Description
3-4 Inch King Kong Parrot Cichids for sale at Rainforest Farms International Tropical Fish.
The King Kong Parrot Cichid is the typical type of Cichlid hybrid at the earlier stage, therefore, the King Kong Parrot Cichlid has been compared to the Blood Red Parrot Cichlid. Except for the fact that the King Kong Parrot Cichlid is larger than the Blood Red Parrot Cichlid, they are very much alike.
The body of this fish is round in shape with a beak-shaped nose and upside down triangle shaped lips. The color of the parrot cichlid ranges from yellow to red when mature. As a juvenile, they are dark in color, and they gain the yellow to red coloration as they mature.
The King Kong Parrot Cichlid requires an aquarium of at least 75 gallons, with a soft substrate, rocks and plenty of hiding places such as caves among the rocks. They are shy at first, but after as little as a week and as much as a few months they will begin to come out more during the day and show a more cichlid like behavior. They can be kept alone or in a group and seem to do fine either way. They live for about ten years.
Parrot Cichlids are a slower swimming fish because of their bent spine. They also have small mouths. The King Kong Parrot Cichlid does get large and can be aggressive. Like most cichlids they are most aggressive when spawning. They will be best kept with tsomewhat larger fish that can stand a little abuse. They can also be kept with some of the less aggressive cichlids. The best cichlid tank mates are either New World or African river cichlids such as firemouths and kribs.
The King Kong Parrot Fish is normally infertile and will not successfully breed in the aquarium. They may lay eggs in a cave, but because the males are often times infertile, the eggs will usually not develop.
First of all, a little bit of technical differentiation of terms. For the sake of this article at least, there is a difference between the breeding and spawning of fish. Breeding is the mating of two fish, involving an exchange of gametes and resulting in viable young. Spawning on the other hand is exactly like breeding, except that spawning does not depend on viable young being produced. So, breeding includes spawning, but spawning does not necessarily mean that they are breeding.
That being established, true King Kong Parrot Cichlids, by this definition, do not breed in normal circumstances. They do, however, spawn. Parrot Cichlids are substrate spawners. The male will dig the nest with the female guarding the perimeter. These roles then reverse when eggs are laid, with the female guarding the nest and the male patrolling the territory.
There are a few different varieties of the parrot cichlid that are available. The most common is the Red Blood Parrot, which, despite its name, is really much more of an orange. There is also the Purple Blood Parrot, who also has a deceptive name, as it is actually much closer to red than purple. Something to be careful of though is that sometimes instead of breeding for the different varieties, the fish farms will simply dye the fish and this is NOT a good practice. Buyer Beware.
The Parrot Cichlid is omnivorous and will eat most prepared and frozen foods, including frozen bloodworms, freeze dried tubifex worms, ocean plankton, as well as flake food and Cichlid pellets.
