Juvenile/young Convicts Markings

[smithy05]

hi i have 2 small convicts roughly bout 1.5 - 2 inch tops neither have orange/red markings to suggest a female yet i found wot i think are eggs anyone had this before?? im almost certain they laid the eggs as 1 convict getting slightly aggressive to firemouth (other fish in tank are ok and not being attacked) do females only get the orange markings at certain age??? i did adjust the temp to 28-30 as my room is freezing (no window dont ask) any ideas??? me firemouths been moved to seperate tank hopefully they breed to. but for now i need advice on the convicts

 

[smithy05]

can no1 help me?? or are convict ppl not woke up yet LOL please help as i dont want a tank of dead fish save bit on fish food but not as nice looking hahaha

 

[blitztidus]

Can you take a picture of everything. It definately sounds like a pair. They may start breeding as little as 1 1/2 inches now a days, that is the smallest I have had.

 

[smithy05]

i try and get pics but take lil while everytime i put camera near glass they turn head on to the camera LOL

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

I've seen the orage markings on female Convicts as small as 1" in size. And like has already been said, they will start to breed at about 1 1/2" - 2". Don't expect the first few spawns to be successful though, it may take them a few attempts to 'get it right' but eventually they will.

 

[smithy05]

ok cheers they were laid sometime yesterday (thursday) and i think i read it 2-3 days they should so i keep ya posted on how it goes as i may need more advice once the fry are there what do i feed the fry for starters and how long after there born should i start feeding em i need loadsa info i want em to grow to big chiclids :lol

 

[valleyrich]

I almost wouldn't bother trying to save the first batch. The parents will almost certainly eat them no matter what you do. There are many reasons for this, ask if you want to know. For future batchs remove other fish if you want them to live. Feed some sort of fry food after 2-3 days. (this is a little early but I keep a clean tank and this boosts the amount of food avail. later on) The parents do almost all of the work. The tank will need more work while you are rearing fry. They add a massive load to the nitrogen cycle. After 4-6 weeks separate the fry from the parents. They will be driving the parents nuts about now and the fry don't need them anymore. This may be a good time to cull some of the less desireable ones out. Note: just because they are smaller doesn't mean they have bad traits. Look for things like deformities. I also take into account which ones are most able to evade the net.

Hope this helps. And remember this is just my opinion, if yours is different post it.

 

[smithy05]

well convicts laid eggs thursday so hopefully 2moro (sunday or monday) i keep everyone posted plus my larger convict i been studying her and if ya look very closely once she stopped swimmin u can just see a faint orange sheen more like a thin line but its there nothing ate the eggs yet and the female hasnt got to aggressive towards other occupants she chases male quite a bit but nowt serious he just steers clear but yeah i keep yas all posted.