What will cons do when they spawn?

[bball4life]

What will cons do before and during spawning? I need to know

 

[lucky62]

establish at spot to spawn, and defend it with gusto. swimming in circles , fast , real fast .

chase away or kill other fish ,.


make huge piles with sand or gravel .

just a couple of things mine did .

IME

 

[bball4life]

Ok thanks! Im pretty sure this is a pair but im still unsure any advice and how many convicts can I have in a 29 us gallons?

 

[impur]

I would just have the 2 in there. Anything else will be killed when they spawn. Add a small flowerpot to the tank. They seem to love laying their eggs in the little den it creates.

 

[bball4life]

I have a flower pot already in there and I will remove the other cons in there with them. But how can I REALLY tell if they are a pair if there is anything else after what everyone gave me.

 

[fufanu360]

hmm mine did ALLL of the things that lucky listed, and they still are doing all those things ... no eggs yet

 

[impur]

They need practice, so don't expect to get a bunch of fry on their first try. Practice makes perfect!!

 

[mwm]

I think females get orange on their belly before the lay eggs

 

[lucky62]

I think females get orange on their belly before the lay eggs

 

[lucky62]

hmm mine did ALLL of the things that lucky listed, and they still are doing all those things ... no eggs yet

besides eating that's pretty much all they do , they like most animals , live to breed .

be patient , It'll happen and when it does " whatcha gonna do with the fry " .

Even when I kept either a male or a female alone [ by itself ] they would act this way . , trying to mate with my other fish , rocks , reflections .............me .

 

[bball4life]

I think females get orange on their belly before the lay eggs

I thought the females always had orange on their belly though .

 

[lucky62]

I think females get orange on their belly before the lay eggs

I thought the females always had orange on their belly though .

That's right , I just noticed it more when their bellies were full of rowe ,

I haven't kept convicts in the last few years , some things I forget , but other things I can never forget

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Is the 'dorsal fin extension' a reliable way to sex cons? I don't think so, because an assumed-female con (orange dots on belly, quite fat, fat, not pinecone scaled) has fin extensions as long as her partners. And the 'darker color' thing (males are darker) isn't accurate either, I don't think, as my female is darker than my male. Sorry, but are they ready to breed at about |-----------------------------| (male) and this long: |-------------------------| (female)? (about 2.25 inches and a little under 2 inches)
Sean
EDIT: Argh! After the fish has settled down under a little more light, I see the alleged male has pale orange side spots. Time to go fishing in the 45 gallon again...
EDIT2: I see now that the alleged male (which I thought was a female in my previous EDIT, has a bump on his head, quite visible. Now I think he is a male, mainly because of the 'nuchal hump' (I think its called that) and because the orange spots you can barely see, they are so faint.

 

[Opcn]

Sean it sounds to me like you need to "seperate the akwardly effeminant from the possibly canadian", go for a manlyer male, this ones hormones could be a touch off

 

[mwm]

When i had my breeding cons ( i guess all pairs are breeding pairs tho ) the females belly would get a bright orangish color before she spawn then after it would dim down but you could still see a bit or orange