Keeping Convicts?

[karigupi]

Does anyone keep convict cichlids?

I'm considering these for my revamped 160ltr tank, I have fallen for them after seeing them in my LFS, the tank has fine gravel, some bog wood & thats about it, if I added some good sized rocks, would it be ok do you think?

Are there any good tank mates? How many would I be able to keep in this size tank?

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Convicts are overly aggressive, and for this reason they are not very popular.... I'd suggest you keep 4 males (cause if there are any females, they will breed - and you will be stuckwith the fry) They will do fine with Deacons, African Jewels or Blue Acara.

 

[nmonks]

I think in a tank 160-litres in size you're bore of convicts very quickly. Such a tank will be too small to add many other fish, and as said above, they will breed and you'll have hundreds of fry without any hope of selling or giving them away.

If you want cichlids, be a bit more selective. Find a smallish species that's popular in the trade, so you can sell the juveniles, should you get any. But you also want to choose a species that's interesting to keep, and perhaps even difficult to breed, so there's a challenge as well as a certain rarity to the species, making it of interest to other hobbyists or retailers.

Possible choices might be one of the rarer kribs such as Pelvicachromis subocellatus; any of the fast-water Nanochromis or Steatocranus; the Bolivian ram Mikrogeophagus altispinosus; or one of the smaller acaras such as Laetacara curviceps. All of these are easy to mix with midwater fish from appropriate habitats.

Cheers, Neale