Convicts

[Joemuz]

Are convicts easy to breed or do they require some expiriense in keeping cichlids? As i might set up a cichlid tank but i dont know what size tank 2 or 3 young convicts can happily live in? Pleas can someone shed soe light for me? cheers joemuz

 

[demonmagus]

I think minimum size for one is 30 gallons so 55 gallo for a pair, apparently easy to breed 'just add water' but what are you gonna do with the fry?

 

[SamUK]

you could house a pair in a 30g long but thats without tank mates cos theyll jus get ripped apart.




like demon says tho, what are you gonna do with the fry?


convicts are a bit too common these days and most LFS wont take them.

i bought 15 adult cons for £12.


shows there value.

 

[Joemuz]

Give them away or sell them to anyone offering a good home to them.
I just love convicts and i would love to breed a pair. How do you sex them?

 

[Castellop123]

Males are larger, less colourful, have steeper foreheads and longer fins... With age males acquire a vestigal fatty lump on the forehead. Females have orahge scales on their lower bodies and dorsal fin...

 

[pica_nuttalli]

Give them away or sell them to anyone offering a good home to them.

you're really going to need a more elaborate plan than that--but so long as you don't put too much effort into saving the babies from being eaten by mom and dad, you shouldn't be overwhelmed (i think)

 

[fry_lover]

a 60 litre / 12.5 gallon (24-inch) tank is fine for a breeding pair of Convicts (assuming they are not too big). Plenty of room for two fish, only is an issue if they not a "true" pair and start rucking.

 

[cane76]

you could house a pair in a 30g long but thats without tank mates cos theyll jus get ripped apart.




like demon says tho, what are you gonna do with the fry?


convicts are a bit too common these days and most LFS wont take them.

i bought 15 adult cons for £12.


shows there value.

my lfs gave me 6 for free
no one will take the fry there only good for feeders

 

[SamUK]

a 60 litre / 12.5 gallon (24-inch) tank is fine for a breeding pair of Convicts (assuming they are not too big). Plenty of room for two fish, only is an issue if they not a "true" pair and start rucking.

thats horrible advice as male convicts can reach 6" and about 3" wide a 12.5 is no way near big enough.


not even for one on its own.

 

[fry_lover]

LOL - a 24x15x12 tank is fine for a pair of breeding Convicts, i did mention "assuming they are not too big" LOL, no i wouldnt put a 6 inch convict and 3 inch wide convict in a 24x15x12.

My pair, the male is about 3 inch and the female about 2 inch, why would i need a bigger tank? They are fine trust me! In fact the one time i did (temporarily house a breeding pair of oncvicts in a bigger tank (4 foot) the only ever used one half of the tank anyway

Wow - a 3 inch thick Convict, that be some big boy!

 

[SamUK]

yea they might be that size now but how big would they be if they were in a bigger tank.


you can never tell when the size of the tank is starting to affect the fish and it does in a big way. they need the space to swim and fry arent exactly the cleanest addition to a tank so the space is good for the bioload too.

and yea i have a fully grown male with a big fat hump altho hes lost it a bit now i got rid of the females.

 

[russogden1982]

you really want to breed convicts i ignored the advice from a friend not to do this and i agree they are excellent looking fish i love them too but now i'm currently stuck with roughly 400 fry from two broods and unless you net them out and feed them to other fish you haven't a chance because the parents will give their life to protect them but if you want some and you want to come up to sheff for some i'll give you as many as you want

 

[LisaLQ]

You wont even be able to give them away Joe, they breed like rabbits - all the time, you'd be stuck with hundreds of babies. I'd pick something a little more popular to breed with. Rainbows are supposed to be good, if you're just wanting to breed something - not just cichlids, bristlenose are a good start

And you'd need a 30g if you did decide to go ahead. 12.5g is just appalling - I've got a 15g and there's no way my convicts would have been happy in there. Even my diddy ones.

 

[Gatorbait]

Give them away or sell them to anyone offering a good home to them.

you're really going to need a more elaborate plan than that--but so long as you don't put too much effort into saving the babies from being eaten by mom and dad, you shouldn't be overwhelmed (i think)

Most cichlids but especially convicts, neets and festae will die protecting their fry without giving it a second thought. They won't eat their offspring.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

Give them away or sell them to anyone offering a good home to them.

you're really going to need a more elaborate plan than that--but so long as you don't put too much effort into saving the babies from being eaten by mom and dad, you shouldn't be overwhelmed (i think)

Most cichlids but especially convicts, neets and festae will die protecting their fry without giving it a second thought. They won't eat their offspring.

several people on here have reported that the parents will pretty reliably eat their current batch of fry at about 6 weeks or whenever the next spawn occurs.