Parrot Cichlid ID - And Your Advice Needed!

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eternity302

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 29, 2008
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Vancouver, Canada
I thought I ask the experts on this forum.
I'll attach the photos and share mine. I've always liked parrot cichlids disregard some that doesn't like hybrids.
I'm up here in Vancouver and it's quite some trouble just to find some parrots.

These below is $99.99(CAD) in one tank from a fish store (Not many left around here). It's label is "Red Mama", I'm sure they're trying to say Red Mammon. Mouth don't close. So I'm guessing not Red Mammon. And they're not very deep red. More orangey yellow. But I thought I ask what the experts opinion is. If it's even worth it for the price? 4-5"?
IMG-20160528-WA0012.jpeg
Same tank below. Just at another lighting angle.
IMG-20160605-WA0022.jpg

These are labelled as blood parrots. They don't have much of the beak. They're VERY yellow. So I thought I ask your opinion what this actually is? If it leans more towards Midas? These are $24.99 CAD They're roughly 4-5 inch? The center has two really yellow ones. They don't even got a beak. Wished I got better photos.
IMG-20160605-WA0014.jpg

Here's another tank of Red Mammons (Which they labelled.)
IMG-20160605-WA0029.jpg

Below is the same original tank with close ups.
IMG-20160605-WA0025.jpg IMG-20160605-WA0026.jpg IMG-20160605-WA0035.jpg IMG-20160605-WA0036.jpg IMG-20160605-WA0037 (1).jpg IMG-20160605-WA0024.jpg

And this little guy I bought from Petsmart from $12.99 labelled as a Blood Parrot.
I'm really praying he grows into something nice. It was a quick photo before I threw him into a 40 gallon. I thought I ask for a possible ID.
20160616_183025.jpg

Lastly, I thought I share "Beans". Mostly referred to as Jellybeans. I was browsing/creeping on MFK, and realized the Beans here locally in Vancouver looks alot different than the ones I've been seeing on MFK. Thought I share while I'm posting all these pictures.

Below is the pair I bought few months ago. Pretty hard to find around here. My key fob is exactly at 2.5inch, just for size reference.
20160501_150827.jpg

The one below, I grew him from a small juvenile.
20160615_185946.jpg 20160615_214720.jpg

I uploaded the close up so you can see, their mouth don't close at all. They act and behave like parrots but breed like convicts.

Hope you guys can help me ID the fish, ID my purchased fish as well. And I have no clue how much a red mammon or KKP goes for in the states.

Cheapest Rose Queen we have local here has been $70.00 that I've seen.

Thank you for Reading!

20160501_150827.jpg
 
looks like those parrot fish were bred back to a midas/rd and they got a mouth that is normal. I actually got one recently from a friend who bred a male midas/rd back to a female BP.
 
lol just read the part they breed like convicts and look like bps... Well you got the mix right haha
 
would that not take more time for that to be a cross between the two? I would think that the midas/rd colouring would be more dominant than the pink in the convict? So the deformed mouth is a reoccurring trait? Pretty cool looking fish though, my marble male convict is round but I've never seen any round babies yet
 
would that not take more time for that to be a cross between the two? I would think that the midas/rd colouring would be more dominant than the pink in the convict? So the deformed mouth is a reoccurring trait? Pretty cool looking fish though, my marble male convict is round but I've never seen any round babies yet
I would assume it's a male pink convict and a female blood parrot since females are usually always fertile.

So you get the dominant traits from male and short body from female. Not all fry will look like this. I don't know history of it but it maybe first generation or a series of incest to the father to get the dominant traits lol
 
I'd go with the second option since convicts are so easy to breed and they are so many in the hobby. I am sure someone has just kept them over generations and suddenly found a deformed one or two and bred them. Cool looking fish but not something I would breed for lol
 
The jellybeans are most likely a deformity that popped up in pink cons and bred into a strain. Can't just assume pink con x parrot because the pink coloration in convicts is recessive so a cross would yield no pinks. It would take a while to establish the pink if it was a cross.
 
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The jellybeans are most likely a deformity that popped up in pink cons and bred into a strain. Can't just assume pink con x parrot because the pink coloration in convicts is recessive so a cross would yield no pinks. It would take a while to establish the pink if it was a cross.

Yep you are right. These guys are short body pink convicts. Unusual that they have parrot style mouths but I've seen plenty of convicts (short body and regular) with this deformity. They are great little fish actually. I saw some short body calico cons here recently but I don't have a tank setup at the moment :( I've actually bred one of these to a parrot and as you say, none of the young were pink.
 
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