Too many convicts

[Synirr]

Were discussing on how to kill them, and I suggested to flush them down the toilet... The same person who disagreed, suggested to freeze them, or stab their brains... I gave bad advice? Two things could happen, they could survive, or they could die? You would never know... If you threw them in the canal, that's pretty much the same thing as flushing them... Ever wondered what that brown plumpy stuff was, hanging on the top of the water in a Canal?

People these days

Honey, both of those outcomes of flushing you mentioned are bad. If they die, they die slowly from being exposed to raw sewage. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? Some houses (like mine) have septic tanks too, in which case there's absolutely zero chance of the fish surviving... it just gets to rot in an underground holding container full of feces and urine.

On the other hand, if it manages to beat the incredible odds and survive, you have just successfully introduced a non-native species into an environment in which is does not belong. Are you aware of the detrimental effects non-native species can have on an environment? Native species aren't equipped to deal with introduced species, so sometimes the non-native species out-compete native species for food and even prey on native species, pushing them to the verge of extinction. Non-native snakes being accidentally introduced to Guam have lead to the extinction of several species of birds on the island. Cane toads are a huge problem in Australia, as are rabbits and feral cats.

Besides the aforementioned reasons not to flush live fish, here's a very simple one: Would you rather die slowly while ammonia burned away at your skin, mouth, nose, and eyes, or would you prefer a quick blow to the head? How about a quick shock to immediately knock you unconscious so you're unaware of what's happening to you? Exactly.

In conclusion, yes, you did give bad advice. A lot of people would have said the exact same thing, so it's nothing to feel bad or embarrassed about, but next time I would recommend actually doing your research before giving advice.

 

[dualexcess]

I still feel bad about it all. I think if I felt more like it was directly my fault that we have all these guys, I'd be more ready to manage the problem with the swift action it will require. Instead, I feel a little victimized, and feel like they were, too, and so I owe something to them somehow, but maybe that makes no earthly sense, unless you're one of these people like me who wants to mother everything.

I'm pretty sure I already have clove oil, so I'm just bracing myself for the deed. It's making my flesh crawl a little bit, because they're not sick.

 

[sub.42]

Hiya,

I was almost in your position too. I learnt to let nature take its course, and I have installed birth control.

Meeki, aka firemouths.

They find the fry wherever they hide.

sub.

 

[dualexcess]

Well, they were pretty much dumped on us. My daughter has done her best, and all the fry since that time have been eaten, we're just stuck with the original first batch.

I may make the man take care of it himself, yet, but he really is busy being the good provider and all that.

 

[spAcE mOnkEy]

Yeah, i have a bunch of convicts stuck in a 10 gal. Soon ill give them to my local petstore. I'd rather just get a large bucket or container and dump em in there. But thats not gonna happen. Now i just leave the fry in the tank with the parents, i wanted to see how long they would live without being eaten.... but i keep forgetting to start recording it

 

[Mustang5L5]

I'm in the same boat i guess.

Bought two 1" convicts a while back, had them pair off and lay some eggs.

1 year later i'm still trying to get rid of the fry!!

I gave the parents away when i saw them lay their second batch of eggs. For some reason, they didn't hatch, but i took no chances and gave them away to someone on here as a breeding pair.

The fry were a different story. I started with about 30 I gave away 15 to someone to use as feeders and been picking off 1 or 2 here to give to friends or family with tanks.

I have two left. Both are Males. 1 is about 3" long with long trailing fins, the other is 1.5" and is sometimes bullied by the other convict. They live in my 40 gal and don't really start any trouble so i don't mind them being there. They don't dig up the gravel and leave the other fish alone.

But if anyone wants a healthy Convict Male local to Boston, i have two! I'll give you the larger male and keep the younger 1.5"er.

Maybe i'll pick up another female and start this circus all over again!

 

[spAcE mOnkEy]

Yeah, i tried to put one in my 55 as a feeder.... well no fish ate it. Now it just swims around all the fish, but she seems peaceful. My fry arent growing well though, so she still is only like an inch.

 

[tenxiong]

My Uncle had the same problem so what he did was, he solded it to a local pet store. If they're not buying.... well you can always dump it at a pond... ahhaha j/k

 

[dualexcess]

The fish shop didn't even want them for free, even though I was willing to prove that ours are better looking than theirs, and I know they make sales.

It may be another week before I can "handle" things. Maybe something nice will intervene.

But yeah, I've had plenty of people tell me that just one can live quite well with a number of other types of fish.

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

If you have a local ad trader paper could you just put them in there free to good home. We also have an ad trader online and often see free fish (usually massive plecs) to good homes. Or there's always ebay.

Hope this helps

Emma