Convicts

[OscarMan33]

Hi all, I am new to your form.. looking for some help on breeding Convicts.. Do you have to have a flat surface for them to breed on or can I just have hiding places for them? Second quoestion I have them in a 20g for now will be putting them in a 40g soon my male seems to just chance my female around she stays at the top in the corner will she still eggs if there is aggreness between them?

 

[my fat fish]

i dount they will breed if he is agessive, u need hiding places for them and put down a few bits of slate they will swapwn on them

 

[OscarMan33]

was thinking of getting a pot for them do i need to do anything special to it like boil it or something or can I just wash off and add? Also what if i just add like 2 more females to see if he chose one will this work? I have like 3 differnt hiding place for them

 

[Bullrock74]

In my experience, convicts do not need anything special for them to breed. No pots or slate or anything. When they want to breed, they will find a place, believe me.

Also, I'm not surprised that the male is aggressive towards the female. They tend to test the health/strength of the female before breeding begins. That said, if the female is forced to stay at the surface of the tank in a corner for a very long time, then you may not have a compatible pair. But, that is pretty rare in my experience.

 

[Nevergone815]

In my experience, convicts do not need anything special for them to breed. No pots or slate or anything. When they want to breed, they will find a place, believe me.

Also, I'm not surprised that the male is aggressive towards the female. They tend to test the health/strength of the female before breeding begins. That said, if the female is forced to stay at the surface of the tank in a corner for a very long time, then you may not have a compatible pair. But, that is pretty rare in my experience.

I agree with this 100%!!!

My pairs never have used the pots or flat surfaces I put in their tanks. Instead they would go into the corner on the opposite side, clear out the sand or gravel and then spawn there. They never seem to spawn where you want them to. But nevertheless, they spawned anyways. I just left the pots and stuff in their so that I didn't accidentally alter anything by changing the environment that they're used to . I've moved it once and the male attacked the female as if reestablishing his dominance as if it were a new territory and female, but lal I did was take out the pot, so now I don't chance it. I put in a couple plants for looks (which they quickly uproot and move, including the sand that held them down. I figure it gives them something to do rather than chase all the time, they enjoy rearranging the tank ! But other than that, just put the plants, I use a HOB filter mostly for current and biological filtration. Then I let them in at the same time, and in a couple days or less they pair and start clearing the tank. A few days after they got everything the way they want it, I have eggs.

Convicts are pretty much, just add water and they'll spawn, so don't worry about "perfect" water chemistry as it really doesn't matter to them.

I hope that helped!

 

[OscarMan33]

well I have been doing a water change just about everyday when I brought them home last week they had ick and didn't catch it I am using the heat and salt medthod to get rid of the ick (it's been a week and all the spots are gone but was told keep doing the water change for anther few days to ensure it's all gone).. So water changes aren't the problem doing tons of them.. I will give them a couple more days to see what happens I guess... How long before you would add another female to see if they couple up?

 

[Jesseh]

Dude if you can't get a convict to breed maybe you should go home and play with your toys.

-Jess

 

[OscarMan33]

Dude if you can't get a convict to breed maybe you should go home and play with your toys.

-Jess

I am 35 years old I don't play with toys.. I don't know if you are joking or not.. but I don't need jokes I ask for help...

 

[Bullrock74]

well I have been doing a water change just about everyday when I brought them home last week they had ick and didn't catch it I am using the heat and salt medthod to get rid of the ick (it's been a week and all the spots are gone but was told keep doing the water change for anther few days to ensure it's all gone).. So water changes aren't the problem doing tons of them.. I will give them a couple more days to see what happens I guess... How long before you would add another female to see if they couple up?

If you have two healthy convicts, they will almost certainly breed. I would just wait a little while and see before going to get another female. If the male and female have healthy appetites, then you should be just fine. If the female is forced to stay in the corner and will not eat, then you definitely need to consider rehoming her and getting another one.

 

[OscarMan33]

Well got the ick out and bought two more females and he is not chanceing them just the first female I had in there.. He is cozying up to the females I will give them a couple of days and then i can return 2.. Shouldn't take long for them to pair up I hope..

 

[Nevergone815]

Just be careful as once a female pairs off with the male, they WILL kill the other 2 females in there, so keep an eye out for it

 

[Bullrock74]

Just be careful as once a female pairs off with the male, they WILL kill the other 2 females in there, so keep an eye out for it

I once had a breeding pair in a twenty gallon and one additional female and she was not killed. She found a hiding spot in a small pvc pipe and stayed there until I moved her to another tank. So, whether they get killed depends on if the odd female/females can find sufficient shelter

 

[OscarMan33]

Well I think they have paired up I see the female and male kind of hanging out togther.. Will update ...

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

I had a female convict and decided she needed a hubby. The male I got was 1/2 her size and completely terrified of her.
I read that adding a couple of dither fish would help them bond as they had a common "enemy" to protect their nest from.
I added 6 neon tetras and they had spawned w/in a week. Now I have a rock full of wee little ones, so maybe give it a try.

 

[OscarMan33]

They paired up and I took all the other ones out(2 females cons) yesterday and everything seems fine i will update when they have eggs(fry).. Thanks for all the help everybody ..