Finally Snapped

[onidrase]

Little miss convict cichlid (I call her The Great And Wonderful Glorificus, after The hell god from buffy the vampire slayer) has gone ballistic and will not leave any of the fish in the tank alone. At all. Not even the catfish are safe. In a nutshell, if male convicts are more aggressive than she is, I never want a male convict.

I've went ahead and moved her to my 20 gallon hex. but no further action has been taken past that.

I don't think she'll be able to go anywhere else. Unless this time out is gonna help at all, I'm thinking of keeping her there, alone, no other fish, as a permanent resident in the 20 hex. I'm worried it's too small, though. (16"x16"x20")

Would this be okay? Keeping her in the hexagon with no other fish? I'm assuming the time out is not going to help, and she'll just be all calm for a little while before taking over again.

Sounds pretty convicty to me. It's a shame, I really do like their species for some reason.

I'm gonna go get a firemouth, I think.

 

[creeker]

I would try to find someone with larger cichlids that might want a Convict. Not likely you'll find anyone, though. There is a pond at the park here. It is loaded with Convicts (and some other species) that people have dumped.It's not a fish that's in high demand. For now, I guess the hex is your only option. It's far from an ideal home.

 

[onidrase]

I would try to find someone with larger cichlids that might want a Convict. Not likely you'll find anyone, though. There is a pond at the park here. It is loaded with Convicts (and some other species) that people have dumped.It's not a fish that's in high demand. For now, I guess the hex is your only option. It's far from an ideal home.

Well. females only get 4 inches long. f she were male, I'd be more worried. I don't think it's "far" from ideal. But nothing is getting dumped in a pond. This is colorado, and all the ponds and lakes get frozen over during the winter. Or they get drained to avoid the pumps and whatnot getting broken.

 

[creeker]

Not suggesting you dump in a pond, just illustrating how little people value Convicts here. My perception of ideal would be a larger tank with suitable tankmates. Sorry, I just don't feel a solo four inch fish in a 16x16 space is ideal. Just my opinion, didn't mean to offend. Under the circumstances, I would have done the same thing, at least temporarily.

 

[onidrase]

Not suggesting you dump in a pond, just illustrating how little people value Convicts here. My perception of ideal would be a larger tank with suitable tankmates. Sorry, I just don't feel a solo four inch fish in a 16x16 space is ideal. Just my opinion, didn't mean to offend. Under the circumstances, I would have done the same thing, at least temporarily.

None of the suitable tank mates really seem to work, in the 55 with bigger fish, she was harassed into hiding behind the filter, and with the smaller but still generally compatible, she was the harasser

Just out of curiosity, not to sound stubborn and ignorant, but in technicality, isn't the minimum tank space for larger fish like oscars (75 gallon minimum for a single, 48 inches long, 18 (I believe, or is it 21?) inches wide) smaller in proportion than 4 inches is to 16 by 16? 16 is 4 times longer than the maximum size of the convict, and 48 is, take a few depending on size, 4 times longer than a full size oscar, but then the width is about 1 and a half to two times their length, so why does this seem to be a different concept for smaller cichlids with similar activity levels?

 

[onidrase]

Under the circumstances that this is really a horrible idea to have her in the hex, I'll probably buy her a 20g long or something, but I dislike the idea of taking her to an LFS to have somebody else with a potentially smaller and less suitable tank take her home and feed her nothing but live fish and beef heart like the LFS suggests.

As dumb as it may sound, I've grown quite attached to her, even if she isn't really a valuable species of fish or anything. She's kinda my favorite, but that doesn't mean she can try to bite out the other fish's eyeballs because she suddenly had a temper tantrum or something

 

[creeker]

I get attached to my fish too. Especially the ones that have such personalities, like the cichlids. I know it's frustrating when they don't behave the way we want them to.

 

[Hunterprey]

Just in my experience and observation on my aquarium tho. I think sufficient tank space is not really about the tank having at least 4times the length of the adult fish size. Like a Dwarf puffer wont be suitable in a 4" X 2" tank.

I think its more of the extra space they have to travel and also the activity level. In a 75gallon an Oscar will still have 3ft of space to swim. A 4" Convict in a 16" tank will have only a foot of space to swim. I usually base it too on how much space a fish cover when they get spooked. My datnoid covers 3ft when spooked. Just my 2 cents not a fact. Still have lots to learn myself. I hate returning fish too, always worried about how theyre gonna get treated elsewhere. They put my Black Diamond Cichlid @ my LFS display tank when I returned her, so that was I think the Convict will be better if u keep her, think the tanks pretty small tho, I have a 5 gallon which is 16" X 8" (L X W) Good Luck.

 

[onidrase]

Just an update, I took her out of the time out box (the hexagon) this morning and stuck her back in the 37 to see how she'll act, and she hasn't nipped at any of the fish yet. I did add in 2 tiger barbs from quarantine, I guess it's possible that caused her to grump up. If she behaves, I'll keep her in there. But I don't want any eyeball picking.

 

[onidrase]

Just in my experience and observation on my aquarium tho. I think sufficient tank space is not really about the tank having at least 4times the length of the adult fish size. Like a Dwarf puffer wont be suitable in a 4" X 2" tank.

I think its more of the extra space they have to travel and also the activity level. In a 75gallon an Oscar will still have 3ft of space to swim. A 4" Convict in a 16" tank will have only a foot of space to swim. I usually base it too on how much space a fish cover when they get spooked. My datnoid covers 3ft when spooked. Just my 2 cents not a fact. Still have lots to learn myself. I hate returning fish too, always worried about how theyre gonna get treated elsewhere. They put my Black Diamond Cichlid @ my LFS display tank when I returned her, so that was I think the Convict will be better if u keep her, think the tanks pretty small tho, I have a 5 gallon which is 16" X 8" (L X W) Good Luck.

She doesn't get spooked, though. She fights with my pitcher and siphoner when they get in the tank. She only really "hides" when she's defending territory. Proportionally, a convict's 1 foot of space is the same as a oscars 3 feet of space. I agree it's a tad small, and I don't necessarily follow the tank width= 4x max size rule, but I'm not sure if it should be voodoo to keep a 4 inch long fish that doesn't do much more than dig and eat in a 16x16 tank.

 

[creeker]

Keep a close eye on her. I have a feeling she will be back in the hex soon. If she behaves, I'm going to personally start sending all my misbehaving fish to you for a timeout in your hex!

 

[onidrase]

Keep a close eye on her. I have a feeling she will be back in the hex soon. If she behaves, I'm going to personally start sending all my misbehaving fish to you for a timeout in your hex!

Ha, so far she's been back to her old semi aggressive self, but I don't doubt she'll be going back soon myself

If she does stay somewhat neutral to the other fish, I've got a feeling I'll have a new career choice, I could see it now

"Have your fish... Not been themselves...? Have they been harassing their old friends, trying to bite out their eyes, and eat their fins...? Have you tried everything in the book to keep them from harming others? Do you feel like, perhaps you should bring them back to the store to find them a new home?

It's not too late. Bring your fish in to Hexagonal Anger Management today. We'll keep your fish in one of our luxury 20 gallon hexagon aquariums, where it will be fasted for 24 hours in a tank complete with cheap play sand substrate, tacky plastic decorations, and filtration by companies that are so old, they don't even exist anymore.

We know how hard it is to watch your beloved wet pet go from a simple, caring individual to a raging anti social eye biter, and that's why we're here to help. Call us on the number below for your free consultation

*Treatment is not intended for pets other than aquatic fresh water species. Cannot help the truly psychotic of fish population."

Be ready for my infomercials if she doesn't snap again

 

[creeker]

Hilarious. I literally laughed out loud.

 

[onidrase]

Yawp. She's gone at it again. I'm gonna keep her in the 20 gallon isolated from the rest of the fish world until I can get her a more suitable tank to be alone in. I think she's just a little bit psychotic.

 

[tmh0921]

Keep a close eye on her. I have a feeling she will be back in the hex soon. If she behaves, I'm going to personally start sending all my misbehaving fish to you for a timeout in your hex!

Ha, so far she's been back to her old semi aggressive self, but I don't doubt she'll be going back soon myself

If she does stay somewhat neutral to the other fish, I've got a feeling I'll have a new career choice, I could see it now

"Have your fish... Not been themselves...? Have they been harassing their old friends, trying to bite out their eyes, and eat their fins...? Have you tried everything in the book to keep them from harming others? Do you feel like, perhaps you should bring them back to the store to find them a new home?

It's not too late. Bring your fish in to Hexagonal Anger Management today. We'll keep your fish in one of our luxury 20 gallon hexagon aquariums, where it will be fasted for 24 hours in a tank complete with cheap play sand substrate, tacky plastic decorations, and filtration by companies that are so old, they don't even exist anymore.

We know how hard it is to watch your beloved wet pet go from a simple, caring individual to a raging anti social eye biter, and that's why we're here to help. Call us on the number below for your free consultation

*Treatment is not intended for pets other than aquatic fresh water species. Cannot help the truly psychotic of fish population."

Be ready for my infomercials if she doesn't snap again

ROFLOL!!!!!!!