Convicts bred help please

[Samdaman]

Have recently and accidentally bred convicts in my 300 when should I take out the fry or will the parents take care of them and not eat them they are taking good care and are being protective of the fry which are now free swimming. All that is in the tank is the two convicts and a Texas super green.

Thank you in advance for the help

 

[Malupoo]

They will care for them. Rather brutal to any other tank mates but I'm sure a Texas will be fine.
Expect to get fry quite regularly, mine bred like rabbits

 

[Samdaman]

So I won't need to remove the fry

 

[Candi1990]

With Jacks they will eventually turn on them i dont know about convicts. I left my jacks in with fry for a few weeks (maybe more) they did a great job caring for them. I heard eventually they would eat them and i didnt want to take that chance. So once they got big enough for me to care for i got them out.

 

[Samdaman]

Please can someone tell me if I should or should not remove fry

 

[djhamp]

I just had two pairs of convicts have fry on opposite sides of my 125g. The parents protected them for a couple of weeks and the fry were huddled in the corner. One set was a little older, they were about 1/4" the last time I saw them. The last couple of days I cant see them at all anymore so I am guessing they got eaten. None of the other fish showed any interest so I am not sure who did it.

Bottom line is if you want to keep them you will have to get them out of there. Problem is what to do with them, the fish store said they would take them when they got to 1 to 1.5 inches but didn't offer any money

 

[Candi1990]

Again with jacks they are good for a few weeks. To be safe i would remove them after that just to be safe.

 

[Seryiouz]

I have two tanks full of convicts produced by a single set of parents, all of them are living together kinda peacefully...that Texas may get killed though b/c convicts are very protective.

 

[Samdaman]

Ok thank you all can the fry go in a 20l as a grow out because that's all I have ATM my boss said they would by them at 2 cm.

 

[joelbrown83]

You shouldn't remove them. The male might want to breed again to soon and turn on the female and fry but it's a learning process. Mine just bred for the first time a week ago. They are just out of puberty and have to learn how to care for fry.

 

[Candi1990]

Y'all are saying she should leave them in there indefinitely and risk them getting eaten?

 

[joelbrown83]

It's nature. It happens.

 

[Candi1990]

She wants to save them. I am not familiar with convicts I have Jacks but I think she needs good sound advice if anyone has it. It sounds as if she wants to sell them. I think to ensure their safety she needs to remove them. However she needs good living conditions for them too. I hope she looks into that too!

 

[Samdaman]

What if I was to remove half of the fry after a week and place that half in the fry tank and I will watch the ones in with the parents and If they get eaten I will still be able to sell half. Sound good?

 

[Samdaman]

She wants to save them. I am not familiar with convicts I have Jacks but I think she needs good sound advice if anyone has it. It sounds as if she wants to sell them. I think to ensure their safety she needs to remove them. However she needs good living conditions for them too. I hope she looks into that too!

What do you mean buy good living conditions

 

[Candi1990]

They still neat heat and filtration too. Almost like setting up a whole tank. Someone may have an easier way to do it, I didn't.

 

[Samdaman]

Oh ya they have the heater filter and all I'm raising end lee fry in it. But I am planning on selling them next week so as soon as the go the other fry go in

 

[Candi1990]

You should be okay for a week. I bet eventually the parents will turn on them but i am certain it wont be in just a week.

 

[Samdaman]

Is 20L or 5gallons big enough to raise the fry

 

[djhamp]

Is 20L or 5gallons big enough to raise the fry

That should be fine, they will be tiny for quite awhile. What kind of filter do you have on there? Make sure in inlet isn't big enough to suck them in! A air sponge filter works well and they are cheap.

I found this link when I was looking, it has a nice day by day account of convict fry growth:
Convict Cichlid Breeding and Convict Growth Stages

And I thought my fry were gone but I saw them last night, they are good at hiding. The parents are not very aggressive towards the other fish anymore so the tank is doing fine leaving them all in there so far.