# Jellybean Cichlid Compatibility



## lilmamabear (May 21, 2012)

Hi I'm setting up a 30 gallon for my 4 Jellybeans and was wondering if my betta/group of female bettas could live with them. Also wondering if my minnows or angelfish could live with them. Anything else? I already have an angelfish and a red tailed shark with them in their 20 gallon tank so I was hoping the extra space would allow a few more tank mates. Its a lidless tank so no jumpers (I've never had bettas jump), and there's live plants so no diggers. Thanks  :betta:


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

You are already brutally overstocked, with an eight inch cichlid that suffers from serious deformities and needs a little tlc to begin with. Never stock for what a fish is today - look at what it will be. Your hybrids will need at least 20 gallons or more each.
The jellybean, to my knowledge, has traditionally been either a colour form of the blood parrot hybrid, or a dye injected form of the same. One of its 'positives' for the unethical pet trade is that its mouth deformity makes it unable to act out its natural aggression - it may want to bite, but its jaws don't function normally. This makes it easy to manage as long as it never has to defend itself. Put it in with a fish that has the same level of aggression as the hybrid parrot or jellybean but does not suffer from the mouth deformities, and your jellybean will be a slushy pretty fast.
If your fish is dye injected, its immune system will be a mess until the dye wears off in a few months and its colour is gone. You will have to be very careful with them until then. If you put the very aggressive red tail shark in, it will take runs at them. It may not hit them, but the constant stress will not help the poor things.


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## lilmamabear (May 21, 2012)

Hi thanks, I got them from a lady who had them in a 5 gallon so they are pretty stunted and at about a year old are only about 2 1/2 inces each. They have never been dyed and never will, I believe it is very cruel to tattoo a fish. The red tailed shark is a pretty friendly one, he leaves my fish alone. He originally was with my livebearers and did great with them. I have never seen a problem with them biting either, they bite each other out of their caves pretty well, I plan on them being the only cichlids they're ever housed with tho. Thank you for the information on then tho. I've searched all over the internet and all I ever find about jellybean cichlids is that hey are injected with dye and how cruel they're treated and such. Never any care guidelines so I've just kinda been.winging it. Do you know the basic info? Gallons per fish, temp I usually have around 80, is that right? Things like that. And tank mates once I do get a much larger tank? Any help would be great. I just want the best for my fish. Thanks


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## lilmamabear (May 21, 2012)

Oh nvm, u answered the gallon per fish q...sorry...tho any other info would be amazing


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I have never kept them, and as you can tell, I'm not big on the idea of them. But I'll try to be helpful - you have the fish and it needs care. I'll be snotty another time ;-)

The species they were bred out of both like warm water - 76-78f. I wouldn't go to 80, though it wouldn't harm them.
If they were stunted in a five, you may have trouble with their digestion. Their frame will not have kept up with the growth of their internal organs, and since they are already deformed, they may have a tough time as they age with balance, etc. Make sure they get some food with fiber on a regular basis.
They may also start growing in better conditions - probably not to their optimal size, but if they hit five inches, I wouldn't be surprised. 
Red-tailed "shark/barbs" are usually fairly peaceful til about two, around when the red fades. I don't know how old yours are. 
For tankmates in an 80 to 100 gallon tank (yeah, they still need room) I would go with something that will never challenge them for territory. They can't defend themselves well. No cichlids I can think of would work , but no small fish either. They want to be predators and will try endlessly, and maybe accidentally succeed. 
I would say some slow moving, placid and not too bright tankmate, or some catfish would be about it. There are a couple of local stores that have groups of 4-6 blood parrots in 120 plus gallon showtanks, and that's all they have in there. It seems to work, as they stick around for years.
Someone with direct experience may help more, but I'd say that's a starting point.


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## lilmamabear (May 21, 2012)

Thanks for your help. When you say food with fibre what do u mean? I usually just feed cichlid pellets. but I'm unsure of the fibre content. And as for my red tail I've only had him for a few months. I'll make sure to keep an eye on him...would my rainbow shark be better with them? I've read that they're more gentle. Oh and I also feed them the occasional bloodworm...I just kinda pull the insides put of en and thro the chunks in the tank...it do that for all my fish and they love it. I have a bearded dragon so bugs are always on hand lol


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Some people prep peas or blanched zucchni for their fish, but I don't know if the mouth deformity on a jellybean permits it to eat that. Ditto for my staple here, dried seaweed. Someone who has kept them would be a better source of info.
I always check the fibre percentage on fish food when I choose flake food for my wild-type livebearers. I usually pick a spirulina or veggie flake with as high a fibre percentage as I can get. It's the same for pellets.


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## lilmamabear (May 21, 2012)

I buy spirulina wafers for my plecos and everyone else tends to eat them anyway. Maybe I should throw some in for the cichlids and see if they eat them. And where I said bloodworm I meant super worm...oops. For food brands it usually choose o.s.I. and nutrifin...occasionally wardley for my goldfish (who aren't overstocked like my cichlids no worries.)


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

lilmamabear said:


> Hi thanks, I got them from a lady who had them in a 5 gallon


Oh wow!... I'm not quite sure what else to say (that is family friendly anyway). So moving on... I appreciate how you are trying to find out how to look after your fish well. I agree that you are still quite overstocked for a 30 gallon but if all the fish are still small I guess it will do for a while. At a year old I agree with navigator black they could still grow quite a bit given good conditions, so you may need to think about larger accommodations before long.

What colors are your fish? Jellybean Cichlid usually refers to dyed fish but the dyed color does not last long so it may have worn off before you got them. The ones that are not dyed are usually called Parrot Fish, Blood Parrot or Blood Parrot Cichlid. You will find more useful information by searching for something like 'Blood Parrot care' rather than Jellybean Cichlid.

Some of these links may help:
Blood Parrot Care Sheet | A club for owners of Parrot Cichlids
Caring For a Blood Parrot or Bloody Parrot
Blood Parrot Care Sheet


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## lilmamabear (May 21, 2012)

Thanks. Ya I almost punched the woman but now hearing how badly int keeping them makes me wanna punch me lol. I will definitely be getting them a bigger tank! And as for their color they are a pinkish white (kind of an albino fish color). Major cuties. And shux about the name...I like knowing them as my lil jellybellies haha. And thanks for the links, the name would explain why I only get b'd out when I look up Jellybean


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## lilmamabear (May 21, 2012)

Turns out my jellybeans are pink convict cichlids...I believe to be short bodies convicts tho as they are quite stubby little fish. And wow that amputation thing makes me sad. Why would someone cut off a fishes tail to achieve a heart shape. That would make life so hard for the poor guy!


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Ah, okay, sorry jellybean convicts are quite a different fish. Its the problem with common names, they get used for different fish and sometimes it causes confusion . Convicts are a lot smaller, you might get away with the 30 gallon for them, I would have suggested a slightly larger tank but as long as you don't see too much fighting it's probably working out fine. I still wouldn't add more fish though.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

my parrot tries and fails to eat the courgette i feed to the plecos but they can eat the flake so def put the spirulina in.


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## lilmamabear (May 21, 2012)

Ok sweet, that's great to hear...hopefully they work out in there but in the 20 they're in now they are ok with each other so hopefully it stays that way. And I'll just add my lil pleco for algae control if there's any outbreaks. Try my shark in there with them too and see how it goes. I generally keep my water perfect tho so I don't pay attention to overstocking too much as long as there's room to swim, places to hide, and pristine water conditions. It tends to work and my fish generally live to be the full average ages if I bought them healthy (tho most of them are rescues lol)


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