Journal: Breeding Black Convict Cichlids

[falcon1]

March 9.
Bought a breeding pair of convicts from petsmart today. Both are healthy. Female is on the verge of spawning. She is stuffed full of eggs. The fish are only about 2" long. The female is slightly larger. They are definitely a pair. They were housed with Jack Dempseys at the store, and were defending a spawning site at the back of the tank. The main conflict I witnessed was the largest JD approaching the site. The female rose to meet him. They locked jaws, but the JD was much stronger. The male seemed to notice the problem, and charged the JD head on, and went absolutely ballistic on it, driving it to the other side of the tank.
 
The female is already back at work setting up for spawning. The fact that she didn't even wait a while to settle in makes me sure she is close to laying eggs. Hope the male gets settled in quick.

 

[attibones]

Cool. Keep us posted. Have you any pictures of them? I was about to settle on convicts before I decided to go with GBR.

 

[falcon1]

Whats a GBR?
 
March 10.
 
I thought they were days away. Turns out more like hours. The female spawned either last night or early this morning. It took me awhile to realize it. I put some bloodworms in the tank to help them settle in, as that is what worked with my oscar. The male had a free for all eating them, but the female stayed in the cave. She only ate the ones that floated right to the cave mouth. The other thing I noticed is that she reagained full breeding colour. After I got them, they both dulled in colour a lot. The male is still fairly dull, but slowly regaining it, but the female is stunning. Really strong contrasting stripes.
 
After awhile, I began to wonder why she would not leave the confines of the cave. Last night she was the most active, presumably looking for a nest site. I began to wonder what was up as she kept swimming out of sight to the top of the cave. At first I thought she was laying the eggs, but then I realized the huge bulge in her side was gone. So now I'm guessing she is fanning the eggs.
 
The male is sticking with her for the most part. Occasionally he will dart from shelter to shelter around the tank, but he quickly returns to her side. I'm hoping he has fertilized the eggs, and not been too stressed by the move to remember his duties.

 

[falcon1]

Found out what a GBR is.
 
Another thing worthwhile to mention is that I have started an infusoria culture to feed the fry. Should be ready by the time they need food.

 

[falcon1]

This http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752217&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInCA%2FNo is what they are breeding in.

 

[falcon1]

March 11
 
Ok, so I may have been hasty in saying the eggs have been layed. The female still stayed in the cave most of the day, and she does seem interested in the roof, but I now think she is cleaning it for eggs. I put some bloodworms in, and the male was quick to come out to eat. The female stayed in for an extra minute, but then broke down and came out. Her colours are only deepening, as are the male's. He had only 3 black spots where stripes should be when I got him. Now you can see stripes, but they are not dark. The reason I think the eggs have yet to come, is that the female still seems to hava a bit of a bulge, but it does not seem as big to me, however I could be wrong. Both fish stick together almost all the time. Usually they just hang out in the cave. Sometimes, when the male leaves, then returnes, the female seems to misidentify him, and goes into attack mode, before realizing it is him. This behavior leads me to believe that the cave is special to them, and that this will be the spawning site. It is also the only place where they seem at ease, though they are definitely settling in.

 

[dougie]

Good luck (although you won't need luck with convicts! ) any pics?

 

[falcon1]

I'll try to get some. Not that much to see yet though. Except for when the bloodworms are in, and when they see their reflections in the glass. Other than that, the female just fiddles around with stuff in the cave, often out of sight, and the male usually pokes his head out every minute or so. Sometimes he will make a round of the tank. I won't make an entry today as things are pretty much the same as yesterday, save for their sudden agression to reflections.


And since convicts are easy to breed, I thought I would try to selectively breed them for longer fins or brighter colours, or something. If I get an albino at any point, should I keep it? Does anyone know if albinism can be passed down through generations?

 

[falcon1]

March 14
 
 
Their behavior has really changed. The female has also somewhat lost her red spot: it is now pink. This morning I saw them doing what looked like what they are supposed to do when they have fry. Apparently they will pich up fry that stray and deposit them back with the rest. That is what it looked like. I went closer but could not see any. Would they be almost too small to see if there were indeed fry? Another difference in behavior is that unlike previous times, the female was reluctant to leave for extended periods of time to get bloodworms. I am a novice at breeding so I really do not know the signs to look for.

 

[falcon1]

Trying to work out pic size

 

[falcon1]

 
 

 
 
 
 
 


Sorry for poor quality images. Click to enlarge. Male is duller. I may try to get better pics later.

 

[Awilcox]

Sometimes the convicts are tricky. My female will convince me she must have eggs... Then a few days later she will be back to normal, soon enough you'll have more babies than you'll know what to do with!

 

[falcon1]

March 17
 
The past few days the pair went out of breeding colours, and now back into them. They have also dug a large pit in the back of their cave

 

[dougie]

Sometimes the convicts are tricky. My female will convince me she must have eggs... Then a few days later she will be back to normal, soon enough you'll have more babies than you'll know what to do with!

I agree! Be patient with them, once they crack it they'll be like underwater rabbits

 

[falcon1]

March 18
 
Babies!!! They aren't wrigglers either...they look to be at least 5 days old. Maybe even my first estimate as to when they laid their eggs was correct. This is the first time that the parents have led the babies out of the cave, which is why it took so long to discover them. I crushed some flakes, and after feeding the parents their bloodworms, I dumped them in. The babies showed minimal notice, so I expect they are getting food somehow. They were picking at the side of the cave, so maybe grazing on some microscopic algae or something. I won't take pictures just yet. I'll wait for the parents to settle down (they are acting quite agitated.