank you have, they will often grow to 5-7 inches on average. A parrot should do fine with your other tank inhabitants.

 

[Gibbiceps]

Thank you kindly for the detailed response. My severum was around 6-7 inches so I'll confidently give a BP a try.

 

[~T~]

BPs are great man. I've kept many and can honestly say they are the most personable cichlids I've owned, especially for a filthy hybrid. Take your time to choose the most perfect one for you. I prefer the less deformed ones with a normal mouth (though not KKP) which are supposedly the low quality ones. If you get one very young with it's brown juvie colours, you can be sure it's not been dyed. Plus you get to see it transform from an ugly duckling to a much less ugly duck haha. I've actually kept them with all the fish you mention (except the synos). They seem to get one famously with JDs for some reason. Here is an old vid of some of my BPs and BP x Syns that I bred. The one with the wound eventually turned bright orange. The big old BP in the vid lived over 15 years, she was and always will be my fave. She saw many buddies come and go and had 4 partners. A BP which I got at the same time, then a cheeky male pink con that sneaked in and fertilized their eggs and produced some funky babies, when the male BP died suddenly she paired with a male red spotted sev but their eggs obviously never hatched, in her later years she switched sides and paired with the little female BP in the vid but even more obviously their eggs never hatched lol. Miss you Big Boss!

 

[pescado209]

BPs are great man. I've kept many and can honestly say they are the most personable cichlids I've owned, especially for a filthy hybrid. Take your time to choose the most perfect one for you. I prefer the less deformed ones with a normal mouth (though not KKP) which are supposedly the low quality ones. If you get one very young with it's brown juvie colours, you can be sure it's not been dyed. Plus you get to see it transform from an ugly duckling to a much less ugly duck haha. I've actually kept them with all the fish you mention (except the synos). They seem to get one famously with JDs for some reason. Here is an old vid of some of my BPs and BP x Syns that I bred. The one with the wound eventually turned bright orange. The big old BP in the vid lived over 15 years, she was and always will be my fave. She saw many buddies come and go and had 4 partners. A BP which I got at the same time, then a cheeky male pink con that sneaked in and fertilized their eggs and produced some funky babies, when the male BP died suddenly she paired with a male red spotted sev but their eggs obviously never hatched, in her later years she switched sides and paired with the little female BP in the vid but even more obviously their eggs never hatched lol. Miss you Big Boss!

thread resurrection. I saw in the vid that you had a poly in with the BP. I was thinking of adding a BP or 2 in with my 2 Oscars and 4 polys ( all about 3-4") did you ever have any problem between the BP and polys fighting for food ?

 

[~T~]

thread resurrection. I saw in the vid that you had a poly in with the BP. I was thinking of adding a BP or 2 in with my 2 Oscars and 4 polys ( all about 3-4") did you ever have any problem between the BP and polys fighting for food ?

Nah the poly was well behaved and too stupid to be of any danger to the other fish. I even had some goldfish in there for a short while and it could probably have been able to grab one but never did. I do hear that temperament varies massively with them though. Mine was a a senegal and I hear they are the most passive/least predatory.