True Parrot Cichlid Tank Mates

True Parrot Cichlid is semi-aggressive, so its tank mates need choosing with care. Here are the 8 freshwater species that pair well with a true parrot cichlid — plus the 223 to avoid — with a live checker you can tune to your own tank.

By The Aquarium DB Team • Updated June 7, 2026 • Full True Parrot Cichlid care guide →
Best matches

The best tank mates for a true parrot cichlid

  • Marbled Hoplo ✅ Compatible
    Easy care · Peaceful · 14 cm · 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
    Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here, and their water overlaps around 23–28 °C — no size, zone or temperament conflicts.
  • Spotted Talking Catfish ✅ Compatible
    Easy care · Peaceful · 15 cm · 22–26 °C (72–79 °F)
    Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here, and their water overlaps around 23–26 °C — no size, zone or temperament conflicts.
  • Weather Loach ✅ Compatible
    Easy care · Peaceful · 25 cm · 5–24 °C (41–75 °F)
    Compatible on the things that matter: shared water near 23–24 °C, workable temperaments, and no predator-and-prey size gap.
  • Snowball Pleco ✅ Compatible
    Medium care · Peaceful · 16 cm · 24–30 °C (75–86 °F)
    Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here; temperature, pH and hardness ranges all overlap and neither outsizes the other enough to be a threat.
  • Yellow-spotted Pleco ✅ Compatible
    Medium care · Peaceful · 35 cm · 24–27 °C (75–81 °F)
    Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here, and their water overlaps around 24–27 °C — no size, zone or temperament conflicts.
  • Common Pleco ✅ Compatible
    Medium care · Peaceful · 45 cm · 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
    Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here; temperature, pH and hardness ranges all overlap and neither outsizes the other enough to be a threat.
  • Sailfin Pleco ✅ Compatible
    Medium care · Peaceful · 50 cm · 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
    Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here, and their water overlaps around 23–28 °C — no size, zone or temperament conflicts.
  • Elephant-nose Knifefish ✅ Compatible
    Hard care · Peaceful · 35 cm · 24–29 °C (75–84 °F)
    Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here, and their water overlaps around 24–28 °C — no size, zone or temperament conflicts.
With caution

True Parrot Cichlid tank mates that can work with care

  • Adolf's Cory ⚠️ With caution
    Medium care · Peaceful · 5.5 cm · 22–26 °C (72–79 °F)
    True Parrot Cichlid may bully the smaller Adolf's Cory, though its armour makes it a hard meal — give it caves and driftwood to retreat into.
  • Agassiz's Corydoras ⚠️ With caution
    Easy care · Peaceful · 6 cm · 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
    True Parrot Cichlid may bully the smaller Agassiz's Corydoras, though its armour makes it a hard meal — give it caves and driftwood to retreat into.
  • Altifrons Geophagus ⚠️ With caution
    Medium care · Semi-aggressive · 25 cm · 24–28 °C (75–82 °F)
    Both are a bit pushy (semi-aggressive + semi-aggressive) — workable only in a larger tank with cover and broken sight lines.
  • Angelfish ⚠️ With caution
    Medium care · Semi-aggressive · 15 cm · 24–30 °C (75–86 °F)
    True Parrot Cichlid and Angelfish can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
  • Angelicus Synodontis ⚠️ With caution
    Medium care · Semi-aggressive · 25 cm · 23–27 °C (73–81 °F)
    Both are a bit pushy (semi-aggressive + semi-aggressive) — workable only in a larger tank with cover and broken sight lines.
  • Assassin Snail ⚠️ With caution
    Easy care · Peaceful · 3 cm · 22–26 °C (72–79 °F)
    True Parrot Cichlid may bully the smaller Assassin Snail, though its armour makes it a hard meal — give it caves and driftwood to retreat into.
  • Axelrod's Cory ⚠️ With caution
    Easy care · Peaceful · 5 cm · 23–28 °C (73–82 °F)
    True Parrot Cichlid may bully the smaller Axelrod's Cory, though its armour makes it a hard meal — give it caves and driftwood to retreat into.
  • Bandit Corydoras ⚠️ With caution
    Easy care · Peaceful · 5 cm · 22–27 °C (72–81 °F)
    True Parrot Cichlid may bully the smaller Bandit Corydoras, though its armour makes it a hard meal — give it caves and driftwood to retreat into.

+ 101 more “with caution” pairings — see the interactive checker above.

Avoid

Fish to avoid keeping with a true parrot cichlid

  • Wels Catfish ⛔ Avoid
    Hard care · Aggressive · 300 cm · 15–25 °C (59–77 °F)
    True Parrot Cichlid and Wels Catfish are both territorial and at least one is outright aggressive — expect serious fighting.
  • Alligator Gar ⛔ Avoid
    Hard care · Aggressive · 250 cm · 24–28 °C (75–82 °F)
    True Parrot Cichlid and Alligator Gar are both territorial and at least one is outright aggressive — expect serious fighting.
  • Redtail Catfish ⛔ Avoid
    Hard care · Aggressive · 120 cm · 24–27 °C (75–81 °F)
    True Parrot Cichlid and Redtail Catfish are both territorial and at least one is outright aggressive — expect serious fighting.
  • Fire Eel ⛔ Avoid
    Medium care · Semi-aggressive · 100 cm · 24–28 °C (75–82 °F)
    Size gap is too large (100 vs 33 cm): Fire Eel will treat True Parrot Cichlid as food.
  • Clown Knifefish ⛔ Avoid
    Hard care · Aggressive · 90 cm · 24–28 °C (75–82 °F)
    Two assertive fish, one genuinely aggressive: True Parrot Cichlid and Clown Knifefish will hold territory and clash.
  • Spotted Gar ⛔ Avoid
    Hard care · Aggressive · 90 cm · 18–26 °C (64–79 °F)
    True Parrot Cichlid and Spotted Gar are both territorial and at least one is outright aggressive — expect serious fighting.
  • Wolf Cichlid ⛔ Avoid
    Hard care · Aggressive · 72 cm · 24–30 °C (75–86 °F)
    Two assertive fish, one genuinely aggressive: True Parrot Cichlid and Wolf Cichlid will hold territory and clash.
  • Ocellaris Peacock Bass ⛔ Avoid
    Hard care · Aggressive · 70 cm · 24–30 °C (75–86 °F)
    Two assertive fish, one genuinely aggressive: True Parrot Cichlid and Ocellaris Peacock Bass will hold territory and clash.

+ 215 more to avoid — the checker above flags every one.

Interactive tool

Check any fish against a true parrot cichlid

Dial in your exact tank size and filter by result — the checker scores every species in our database against a true parrot cichlid, with the reasoning for each verdict.

Tank-mate checker

Will it live with a True Parrot Cichlid?

We compare each fish against your true parrot cichlid on temperament, size, water parameters and swimming zone. Set your tank size and filter the results.

  • Common Pleco✅ Compatible
    Peaceful · 45 cm · Medium care · 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
    • Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here; temperature, pH and hardness ranges all overlap and neither outsizes the other enough to be a threat.
  • Elephant-nose Knifefish✅ Compatible
    Peaceful · 35 cm · Hard care · 24–29 °C (75–84 °F)
    • Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here, and their water overlaps around 24–28 °C — no size, zone or temperament conflicts.
  • Marbled Hoplo✅ Compatible
    Peaceful · 14 cm · Easy care · 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
    • Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here, and their water overlaps around 23–28 °C — no size, zone or temperament conflicts.
  • Sailfin Pleco✅ Compatible
    Peaceful · 50 cm · Medium care · 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
    • Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here, and their water overlaps around 23–28 °C — no size, zone or temperament conflicts.
  • Snowball Pleco✅ Compatible
    Peaceful · 16 cm · Medium care · 24–30 °C (75–86 °F)
    • Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here; temperature, pH and hardness ranges all overlap and neither outsizes the other enough to be a threat.
  • Spotted Talking Catfish✅ Compatible
    Peaceful · 15 cm · Easy care · 22–26 °C (72–79 °F)
    • Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here, and their water overlaps around 23–26 °C — no size, zone or temperament conflicts.
  • Weather Loach✅ Compatible
    Peaceful · 25 cm · Easy care · 5–24 °C (41–75 °F)
    • Compatible on the things that matter: shared water near 23–24 °C, workable temperaments, and no predator-and-prey size gap.
  • Yellow-spotted Pleco✅ Compatible
    Peaceful · 35 cm · Medium care · 24–27 °C (75–81 °F)
    • Semi-aggressive + Peaceful, but with no direct clash here, and their water overlaps around 24–27 °C — no size, zone or temperament conflicts.
  • Altifrons Geophagus⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 25 cm · Medium care · 24–28 °C (75–82 °F)
    • Both are a bit pushy (semi-aggressive + semi-aggressive) — workable only in a larger tank with cover and broken sight lines.
    • Keep Altifrons Geophagus in a shoal of 6+ or it gets stressed and nippy.
  • Angelicus Synodontis⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 25 cm · Medium care · 23–27 °C (73–81 °F)
    • Both are a bit pushy (semi-aggressive + semi-aggressive) — workable only in a larger tank with cover and broken sight lines.
  • Black Collared Catfish⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 27 cm · Hard care · 23–25 °C (73–77 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Black Collared Catfish can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
  • Clown Loach⚠️ With caution
    Peaceful · 30 cm · Medium care · 25–30 °C (77–86 °F)
    • Your 380 L tank is below the ~400 L this pairing really wants — crowding raises aggression.
  • Galaxy Pleco⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 25 cm · Medium care · 22–26 °C (72–79 °F)
    • Both are a bit pushy (semi-aggressive + semi-aggressive) — workable only in a larger tank with cover and broken sight lines.
  • Gold Nugget Pleco⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 28 cm · Hard care · 24–29 °C (75–84 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Gold Nugget Pleco can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
  • Kissing Gourami⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 30 cm · Medium care · 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Kissing Gourami can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
  • Leopard Cactus Pleco⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 30 cm · Hard care · 24–30 °C (75–86 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Leopard Cactus Pleco can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
  • Mango Pleco⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 28 cm · Hard care · 25–32 °C (77–90 °F)
    • Both are a bit pushy (semi-aggressive + semi-aggressive) — workable only in a larger tank with cover and broken sight lines.
  • Peacock Eel⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 30 cm · Medium care · 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Peacock Eel can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
  • Pearl Cichlid⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 28 cm · Medium care · 22–28 °C (72–82 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Pearl Cichlid can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
  • Royal Pleco⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 43 cm · Medium care · 23–28 °C (73–82 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Royal Pleco can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
  • Severum⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 25 cm · Medium care · 23–30 °C (73–86 °F)
    • Both are a bit pushy (semi-aggressive + semi-aggressive) — workable only in a larger tank with cover and broken sight lines.
  • Silver Cichlid⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 30 cm · Medium care · 24–28 °C (75–82 °F)
    • Both are a bit pushy (semi-aggressive + semi-aggressive) — workable only in a larger tank with cover and broken sight lines.
  • Spotted Pleco⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 30 cm · Easy care · 18–26 °C (64–79 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Spotted Pleco can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
  • Sunshine Pleco⚠️ With caution
    Semi-aggressive · 30 cm · Hard care · 23–29 °C (73–84 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Sunshine Pleco can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
    • Your 380 L tank is below the ~473 L this pairing really wants — crowding raises aggression.
  • Alligator Gar⛔ Not recommended
    Aggressive · 250 cm · Hard care · 24–28 °C (75–82 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Alligator Gar are both territorial and at least one is outright aggressive — expect serious fighting.
    • Size gap is too large (250 vs 33 cm): Alligator Gar will treat True Parrot Cichlid as food.
    • Your 380 L tank is below the ~3785 L this pairing really wants — crowding raises aggression.
  • Clown Knifefish⛔ Not recommended
    Aggressive · 90 cm · Hard care · 24–28 °C (75–82 °F)
    • Two assertive fish, one genuinely aggressive: True Parrot Cichlid and Clown Knifefish will hold territory and clash.
    • Size gap is too large (90 vs 33 cm): Clown Knifefish will treat True Parrot Cichlid as food.
    • Your 380 L tank is below the ~750 L this pairing really wants — crowding raises aggression.
  • Fire Eel⛔ Not recommended
    Semi-aggressive · 100 cm · Medium care · 24–28 °C (75–82 °F)
    • Size gap is too large (100 vs 33 cm): Fire Eel will treat True Parrot Cichlid as food.
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Fire Eel can both be territorial; doable with space and dense planting, but watch for chasing.
  • Ocellaris Peacock Bass⛔ Not recommended
    Aggressive · 70 cm · Hard care · 24–30 °C (75–86 °F)
    • Two assertive fish, one genuinely aggressive: True Parrot Cichlid and Ocellaris Peacock Bass will hold territory and clash.
    • Ocellaris Peacock Bass may hunt True Parrot Cichlid, fry or shrimplets — safest in a heavily planted tank.
    • Your 380 L tank is below the ~750 L this pairing really wants — crowding raises aggression.
  • Redtail Catfish⛔ Not recommended
    Aggressive · 120 cm · Hard care · 24–27 °C (75–81 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Redtail Catfish are both territorial and at least one is outright aggressive — expect serious fighting.
    • True Parrot Cichlid is bite-sized to a 120 cm predatory redtail catfish — it will be eaten.
    • Your 380 L tank is below the ~5700 L this pairing really wants — crowding raises aggression.
  • Spotted Gar⛔ Not recommended
    Aggressive · 90 cm · Hard care · 18–26 °C (64–79 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Spotted Gar are both territorial and at least one is outright aggressive — expect serious fighting.
    • Size gap is too large (90 vs 33 cm): Spotted Gar will treat True Parrot Cichlid as food.
    • Your 380 L tank is below the ~600 L this pairing really wants — crowding raises aggression.
  • Wels Catfish⛔ Not recommended
    Aggressive · 300 cm · Hard care · 15–25 °C (59–77 °F)
    • True Parrot Cichlid and Wels Catfish are both territorial and at least one is outright aggressive — expect serious fighting.
    • True Parrot Cichlid is bite-sized to a 300 cm predatory wels catfish — it will be eaten.
    • Your 380 L tank is below the ~20000 L this pairing really wants — crowding raises aggression.
  • Wolf Cichlid⛔ Not recommended
    Aggressive · 72 cm · Hard care · 24–30 °C (75–86 °F)
    • Two assertive fish, one genuinely aggressive: True Parrot Cichlid and Wolf Cichlid will hold territory and clash.
    • Watch for Wolf Cichlid picking off any true parrot cichlid small enough to fit in its mouth.
    • Your 380 L tank is below the ~760 L this pairing really wants — crowding raises aggression.

Compatibility is computed from each species' care data — a strong starting point, not a guarantee. Individual temperament varies, so always introduce new fish slowly and watch them.

Setting up a true parrot cichlid community tank

Give the group a stable, planted 380 L+ tank with a gentle filter, a reliable heater and plenty of cover — broken sight lines and hiding spots let mid-water and bottom dwellers keep out of each other's way. Cycle it fully and stock gradually.

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How to choose

How to choose the right tank mates for a true parrot cichlid

Being semi-aggressive, true parrot cichlid can nip or harass smaller, slower or long-finned fish — give it space, broken sight-lines and similarly robust companions. It mostly occupies the middle of the tank, so it pairs naturally with species that use the other levels.

True Parrot Cichlid grows to about 33 cm, so avoid tank mates small enough to be seen as food — as a rule of thumb, skip anything under roughly 17 cm. Match its water, too: aim for 23–28 °C (73–82 °F), pH 6–7.5 and 1–8 dGH. Fish needing very different conditions — coldwater species, or hard-water lovers against a soft-water fish — rarely thrive side by side.

True Parrot Cichlid doesn't need its own kind to feel secure; think twice before keeping more than one if it is territorial. Whatever you add, introduce new fish slowly, watch for bullying in the first days, and have a backup plan if temperaments clash.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can a true parrot cichlid live with other fish?

Yes — with the right companions. Our checker finds 8 compatible freshwater species for true parrot cichlid. Pick calm, similarly-sized fish that share its water needs and add them to a mature, well-planted tank.

What is the best tank mate for a true parrot cichlid?

Easy, peaceful, similarly-sized species top the list — for example Marbled Hoplo, Spotted Talking Catfish, Weather Loach. Use the checker above to match against your own tank size.

What fish should you avoid keeping with a true parrot cichlid?

Avoid Wels Catfish, Alligator Gar, Redtail Catfish and similar — usually a temperature, size or temperament clash. The full "avoid" list below gives the reason for each.

How big a tank do true parrot cichlid tank mates need?

Start from True Parrot Cichlid's own minimum and scale up with every addition. The checker above defaults to a 380 L community tank and flags pairings that need more room — drag the slider to match your setup.

← Back to the full True Parrot Cichlid care guide