🐟 Blood Red Parrot Fish (Hybrid Cichlid)
Smiling Show Cichlid • Big Personality • Glowing Orange-Red Colour
 
📋 The Blood Red Parrot Fish is one of the most recognisable fish in the hobby, with a rounded, glowing orange-red body and a cheeky, permanently "smiling" beak-shaped mouth. Young fish start darker and mottled, then colour up to a solid orange-red as they grow.
Parrot Fish are a man-made hybrid, first developed in Taiwan in the mid-1980s from Midas Cichlid and Redhead Cichlid stock. They have no wild form, and that heritage gives them their rounded body and unique mouth. They're famously interactive: they recognise their keeper, come to the glass to say hello, and beg for food, which makes them real characters.
Parrots are peaceful for a cichlid and are happiest in a long, spacious tank with warm water, around 24-28°C. They have a small mouth that doesn't fully close, so small sinking pellets and softer foods suit them best, and a long tank gives them room to cruise.
 
💡 Highlights
🔴 Glowing Orange-Red Colour: A solid, warm red-orange as it matures
😊 The Famous "Smile": A beak-shaped mouth full of character
🧠 Interactive Personality: Recognises its keeper and responds at feeding time
🕊️ Peaceful for a Cichlid: Best with calm, similar-sized tankmates
⏳ Long-Lived: Often 10-15 years with good care