Blood parrot tank mates

Good matches

35 of 98

The safest picks for blood parrots are bettas, angelfish and kuhli loaches. Each match shares blood parrots' temperature and pH and leaves them alone.

Odd mouth limits what it can bite, but it still eats tiny fish.

Temperature

76–80°F

pH

6.5–7.5

Temperament

Semi-aggressive

Minimum tank

55 gal

With care

44

Avoid

19

Good tank mates

• Betta76–80°F
• Angelfish76–80°F
• Kuhli loach76–80°F
• Rainbow shark76–80°F
• Oscar76–80°F
• Bristlenose pleco76–80°F
• Bichir76–80°F
• Corydoras76–79°F
• Clown loach77–80°F
• Elephant nose fish76–80°F
• Firemouth cichlid76–80°F
• Red tail shark76–79°F
• Pictus catfish76–79°F
• Blue gourami76–80°F
• Kribensis76–80°F
• Pearl gourami77–80°F
• Siamese algae eater76–79°F
• Bolivian ram76–79°F
• Clown pleco76–80°F
• Dwarf gourami76–80°F
• Upside down catfish76–79°F
• Bala shark76–80°F
• Zebra loach76–79°F
• Apistogramma76–80°F
• Kissing gourami76–80°F
• Congo tetra76–80°F
• Electric blue acara76–80°F
• Glass catfish76–80°F
• Severum76–80°F
• Dwarf neon rainbowfish76–80°F
• Silver dollar76–80°F
• Odessa barb76–79°F
• Platy76–80°F
• Boesemani rainbowfish76–80°F
• Swordtail76–79°F

Possible, with care

• Guppy A grown blood parrot may treat small guppies as food, especially at night.
• Yoyo loach Yoyo loaches nip at slow fish. Blood parrots cannot get away.
• Honey gourami A grown blood parrot may treat small honey gouramis as food, especially at night.
• Chinese algae eater Chinese algae eaters sometimes latch on to slow, flat fish like blood parrots and rasp their slime coat.
• Common pleco Plecos sometimes latch on to slow, flat fish like blood parrots and rasp their slime coat.
• Sparkling gourami At 8 inches a blood parrot can swallow a small sparkling gourami. Fast, alert fish usually stay out of reach.
• Mystery snail Large blood parrots crack or pick at small snails. A big mystery snail has better odds than a ramshorn.
• Otocinclus A grown blood parrot may treat small otocinclus as food, especially at night.
• Paradise fish Paradise fish nip at slow fish. Blood parrots cannot get away.
• African dwarf frog African dwarf frogs eat slowly and nearly blind. Fast blood parrots will take the food first, so target-feed them.
• Hatchetfish At 8 inches a blood parrot can swallow a small hatchetfish. Fast, alert fish usually stay out of reach.
• Tiger barb Tiger barbs nip at slow fish. Blood parrots cannot get away.
• Crayfish They only share 76–77°F. Keep the heater set there and steady.
• Zebra danio They only share 76–77°F. Keep the heater set there and steady.
• Dojo loach They only share 76–77°F. Keep the heater set there and steady.
• Cherry barb A grown blood parrot may treat small cherry barbs as food, especially at night.
• Tinfoil barb Tinfoil barbs nip at slow fish. Blood parrots cannot get away.
• Assassin snail Large blood parrots crack or pick at small snails. A big mystery snail has better odds than a ramshorn.
• Panda cory They only share 76–77°F. Keep the heater set there and steady.
• Ramshorn snail Large blood parrots crack or pick at small snails. A big mystery snail has better odds than a ramshorn.
• Black skirt tetra Black skirt tetras nip at slow fish. Blood parrots cannot get away.
• Zebra pleco They only share 79–80°F. Keep the heater set there and steady.
• Neon tetra At 8 inches a blood parrot can swallow a small neon tetra. Fast, alert fish usually stay out of reach.
• Molly Water chemistry is a squeeze. The only pH that suits both is around 7.5.
• Harlequin rasbora A grown blood parrot may treat small harlequin rasboras as food, especially at night.
• Endler's livebearer At 8 inches a blood parrot can swallow a small endler's livebearer. Fast, alert fish usually stay out of reach.
• Nerite snail Large blood parrots crack or pick at small snails. A big mystery snail has better odds than a ramshorn.
• GloFish tetra Glofish nip at slow fish. Blood parrots cannot get away.
• Celestial pearl danio At 8 inches a blood parrot can swallow a small celestial pearl danio. Fast, alert fish usually stay out of reach.
• Lemon tetra A grown blood parrot may treat small lemon tetras as food, especially at night.
• Pencilfish A grown blood parrot may treat small pencilfish as food, especially at night.
• Electric yellow cichlid Different water: blood parrots want pH 6.5–7.5, yellow labs want pH 7.8–8.6.
• Glowlight tetra At 8 inches a blood parrot can swallow a small glowlight tetra. Fast, alert fish usually stay out of reach.
• Black neon tetra At 8 inches a blood parrot can swallow a small black neon tetra. Fast, alert fish usually stay out of reach.
• Serpae tetra A grown blood parrot may treat small serpae tetras as food, especially at night.
• German blue ram They only share 80°F. Keep the heater set there and steady.
• Killifish They only share 76–77°F. Keep the heater set there and steady.
• Rummy nose tetra A grown blood parrot may treat small rummy nose tetras as food, especially at night.
• Cardinal tetra A grown blood parrot may treat small cardinal tetras as food, especially at night.
• Ember tetra At 8 inches a blood parrot can swallow a small ember tetra. Fast, alert fish usually stay out of reach.
• Chili rasbora At 8 inches a blood parrot can swallow a small chili rasbora. Fast, alert fish usually stay out of reach.
• Pygmy cory At 8 inches a blood parrot can swallow a small pygmy cory. Fast, alert fish usually stay out of reach.
• Peacock cichlid Different water: blood parrots want pH 6.5–7.5, peacock cichlids want pH 7.8–8.6.
• Rosy barb They only share 76–77°F. Keep the heater set there and steady.

Avoid

• Axolotl Axolotls are coldwater animals (60–66°F); blood parrots need 76–80°F. No temperature suits both.
• Pea puffer Pea puffers are aggressive, and slow, long-finned blood parrots cannot escape them.
• Goldfish Goldfish are coldwater animals (60–74°F); blood parrots need 76–80°F. No temperature suits both.
• Cherry shrimp A blood parrot is big enough to swallow adult cherry shrimp.
• Convict cichlid Convict cichlids are aggressive, and slow, long-finned blood parrots cannot escape them.
• Amano shrimp A blood parrot is big enough to swallow adult amano shrimp.
• Black ghost knife An adult black ghost knife is twice the size of a blood parrot and will hunt or batter a slow, long-finned fish like this.
• Bamboo shrimp A blood parrot is big enough to swallow adult bamboo shrimp.
• Jack Dempsey Jack dempseys are aggressive, and slow, long-finned blood parrots cannot escape them.
• Ghost shrimp A blood parrot is big enough to swallow adult ghost shrimp.
• Koi Koi are coldwater animals (59–77°F); blood parrots need 76–80°F. They overlap only at 76–77°F, the edge of both ranges.
• African cichlid African cichlids are aggressive, and slow, long-finned blood parrots cannot escape them.
• Hillstream loach No shared temperature. Hillstream loaches need 68–75°F, blood parrots need 76–80°F.
• Silver arowana An adult silver arowana eats fish that fit in its mouth, and at 8 inches blood parrots do.
• Fancy goldfish Fancy goldfish are coldwater animals (65–74°F); blood parrots need 76–80°F. No temperature suits both.
• Discus No shared temperature. Discus need 82–88°F, blood parrots need 76–80°F.
• White cloud minnow White cloud minnows are coldwater animals (60–72°F); blood parrots need 76–80°F. No temperature suits both.
• Gold barb No shared temperature. Blood parrots need 76–80°F, gold barbs need 64–75°F.
• Flowerhorn Flowerhorns are aggressive, and slow, long-finned blood parrots cannot escape them.

Planning a mixed tank? The tank mate checker tests every pair at once. Or read the blood parrot care sheet.