Baby Cichlids Finally Here!

[PimpedWrx00]

ok now this is my first breeding session with these convicts ive had them for maybe a week. and yesterday i found about a quartersized amount of little fry just sittin there. Now my question is...without removing any of my already existint fish what should i do tohelp keep some of these fry alive......i currently have 1 larger texas cichlid and one other male convict but the thing is they both stay on complete opposite side from where the breeding convicts stay. so its not really a threat at the moment. but should i place some fry in a breeding net or maybe but a smaller 1 or 2 gallon tank for a few weeks or wut.

 

[MET]

If you really want to insure that you have some survive the best thing would be to remove the other fish. If that is not practical you can remove some of the fry and rear them in a different tank. I suspect that if you try to keep some in a net breeder you will need to keep them there a long time until they are big enough that they are not just food to the others when you put them back in the tank.

Finally, you can try leaving them with the parents. It is quite possible that they will protect them to the extent that some of them may survive.

 

[PimpedWrx00]

ok well they are now swimming around.and the convicts r getting alittle snippy they attacked the pleco till he left to the other side of my tank which was awful to watch..butt now i see whyi should do somthing about this. because i have the pleco another male convict and a larger texas cichlid i cant keep them in there on there own. so my other option would be to set up my 18 gallon...would this be fine? and over time would i ever be able to place them bak in the larger tank or r they aggressive even still?

 

[freddyk]

If you can't keep the convicts on their own then you should trade them in - a mating pair of convicts will never tolerate other tankmates. You can get away with the 17 gallon for a while, but really it's too small.

 

[IMCL85]

Remove them from the main tank or they be gone in no time .Feed them egg yooo in a q tank. I doubt you be able to get a hold of micro worm or vineger eel both is good for newly hatched baby. But for convict just feed them egg yoooo. One of the most popular fry food from the past and even now(easy to find). Altho its abit dirty but when water change u can take them back out . after ur fry gets to a week old u can start feeding them freshly hatched brine shrimp. My current discus fry is still eating on brine shrimp .





Good luck
Jack

 

[ihansterx4i]

i have 5 convicts in a 10 gallon. Had them for like a month and a half and still havent bred. Could it be because of the tank size? I heard they breedby jus adding male and female + water.

 

[Synirr]

i have 5 convicts in a 10 gallon. Had them for like a month and a half and still havent bred. Could it be because of the tank size? I heard they breedby jus adding male and female + water.

Convicts get to be 4-6". You shouldn't even be keeping a single one in a 10 gallon, much less 5. You need at least 20 gallons for one, and I'd say 30 gallon for a pair. If you can't upgrade their tank ASAP you'll need to rehome them, as most will probably eventually die in that tank and if there is a survivor it will be stunted. Is the tank even cycled?

 

[freddyk]

i have 5 convicts in a 10 gallon

What will most likely eventually happen is a pair will form, and together will kill off the other 3, unless you intervene on time and get them out first). Then they'll get along fine for a little while, until the male starts to get too big for the tank. Then the aggression will come out between the pair and one day the female will bite it.

A 25 gallon, or 20 gallon long is as small as these very territorial and relentless fish should be kept in, regardless how small they may seem now.

 

[ihansterx4i]

NICE!!! I woke up to see that they're were little eggs in the corner of the tank all stuck to the wall. Looks like there is about only 30-40 of them. I always read that they laid like 100-200 eggs. Well im just happy that they laid eggs. I remeber seeing the 2 pink convicts always together and sorta had an idea that they paired BUT as i looked closely i noticed that they both looked like females. (orangish coloring on the belly areas.) So i thought can they be lesbian fish?!?!? Im not quite sure as to who is the father but im guessing its the other pink one in the tank. Today is the first time ive seen the eggs so it should be hatching in like 3 or 4 days right? I want to take out the other convicts but im still not quite sure which one she is paired with. Dont wanna take the daddy out and have not not breed anymore. Any thoughts?

 

[ihansterx4i]

Ok so ive been watching the convicts all day ( first time with breeding fish so im really excited to experience this) and ive noticed that the mom attacks the supposed father allll day long. Shes somehow more worried about the father eating the eggs rather than the other 3 convicts in the tank. Is there a reason for why they do that? Is that normal or is something wrong? Ohh and ive noticed that 4 out of 5 convicts have like little pink bumps under their bellies. Sorta like a penis.LFS told me only females have that but all 4 of those fish arent females. Only 2 of them are supposed to be females.

 

[PimpedWrx00]

alight so i have just set up my 18 g long..And now im not sure as ion what to do.. my options r to remove the breeding pair into that tank or i was thinking is i have 1 other male convict in there which is constantly attacked by not only the convicts but now the texas is going at it too. and the texas actully will swim and remain in the middle of the tank and slowly move away when the convicts flare there gills. but it doesnt seem like much of a threat right now. but then i again idk what may eventually happen..so wut shuld u do with wut i have?

 

[freddyk]

so wut shuld u do with wut i have? crazy.gif

What size tanks do you have to work with here?

 

[PimpedWrx00]

the other optional tank is 18 g long right now they r all inside a 36g

 

[freddyk]

The breeding pair will attack anything you put in there and it will only get worse as they grow. The second male can go into the 18 gallon for now, but there's no place for the JD, who needs a 40 gallon tank for himself.