Convicts - help setting up tank....

[3Corsameal]

Hello all.

Have had my 12.5 gallon tank setup a while now, all is going well, is well balanced. i had 8 small convicts in there at the moment, they only little, most about an inch long.

anyway, have just got a bigger tank, a 25 gallon one, and want to set it up in another room and transfer a few of the bigger one's to it.

what would be the best setup for them.. i,e: gravel, decorations, etc?

i went to LFS at weekend and really liked the look of the fine/little gravel..........

Any pointers?

 

[Fruitbat]

3Corsameal...

Convict cichlids, Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum, are typical pit-spawning cichlids that will re-arrange your aquarium to suit their needs. This means that it isn't a good idea to plan any fancy landscaping in the tank and live plants are probably not going to be a good idea.

The best setup for cichlids like that would be a nice gravel bottom (you don't want the substrate to be too fine because they'll eventually dig in it and really fine gravel will make a cloudy mess in your tank) with some nice rock structures...a cave or two perhaps and maybe a nice piece of driftwood. You'll want to make sure that there is some open area on the bottom for the fish to use when they decide to spawn. If you want some greenery....I recommend that you use plastic plants. Some of them look pretty darned realistic.

Hope this helps!

 

[jaowl]

I just 'adopted' 4 baby convicts about 6 wks ago. There are in a 90 gal tank with goldfish, 2 small plecos, & 2 algae eaters. How big do convicts get? I can tell that 1 of the convicts is a female(I believe) because of orange dots like color on her sides.(or am I just 'dumb' and don't know what I am seeing)

The goldfish already rearrange the gravel!!

 

[Fruitbat]

Convict cichlids will reach lengths of up to 6 inches or slightly more. You're correct in identifying the fish with the orange scales on the sides as a female.

 

[ferret]

Normally I post all sorts of info on convicts, but FB beat me mostly

I must as always stress though: Convicts are extremely aggressive and territorial when breeding!!!

With 8 in a tank (And too small of a tank at that, despite their small size), once two pair up you're going to likely have a death or three.

My pair of breeding convicts are 2 inches and 1 inches (male/female). They attack 7 inch Oscars and successfully drive them away from the breeding site.