Questions about Convicts

[GirlinWayside]

if this is a repeated question, I apologize. I tried to search it out and for some reason when I search it comes back "Page cannot be displayed".. anyhow...

someone has offered to give me some convict fry. I already know they breed like crazy. I have a 55 gal tank. My questions are....

1- how often do they breed??
2- how old are they when they start breeding??
3- How many should I get??
4- Is there anything else I should know before taking on these??

 

[GirlinWayside]

 

[xamdarb]

do you have any other fish in that tank if so only get one cause there super aggresive when you get a male and femalehmmmmm im not really sure how many you could put in a 55 4 maybe 3

 

[AnthonyRobinson666]

If empty try a pair, females have a rainbow type sheen on thier bellies (like oil in water!) if th fry are to young to tell get half a dozen, with th intentions of off loading th rest as soon as a pair forms, or they'll die any way!

breeding can start as small as about 1" 1/2 (so i've heard)

'OR'

I once kept 4albino convicts in a 90l, th secret is they were all males, an got on fine... th odd scuffle
but nothing to serious, were i had to interveen(?)

If a pair you must take the new fry out at about an inch or th parents will turn on them, an by new fry i mean, put a pair of convicts in a bucket an they'll breed!

may sound harsh but there so productive ive known ppl use th fry as feeder fish

hope it helps
A Robinson

 

[pica_nuttalli]

heh, do you want fast advice or good advice?

simple answer: don't put a male/female pair of convict with anything less aggressive than the convicts.

not so simple answer: wait around until freddyk or someone else who's brilliant can give you some spot-on advice.

while we're waiting, what are the potential tankmates for the convicts and how will you get rid of the fry? (most LFS won't take convict fry b/c there are too many of them and convicts are too aggressive for most tanks)

 

[AnthonyRobinson666]

I was talkin pair only, mayb a few catfish!
might keep fry no.s down to...

agree all one sex would be better in my opinion...

fry of th same sex that grow together usually get on ok,
just remember to take out th other...

ARobinson

ps all fish are differant so th odd fish may go against th grain

 

[GirlinWayside]

I want good advice..

Im not really in a big hurry. I seriously doubt this girl is gonna run outa convict fry - she has 4 breeding pairs! Im not sure how old they are - Im hoping they are old enough to tell the sex - Im thinking I should get either all males or all females because I would not know what to do with 100's of fry each month! and plus, Im really not too keen on getting something to eat the babies.. to me they are just not meant to be feeder fish. Although, Id love to have a bredding pair, I just would not know what to do with all the babies

I was only planning on having the convicts for now. I know they are rather agressive _ I had two one time with a Jack Dempsey but not for very long. If I add anything else to the tank it will be an algae eater of some sort.

 

[GirlinWayside]

ok, well, I have decided to take some of this girls fry - she has tons and needs to get rid of some and i think it would be a good experience to raise some from babies. She is going to bring me 12 tomorrow. Once they get big enough to tell the sex I will try to give some away. If something happens and I cant get rid of them, I guess everyone will just have to buy me tanks for Christmas!

I was originally planning on pullin my UGF since It has been in place this particular time for almost 6 years but my water tests great - PH is 7.5, ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0 - so I think im just gonna leave it for now. i dont see any need in fixing something thats not broken. IYKWIM

 

[FishFreaks]

Convicts start breeding at about 3/4 in my experience and the do so alot. If your going to be raising 12, they will start pairing off and they will breed. Our first spawn we had about 100 survive out of about 150 eggs. with convicts, you can sex them easily at a young age.

 

[GirlinWayside]

Convicts start breeding at about 3/4 in my experience and the do so alot. If your going to be raising 12, they will start pairing off and they will breed. Our first spawn we had about 100 survive out of about 150 eggs. with convicts, you can sex them easily at a young age.

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thanks for the info. these fry are still teeny-tiny and may not even survive the move they are soo small BUT, she is going to flush them and I just cant bear that thought! even for something that multiplies so rapidly! So, Im guessing ( and thats all it is) that I have a little bit of time before they get big enough to breed. I will house them in my 55 gal tank and they will be by themselves. Ive done some reading up and I know how to feed them and stuff so it should not be too much of a problem.

 

[FishFreaks]

nope, they are very easy to take of. Even when breeding, mom and dad do all the work

 

[GirlinWayside]

I had a pair of convicts when I first stared out with fish and gave them away because I could tell I had too much in my tank. I had a 55 gal with one oscar, two convicts and a pleco.. that was about 17 years ago - now that I think about it, I remember having babies at one time and then the next day or two they were gone - guess the oscar ate them.. lol - anyhow, I love convicts always have.. I guess they get a bad rep due to the tendency to reproduce so rapidly.. But since I am gonna ge fishless and the need a home, Im gonna take them..

sorry, edited for typos..