My New Pink Convict Cichlids

[DragonBlade123]

I went to 3 LFS and finally find some Convict Cichlids. I got 2 Pink Convicts and 1 of them has a some orange on its belly. The other is just pink and its fins are longer than the other. I read some stuff saying that they are agressive but they don't seem really aggressive with my blue gouramis. Maybe it's because they are 1 inch and my blue gouramis are 3-4 inches. Well I need to know what kind of food they should eat. I have freeze dried plankton and some fish flakes. When they get bigger (and if I got a female and male) and want to spawn do I need anything for them. Also what other info do I need to care for these kinds of fish. Thanks.

 

[DragonBlade123]

Update: It's been like 5 hours since I got the fish and they are already starting to get use to the tank.

 

[mulron]

IIRC, I beleieve the one with the orange belly is a female and the one with longer fins is a male.

As far as food, they eat anything. The above food is just fine.

They are VERY aggressive. I would be very supprised if they don't try and take out the gouramis.

No other real info about them. When they are ready to spawn they are egg layers and They will normally build a hole in the gravel or find a rock to nest on.

Oh and when all of the fish are cornered on the top of the tank You know they are spawning or have spawned.

Over all fun fish

 

[Somethingfishy]

Spot on mulron, the orange belly gave it away. You need to be very careful when they start spawning, they are ready to spawn from about 4 months old, which is only about an 1" big, and they become very aggressive. I have a pair and they are not scared, I have an 8" Parrot and a 10" Jaguar, my two convicts are probably aroung the 5" (male) and 3" (female), and they have cornered off half of the 130G I have them all in. They become very aggressive.

Good luck.

 

[DragonBlade123]

thanks for the info

 

[DragonBlade123]

I guess my convict likes it next to my filter and air stone or they still need some time to fit in. my male one does that only. the female doesn't its kind of weird. Btw can I put some plants in the tank

 

[Somethingfishy]

No the convicts when breeding will tear all plants and anything else to shreds. When they spawn they dig holes, so word of advice, don't make the tank look all that great because within three days of the convicts deciding to spawn you tank will be a disaster area.

When they are new they will hide. Mine only got used to me after about 4 months.

 

[DragonBlade123]

Do convicts like strong current or weak currents cuz my Penguin 170 seems a bit too strong for my 20 gallon.

 

[kribbz]

haha i had some convicts with my oscars back in the day and man can they be mean. they would have fry every month, hundreds of them and they would corner the oscars to the top right corner of the tank everytime. then once the oscars got brave enogh they would swoop down and take out a few fry at a time. but not without a fight. lots of fin nipping and chasing. i eventually got rid of mine but they were really fun to watch while i had them. congrats on your new fish!

 

[mulron]

They will adjust to any flow really.

 

[nugrad2005]

Aggressive convicts? Mine isn't really aggressive at all. Mine is just black and white(gray), not the colored ones like you were talking about. I guess i should clarify. They aren't aggressive toward the other fish. They are territorial like every other fish on the planet, but don't really bother the other fish. They're in a 55g brackish tank with about 16 other sicklets. Maybe he's just a nice guy.

As far as food goes they'll eat anything. He'll eat flakes, beef hearts, bloodworms, frozen cryll(Sp?), and they love feeder fish. Just be mindful that the convicts are scavengers, so once they find some food they grad a hold of it and drag it to the bottom, usually to their hiding place. This can get annoying, but hey, its nature.

-Dan