Are Our Convicts Okay?

[SevenG]

We have set up a tropical tank in our classroom with 2 convict cichlids that our teacher brought. They were getting along quite well and in fact laid eggs on a rock. We watched as they moved the eggs around and spat them in and out of their mouths. Then the weekend came and we thought that we would come back to fry swimming but it hasn't happened. There are no eggs, no fry and the female is quite aggressive towards the male. We have separated them, they appear to be fighting through the glass. How long should we keep them separated? What has happened to our eggs? Please help us..

 

[bitteraspects]

We have set up a tropical tank in our classroom with 2 convict cichlids that our teacher brought. They were getting along quite well and in fact laid eggs on a rock. We watched as they moved the eggs around and spat them in and out of their mouths. Then the weekend came and we thought that we would come back to fry swimming but it hasn't happened. There are no eggs, no fry and the female is quite aggressive towards the male. We have separated them, they appear to be fighting through the glass. How long should we keep them separated? What has happened to our eggs? Please help us..

how long has it been since you saw the eggs?
either the eggs have dropped below the substrate and will be hatching soon, or they ate the eggs. both are just as likely

 

[electric yellow]

Are they in there with anything else? How big is your tank?

I would say they ate their eggs. They may of been stressed and eaten them..

 

[bitteraspects]

they dont need to have been stressed. cichlids are known to eat their eggs and even the babies.

 

[Athena]

Yes, this does happen - and even when fry hatch out it's very common for convicts (male especially) to eat the fry within the first week until they get the hang of it.

Have you given them a cave or pot or something to nest in? This might be a better way as then the female will lay the eggs in there, the male will go into the cave and fertilise them (hopefully), then the female will stay with the eggs, fanning them the whole time until they hatch. If she is with the eggs she will usually ward off the male and prevent him from going into the cave to eat the eggs.

Of course, once the fry hatch and she begins taking them out of their cave a few days later, this is when the male may eat some or all of the fry. He will behave very protectively of the fry and if he spots a fry that has wandered a few inches too far from the nest, he will suck them up and spit them out amongst the rest. Unfortunately, I think sometimes the male gets confused and forgets to spit back out and ends up eating the fry.

If the batch of eggs or fry get eaten by the male then, yes, the female will literally "divorce" her mate for a while and she may sulk for a day or two. They will be seen to be "bickering" and she will be having a right old go at him LOL. They may even wander to separate parts of the tank for a while, ignoring each other (or at least she will ignore him and his advances!).

They usually do make up again, though ... and then they begin spawning again! Usually every couple of weeks or so, if mine are anything to go by!

I would put your pair back together because this is just normal behaviour they are exhibiting. Only separate them if you see that one is physically being attacked (fins being nipped, constant head butting, relentless chasing...) and it's health/life is in danger. Usually it's the other way around, with the male harrassing the female (when he wants to spawn but she doesn't).

Athena

 

[SevenG]

Thank you everyone for all your help. We have put the fish back together and now the male is chasing the female around, although not as much. He looks much healthier and has his stripes back but is also showing a tinge of red. We don't have a cave or pot but will get one in the next few days. The tank size is 63L and there is no other fish with them. Athena you have described them very well. Thanks again.

 

[bitteraspects]

Red? Are you sure they're not both female?

 

[Athena]

Gosh yes - if the convicts belly or fins are tinged orange or red then that's usually the female during spawning!

Are you able to post pics of them both?

Athena

 

[dcarmor927]

Yes, this does happen - and even when fry hatch out it's very common for convicts (male especially) to eat the fry within the first week until they get the hang of it.

Have you given them a cave or pot or something to nest in? This might be a better way as then the female will lay the eggs in there, the male will go into the cave and fertilise them (hopefully), then the female will stay with the eggs, fanning them the whole time until they hatch. If she is with the eggs she will usually ward off the male and prevent him from going into the cave to eat the eggs.

Of course, once the fry hatch and she begins taking them out of their cave a few days later, this is when the male may eat some or all of the fry. He will behave very protectively of the fry and if he spots a fry that has wandered a few inches too far from the nest, he will suck them up and spit them out amongst the rest. Unfortunately, I think sometimes the male gets confused and forgets to spit back out and ends up eating the fry.

If the batch of eggs or fry get eaten by the male then, yes, the female will literally "divorce" her mate for a while and she may sulk for a day or two. They will be seen to be "bickering" and she will be having a right old go at him LOL. They may even wander to separate parts of the tank for a while, ignoring each other (or at least she will ignore him and his advances!).

They usually do make up again, though ... and then they begin spawning again! Usually every couple of weeks or so, if mine are anything to go by!

I would put your pair back together because this is just normal behaviour they are exhibiting. Only separate them if you see that one is physically being attacked (fins being nipped, constant head butting, relentless chasing...) and it's health/life is in danger. Usually it's the other way around, with the male harrassing the female (when he wants to spawn but she doesn't).

Athena

Yea i agree 100% with Athena

She helped me through breeding my cons lol

the last bit confuses me tho, he got his stripes back, but is showing red

males will usually lose coloration in their stripes while showing breeding behavior, but to have red in there seems off...?
Pics would for sure help

 

[treefella83]

i have had 2 female cons court pair off and spawn before but the unfertilized eggs were eaten an hour or so afterwards.

 

[SevenG]

We never thought they could both be females. Originally before the eggs we laid the yellow/pink cichlid (named 'chips')really changed colour went quite grey and even black in some places, but after the eggs were laid has now changed back. The striped one (named 'fish') had really dramatic stripes at this time. It is great watching them change colour all the time but we get a bit concerned also as we don't know why.
We took some pictures but are unsure how to post them up. We have made one of them our profile picture.

 

[cdub614]

"Fish" and "Chips" hahahaha! Very cute I saw your profile pic, but it's pretty small. Upload your photos to photobucket .com and you can post the link in your reply to share pics in the future.

 

[SevenG]

Pictures

Here are some pictures of our fish (we hope it works). Could you please help tell us what gender they are.

Thank you....