# Orange is the new black?!



## Xxisikkin (Oct 4, 2021)

Hello everyone! I picked up 4 convict /parrot cichlids about 6 months ago.was told they are unique and not common. Also are called polar blues? I ordered 2 about 9 months ago. One was dead on arrival the other is doing great!!! Any way my 4 newer one are thriving. 2 have even paired and have been laying eggs. One batch hatched. But having not noticed it they didn't survive. Anyway... I wasn't home for a few days and my braker went out! I came home to a not so happy completely green tank...so I pulled everything out cleaned it all up and got it up and running again! Not a single fish lost! Well except a batch of eggs 😔. But after about 11 hours of every one being in the tank. My cichlids have orange on them now... they seem to all be normal and happy. So health wise I don't belive to be any issues. I thought maybe breeding behavior but all 4 are not turning blue black and orange. Any thoughts or concerns? Thanks in advance! Nikki from Colorado!


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

The fish that you have are Convict cichlids with a short body deformity. There are quite a few short bodied cichlids that are sold today. It's a deformity that sometimes shows up in a batch of offspring and breeders take these fish and selectively breed them into a short body strain. As far as I know there are no health or longevity concerns with this deformity, though personal tastes will vary considerably. Your fish are marketed as Polar Blue convicts or Polar Blue Parrot cichlid and some claim that they are a Convict X Blood Parrot hybrid though this is extremely unlikely IMO.

The Blood Parrot was probably the first short bodied fish to be marketed. It not only has a short body deformity but also mouth and snout deformity. There is ample evidence that it was developed through hybridization of RD/midas X Synspilum (claims of the original breeders as well as 3 threads on the internet that all show that this cross produces some fish that are virtually identical to the Blood Parrot). Since the Blood parrot has sterile males, all sorts of Blood Parrot crosses have been done by aquarists including convict X Blood Parrot cross. The results of this cross have been shown on many internet threads. The short body is seldom inherited in many Blood parrot crosses but the RD/Midas peeling gene (what gives the Blood Parrot it's orarnge, white or red coloration) often is. All sorts are produced with these crosses and none breed true. Many people have bred Polar Blue convicts and they breed true.Nothing about your fish indicates it is any thing but a deformed convict. The short bodied "pink" Convict version is marketed as a "Jelly Bean Parrot".
The orange coloration you allude to is typical of female convicts. Your first picture is a female and your second picture shows a female beneath the male.


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