question about convicts

[discusdoodie]

i have a male marble convict and a female dark convict. i was wondering if they will mate even if they are different colors? they are young still maybe 1.5 inches in length but the female is much more aggresive and chases the male everytime he gets near. is this normal? and will they mate?

 

[ferret]

You may need to provide some more information. I've never heard of 'marble' convicts. The normal two varieties are normal 'Black' convicts, and Pink convicts. The pink's are really the same fish, just line bred to be pink, almost like an albino variety. Pinks and Black can and will successfully mate, with about 25% of the offspring being pink.

Black convict females have an orange splotch on their stomachs and lower sides. This is the main way to tell them apart. As always your milage may vary, but the general rule is that this fish is extremely aggressive once a breeding pair has been established, and somewhat even before that point. Males will generally not tolerate each other for long, or extra females. This fish is almost entirely a 1:1 ratio fish. Breeding pairs generally must be kept alone without other fish due to aggression.

 

[discusdoodie]

the marble convict is pink in color, with black spots. it is not a pink convict. i think i should try with a pink convict male.

 

[ferret]

I went and did some research on "Marble" convicts. They have a similar scientific name but are not the exact same species. I do not know if they are a hybrid or another fish altogether.

Black and Pink convicts are: Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum
Marble Convicts are: Archocentrus nigrofasciatus

update: That was what I initially turned up. Further searching listed both names for both fish, and a research paper that mentioned both variation as the same fish settled it. I now believe they are one and the same. I would therefore expect breeding.

Here's a decent profile on them: http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/profiles/profileview.asp?RecordNo=469

For future reference for anyone curious, either of the above names are for a convict cichlid (Marbled, pink or black). The most common naming I saw was for them to be listed as Archocentrus (Cichlasoma) nigrofasciatum.

 

[discusdoodie]

thanks a lot! kudos to you my friend!

 

[discusdoodie]

haha another question. sorry. i added a slightly larger dark male convict ( he was the dominant male at the LFS) and now he has taken over a small cave, but he wont let the female near it. is this bad? normal? also i have a pink female coming in, so then in the tank i will have 1 pink female, 1 matrble male, 2 dark male and female. also my larger dark male isnt as dark as he was in the fish store. is there a reason for this?

 

[e-cat]

how big of a tank is this? i would get ride of one of the males if its any thing under 55gal. i had a male breed with three females, he would take turns with each of them and leave them too guard the eggs and fry. cichlids change color with tehre moods and since it sounds like you just put him in the tank, he is probably just getting used too the new tank. the reason hes chaceing off the female is cause hes claimed a teritory and is trying too settle down in the tank. the female pink will also have red/orange on there belly, iv noticed threw experience that the pinks are more aggressive the black convicts.

 

[discusdoodie]

i have a 30 gallon.

 

[ferret]

The males will likely begin to fight and/or kill each other once breeding truly begins. Right now they're settling into the tank.

I got a trio initially, because I wasn't sure the sex of one. They're small juvi's, under an inch. At first they all just swam around. Then the largest chased both off. Then after two weeks the second male was at the corner of the tank, while the female followed the large male around. I had to remove the second male, he now lives with my oscars (Who, despite him being just a hair too large to eat, but just a tiny hair, have left him alone. After a few days of hiding he actually swims with them)

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

I would have to agree with E-cat's suggestion to remove one of the males: a 30 gallon tank is fine for one breeding pair of cons- but not large enough for two territorial males. From my own experience with convicts, I would keep the better of the two males and both females; when the male pairs off with one of them, take the other back and enjoy cichlid parenthood. You'll quickly have a tank full of babies!

Ferret:

Archocentrus seems to be the currently accepted classification for convicts and some of the other similar Central American species. Cichlasoma was a catch-all for many of the American species years ago, but things are slowly being re-classified. The joys of trying to keep up with cichlidae.