Compatibility

[RedStarCommie]

Hello,
I have 6 Zebra Danios and I want to add convicts, guppies and mollies.

Do they all live happily together?

 

[lb05]

Hello,
I have 6 Zebra Danios and I want to add convicts, guppies and mollies.

Do they all live happily together?

I know you can deffo have the mollies I have a ZD >>> getting more, the others passed away

But have 3 female mollies with both the Danio, gouramis and tetras.

Not sure about the convicts or guppies tho...

Had a male betta in our tank and the mollies kept going 4 him, the bright colours etc.

Came home 2 find him in shreds.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Convicts = no no.

Not with the fish you have already and the ones your looking to add.

I notice you have an empty 30 gallon tank, why not buy a pair of convicts for that instead

Beware though, they breed like rabbits!

 

[sylvia]

First off, is the tank cycled? How big is it? If you don't know the volume of your tanks exactly (I see your sig. says 20 but you aren't certain), get a tape measure (or a ruler) out and get measuring - then take a look at the pinned articles (either in tropical chit chat or the beginners forum - I don't remember which) as there are links to places that will do these conversions for you (or you could always post the dimensions here if you're feeling lazy) to get the volume in gallons or litres for your tank(s).

As for the fish you mentioned, assuming it's a 20 gallon, you could get an additional 4-5 guppies (all male) OR 1 male with 2-3 females. With these, a trio of mollies (1 male, 2 females) OR a group of 3 females OR 3-4 males.

Your best bet is to go with the single-sex groups - 4-5 male guppies and 3-4 male mollies - as this will elliminate the chance of them breeding and causing your tank to end up over-stocked and over-crowded. You can sex livebearers like these by looking at their anal fin (the one underneath the body just before the tail). In females it's fan-shaped or rounded, in males it is modified into a long tube called a 'gonopodium' - this is used to internaly fertilise the female's eggs. Another thing to note is that, even if you were to go with all females, they can still give birth as guppies and mollies can store sperm - enough for up to 7 successive pregnencies! Females also grow larger than males so would give you less room and female guppies are rather drab in comparison to the males. Male guppies get to 1", females get to about 1.5", mollies vary in size but as many are hybrids with larger-growing wild species, 4" is the most common size with 6" not being impossble (though it's not that common). Males tend to get to about 3".

As for convicts, well this is why I'm asking so many questions as it shows you have not tried to research any of these fish independantly. Convict cichlids are highly aggressive and, if they breed, they'll take over the whole tank and kill everything in it. If you put convicts in your tank, it's only a matter f time before they kill the guppies and mollies and whichever of the danios they can catch. If I haven't made myself clear yet, skip the convicts!

BTW, once your tank contains 6 danios, 5 male guppies and 4 male mollies, your 20 gallons (if that's what it is) is fully stocked.

 

[RedStarCommie]

Thanks for the info people.

The size of the tank(s) is in my signature.

I really wanted some convicts, I guess i'll get the other tank set up and running and they can have a tank to themselves.

 

[sylvia]

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear, I can see the sizes listed in your signature but there is an '(I think)' written beside them that suggests you are not sure. If you are not sure, the tanks may be smaller then you 'think'.

Keep in mind that a pair of convicts will take over the 30 to themselves and you won't be able to put much else in. Once they breed, you'll have one hell of a time getting rid of the endless supply of hundreds of fry. Most LFSs also won't take them because, being so easy to breed, there is no shortage of them and they seel cheaply. Just make sure you research the fish before you jump into buying them.

 

[RedStarCommie]

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear, I can see the sizes listed in your signature but there is an '(I think)' written beside them that suggests you are not sure. If you are not sure, the tanks may be smaller then you 'think'.

Keep in mind that a pair of convicts will take over the 30 to themselves and you won't be able to put much else in. Once they breed, you'll have one hell of a time getting rid of the endless supply of hundreds of fry. Most LFSs also won't take them because, being so easy to breed, there is no shortage of them and they seel cheaply. Just make sure you research the fish before you jump into buying them.

I measured them but the table I had didnt have exactly the sixe of my tank so I pit it with the nearest one, maybe they dont make 21 or 21 gallon tanks?

Convicts are cheap? either you are well off or you havnt shoped around London before lol

Yesterday went into to a shop and they are £3.95 each! The Zebra Danios are £1.20 each (buy 5 get the sixth free). This is the aquarium shop in great portland street, London.

If I did set up the 30G tank and put convicts in there, would you recommend that I only have them or what other fish would be ok/safe with them?


Thanks for the advice (the way I write is funny, I dont mean to come accross as being rude, sorry if I do).

 

[sylvia]

I didn't think you came across as rude, don't worry about that.

I'm surprised the convicts cost that much (though it isn't THAT much and probably isn't anything for the LFS which is why they don't tend to take them) - but then again, I've never bought a convict In the past, when I have owned convicts, I got them for free from freinds who had a thousand fry and no where to offload them.

The thing with convicts is that when they start breeding they'll kill everything they can catch. They'll even turn on each other.

Some people keep them with fast-moving target fish (such as rosy barbs or giant danios). If you do this, you have to accept that many of those fish could end up dead. The point of using 'target fish' is to give the convicts something to defend their fry against. If they don't have any threats, they'll try to take that aggression off on their mate - usualy the result is one dead and the other very badly injured.

The only fish that might work with convicts (peacefuly) is a good-sized plec. However, even a plec may get attacked if it happens to wander near the cichlids when they are breeding.

The only other alternative I can think of is to get a larger tank for the convicts and get 2 pairs. The pairs will take aggression off on each other but, as long as the tank is large enough, you shouldn't experience any deaths. This elliminates the need for target fish - though it doesn't make adding extra tankmates any more of a possibility.

I also worked out a different strategy when I had a pair - I devided a tank into 2 sections - one was 15 gallons and contained the convict pair, the other was 10 gallons and contained a few community fish. The convicts defended their territory from the community fish but could not get to them - so all the fish were safe from attack and the need for target fish was also elliminated.

Just so you know, you do have one more option - if you like convicts but are not interested in breeding them, get just one. When they aren't breeding they also aren't that aggressive. Pairs are always breeding (like rabbits) but single fish, obviously won't be. If you were to get just one, you could put a bristlenose plec and some tiger barbs (for example) in with it and not experience serious aggression issues. You still need to pick fish that can handle aggression but that won't attack the convict themselves (as that could trigger an aggressive response).

 

[RedStarCommie]

Thanks,
I thought I would give breeding a go.
What I think i'll do is. get two small convicts (a male and a female) and put them in the 30G tank, i'll have to set it up so will be a while before I can actually get any, though if I buy them when they are very small and young then they can stay with the zebra danios for a couple of weeks while the 30G tank is sorting itself?

Should be ok?

 

[Ethos]

Zebra Danios tend to move very fast, and convicts are very acgressive.
So, fo maybe a week or two they'll be fine, but I not 100% sure. If you can get the convicts really small.....
Make sure and watch them alot to see if any problem do arise.

What do you mean "while the 30G tank is sorting itself?"?
Why not just get the convicts after the 30G is done "sorting itself"?

 

[RedStarCommie]

Zebra Danios tend to move very fast, and convicts are very acgressive.
So, fo maybe a week or two they'll be fine, but I not 100% sure. If you can get the convicts really small.....
Make sure and watch them alot to see if any problem do arise.

What do you mean "while the 30G tank is sorting itself?"?
Why not just get the convicts after the 30G is done "sorting itself"?

lol

Yeah I probably will get them after, what I mean is while I sort the tank out, getting the water and everything to perfection (or as near as i can get it) and everythings else involved with making a fish's home.....its home