How to Care for Blood Parrot Cichlids
📝 Summary
Blood parrot cichlids are easy for beginners, but stable, dechlorinated water and measured feeding make the difference. Keep temperature at 25–29°C, feed only what they finish in five minutes, and add astaxanthin for that signature red.
1 Husbandry
Water: parrots are not picky — river, lake, or tap water all work, but city owners mostly use tap. Always dechlorinate first by leaving tap water in the sun 2–3 days; excess chlorine burns the mucus membrane, disrupts electrolytes, and causes oxygen starvation or disease. Use unpolluted natural water filtered of debris. Change volume under one-third each time with a temperature difference under 0.5°C. Parrots like ‘old’ water, so don’t change too often: with good filtration every two weeks, otherwise every 5–7 days, adjusted to your filter.
2 Feeding
Amount: they are greedy, so feed only what is eaten in about 5 minutes to avoid gut trouble or even bursting. Frequency: adults 1–2 times daily (around 9 am and 3 pm), juveniles 2–3 times (8, 11, 3). Food: omnivorous but favoring animal matter — pellets, bloodworms, small fish, shrimp, tubifex, mealworms, earthworms — but balance the diet for full nutrition.
3 Notes
Add live small fish/shrimp and astaxanthin plus carotene D twice weekly to deepen red color. They are tropical, best at 25–29°C; use a heater if low and keep it steady, since cold slows activity, appetite, and growth. They need plenty of oxygen, so run an air pump. Going pale during spawning is normal and color returns after eggs are laid. Keep tank light over 4 hours daily (a red lamp if sunlight is weak) and keep up the astaxanthin for vivid red.
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