Convict chichlids

[HouLiGaN]

Hi guys... i might have a problem on my hands so any advise is appreciated.


I have 2 convict cichlids , one female and one male in a 20ish gallon tank. They are still young. I added the male 2 days ago but i have notice a quite big problem i could say yesterday and today.

My female is swimming around like the queen of the aquarium etc. But my male keeps on sitting on top of the filter (see pic).
My male is just a tiny bit smaller then my female. Before i added the male, the female was always hiding, but once i added my male, she started to swim around with him for a bit, then she started to chase him around, at first it didn't look aggressively , but now it kinda does, for when i feed them if she sees him trying to eat she will chase him off until he sits on top of the filter. If the male is anywhere but on top of the filter the female will chase him.

Only when he sits on top of the filter the female will not chase him. So he has found like a hiding place ... I'm not sure what to do. I really want them to pair up etc so they can breed me some convicts.


Thank you in advance.
Just so you guys wont start saying, it will be crowded if they breed. I know, i have a near future plan to add a 120 gallon tank to my house. And make that into a community tank and keep my 20ish gallon tank for breeding , quaritine or healing purposes

 

[HouLiGaN]

just figured out how to post pics

 

[cbourg746]

she is more than likely testing him to see if he is a good mate. if she finds him unfit for breeding, she will probably kill him.

 

[HouLiGaN]

So we can safely say that he is failing the tests. Is there anyway I can help get him get a "A" ? Xexe

 

[haleybeth30]

can't see your pic. I'm having the same problem. my largest convict has no tail now! I think it's going to pull through, but was worried.. but mine are in a 55 with a jack dempsey. What's strange is the smaller convict that's not beat up hides all the time except to chase others away (especially the larger one with no tail) but hasn't come out to eat in 3 or 4 days... I don't know if the convicts are fighting or if JD beating up on them both. They used to team up against the jack... I am cycling a 30g for the cons now. I don't know if yours will mate up or not, but as you mentioned a larger tank will help, I think. I'm sure you'll get better advice soon, I believe a lot of folks breed/have bred cons on here

 

[HouLiGaN]

can't see your pic. I'm having the same problem. my largest convict has no tail now! I think it's going to pull through, but was worried.. but mine are in a 55 with a jack dempsey. What's strange is the smaller convict that's not beat up hides all the time except to chase others away (especially the larger one with no tail) but hasn't come out to eat in 3 or 4 days... I don't know if the convicts are fighting or if JD beating up on them both. They used to team up against the jack... I am cycling a 30g for the cons now. I don't know if yours will mate up or not, but as you mentioned a larger tank will help, I think. I'm sure you'll get better advice soon, I believe a lot of folks breed/have bred cons on here

I think when they team up its a good sign of pairing , you should pay a bit more attention to your fish so you can notice who is fighting who ...
Can your convict still get around with no tail/fin or is he having problems?

 

[haleybeth30]

he gets around great, considering.. I do watch them often, these things can happen overnight.. I see the jack give chase, but not continuously. I never see the other convict. It won't come out to eat. This other tank is really close to being cycled, soon they will have a space of their own and hopefully they get along... btw, my fish are around 1 in. the bigger one maybe a little over

 

[HouLiGaN]

I have noticed today that, my males fins are also disappearing slowly slowly ...

. I believe he will not have no chances against my female convict he doesn't even try to fight back, hes just a fish-punching bag...

 

[haleybeth30]

aww poor guy, my 55g and convicts are in the kitchen (3 tanks in my living room) I've been watching today while I cleaned up. I'm having same problem =( finally got a good look today, it's not the JD, it's definitely the cons fighting eachother. my other one is missing part of its tail.. I'm going to move one con and my firemouth to a 30g before too late. Good luck with your fish!

 

[HouLiGaN]

aww poor guy, my 55g and convicts are in the kitchen (3 tanks in my living room) I've been watching today while I cleaned up. I'm having same problem =( finally got a good look today, it's not the JD, it's definitely the cons fighting eachother. my other one is missing part of its tail.. I'm going to move one con and my firemouth to a 30g before too late. Good luck with your fish!

ty haleybeth, good luck with your fish also ...
Tomorrow i'm going to go out to the pet shop and get me a nice looking fish that can cope living with cons etc...
This way there might be 3 scenarios..
1) it will fight the female one, so maybe she will calm down.
2) the 2 convicts gang up against it , that way they will bond and help there pairing speeden up, and hopefully buy some time to let my male convict heal or something .
3) Everyone lives happily ever after...
If the new fish tho is attacked badly etc, i will look on removing him and maybe giving him to my friend to keep. I don't see any entertainment in having a third fish as a practice target etc.

I think i will try to get a male american cichlid, i heard all american cichlids can breed amongst one another... I am not sure if this is true, but as a new fish owner, i like to experiment, and hopefully i will be successful, and if i do make mistakes, well lets say there is no better way to learn, then to learn from your mistakes...