Convicts

[Squirt0170]

Aren't they really territorial as well?

[Sicklid]

I put four small convicts (1 male, 3 females) in my 55 community setup with large angels, gouramis, and tetras, stupidly thinking it would be awhile before they "paired off". Well, "awhile" was about a day, and then all **** broke loose. The male chose a female, they first began to demolish the other 2 female cons (I gave them back to the store). Then, they dug a pit, spawned and set their sights on ANYTHING that moved in that tank. They systematically killed fish one at a time, over a week, until I had nothing left. Nothing... I was angry, cause my gouramis were big adults I had grown out. I felt terrible, but I had nowhere to put all the other fish. I was naive, what can I say?

[ksfishguy]

I started with 5 cons and 5 firemouths a couple of months ago in a 55. I've been hoping to get a breeding pair of both and take back the others. All of the fish were very young when I got them, all about an inch or so.

I took two male cons back last week which left one male and two females.
Kept all five firemouths because no pairs have formed. All fish are growing like crazy except for one female con.

Bought more rock and rearranged the tank two nights ago. The next day a pair of cons hooked up. They are now very, very dark and very, very aggressive. At the same time this was happening, my firemouths gained incredible colors. They were nice before, but I can't believe the red on their stomachs. The firemouths are now getting chased by the cons, and fighting with each other. They square off with flared gills and turn almost black.

It is interesting that not much was happening in regards to pairs forming until I added more rocks/caves and rearranged the entire tank. My cons paired up almost instantly after the new setup was in place.

One thing about my con pair, they play with each other constantly . They swim thru caves and small cracks in the rocks. I have a feeling they are looking for a place to spawn. You can really tell when they pair up, they curl up against each other. Also, my male used to chase the female and she would take off to the other side of the tank. Once paired, she darts and stops, then chases him, they go back and forth. My ten year old son can't get over how much fun these fish are...neither can I!

I hope to quickly pair/sex two of the firemouths and take the others back. I may have two pairs forming, but have to wait and see.

If you are thinking about cons, go for it. I have another tank that I will try to use the fry as feeders. I also made an informal agreement with my local fish store to take some in for credit. They are very cooperative, especially since their main caretaker is a former student of mine One of my neighbors is also going to take some fry for feeders.

I will get some updated pics posted soon, here are a few older ones. Good luck, I look forward to hearing what you decide.

[Jman17H]

My parents, not knowing anything better, bought 4 convicts that destroyed all there other fish and they now have 100 or more in a 55 (it is a mess but they do not have to do anything with it) and have given away probably hundreds more. I at one point had 2 breeding pairs in separate tanks and one pair killed my turtle by trapping him under a rock when they had little ones. That was definetly a sad day right before Christmas of 05. I have since pawned off all my convicts and i think that person has since pawned them off. For such a little cichlid there sure pack a punch of death.

[ksfishguy]

I have concerns that I won't be able to get rid of the fry. If it gets out of hand I will take back one from the mated pair and only keep one. I want to try this for awhile, it is great for my son to watch the process as well.

[Jman17H]

When I was unfortunately breeding them I could not find a store that would take them. I definetly could not sell them and the reaction I got when asking if places would take them off my hands as a gift was basically "please no" and "anything else would be fine". I ended up feeding the fry to other fish (BGK & Oscars) and even then some showed up months later as adults. For fry they seemed to be quick?

And if you leave them alone for 8-10 months it will get out of hand.

The adults ate snails maybe even better than a loach. I have read articles about the meanest cichlids and some people place these as meaner than jaguars and others that get 16-18". They are probably the meanest smaller fish around when they are breeding and raising fry.

They seemed to do fine if you separated the males and females. My opinion would be that the females are much prefered since they only get 2-3" and have much more coloration. When they want to breed their bellies get red/orange splotches whereas the males are just bland colors and can get 5-6".

[ksfishguy]

What do you mean when you say that you left them alone for 8-10 months? How often did they spawn? How many were produced each time? Did you have any other fish in the tank other than the pair?

I know I have a lot of questions, just want to prepare...

Thanks!

[IceH2O]

My cons have so many fry at one time its impossible to count how many there are. If I had to guess I'd say 100+ fry with each batch.

I just let them grow out some and start netting them into my Birchir/Ctenopoma acutirostre tank.

Right now I have a divider between the cons, for some reason the male started tearing the female up with the last batch. After all the fry are gone I'll remove the divider and see what happens.

[ksfishguy]

Sounds good. I've got a buddy at the LFS that will take whatever I have. They have plenty of tanks that could use some good feeders. Even if they don't give me credit, I will get a discount now and then, plus they will order whatever I want and won't charge extra for shipping.

[Sicklid]

I have concerns that I won't be able to get rid of the fry. If it gets out of hand I will take back one from the mated pair and only keep one.

Keep one thing in mind: if you leave the fry in there, the parents will eat most of them themselves when the next batch is about due... But the babies ARE tough and can hide pretty good when it's time, so sometimes 25-30 can still survive with no problem.

Another thing is, make sure to feed lots of quality, conditioning, protein-based foods or the female won't have the capacity to keep producing eggs and will be beaten up (or worse) by the male if she won't reproduce (another reason mom will eat the last batch - they are protein). Hiding places will help her too, as well as tank dividers.