convict cichlids

[medusaorange]

did anyone kept a convict cichlid (gray with vertical black stripes) before? if so, tell me about it! my father used to have hundreds of them (they bred like crazy) and he loved it. i loved it too but i don't know much of it because its been ten years or so since we had one. we got rid of them when my father's health went downfall and died. now, i really want to learn more about them and maybe to raise them.

my few biggest questions:

how to keep them from being very murderous?
how to keep them from breeding so much? they would just keep breeding and breeding then eating the babies to the bones. i hated to scoop the bones out of the tank.
how many gallons should i house maybe three of them?

[Hrafnkel]

You can't change a cichlid. They're gunna be aggressive, and being convicts, they'd find a way to breed if you dropped them on a wet paper towel. So you won't stop that, either. :P I've heard a 25-29gal is good for a pair.

[Devilishturtles]

how to keep them from being very murderous?

When you find out, let me know

If you get a breeding pair, they will not stop being murderous, unless you get something that can hold their own against them (ie: other agressive cichlids). Your best bet would probably be to try and get all of the same gender. Males are usually prettier, but I am not quite sure about agression between them.

how to keep them from breeding so much? they would just keep breeding and breeding then eating the babies to the bones. i hated to scoop the bones out of the tank.

There is no way really. As long as they feel they can, they will breed. I've noticed now though, that my pinks have stopped breeding. The female lays the eggs, guards them, and performs her motherly duties (and so does dad...) but then they will be gone. Eaten, I'm assuming. There is also about 20 or so fry left in the tank, growing quite large now. (I need to get rid of some of them).

how many gallons should i house maybe three of them?

Atleast 30 gallons, although people will tell you more probably. I kept 2 in a 5 gallon for months, while I was setting up another tank for them, and they lived happily enough to breed. (not condoning this action, just illustrating that they are a hardy and resilient species).

BTW, I have pink convicts, but their behavior is the same as the Zebras.

HTH

[medusaorange]

i would love to know why they get so aggressive. any ideas? do they eat the live plants or something like that? i would like to have a lot of hiding places, big plants, and all that for them. is sand fine for them? i can't remember what my father had in his tank, so here i am.

do you guys really think that 30 gal is enough for a few? we had a 20 gal and it was not enough when they bred. we upgraded the tank to 75 gal or so and, IMO, not enough.

are the convicts really okay with some eels? we did have many eels (can't remember what kind of eel) and plecos and the fish seemed okay with them.

[Hrafnkel]

Most cichlids get aggressive when they're breeding. Just a characteristic they have. I dunno if they eat plants. Sand should be good, I dunno if they like to dig in it (some cichlids do). A 30gal is enough for a pair, provided that you don't keep all the fry.

I dunno about the eels, or tankmates in general. This is all just what I've picked up from reading about them.

[medusaorange]

alright. i just found a cichlid forum.. what isn't a forum exist on the internet??? heh. i will check deeper on that forum and see if anything else i should know about raising them. i will have to keep a supply of egg crates if they breed.

[cichlidman06]

cichlid will be a cichlid ! a pair can be in 29 gallon for life good luck

[FishFreaks]

a pair is fine for a 29g. they will uproot the plants, especially if they are breeding. ALso they love to dig, especially around spawning time

[unknown_7]

1. There is really no way to keep convicts from being aggressive, lol. However, what I would suggest to try to keep only females and get them when they are young. I had a tank mixed with males and females and they were all collectively aggressive because some were breeding and some where actively defending their territory against other fish (mostly males),etc, and any fish that were not their species were automatically killed. However, since I only have females in my convcit tank, they tend to like to group together and huddle and never leave each other along. My bichir is in there and they pretty much leave him alone, I have giant danios and they completely ignore them. However, I put a male P.Demasoni who thought he could be the tank boss, but they quickly showed him differently, lol. So also get them young. I would try not to put too many but at the same time I would try to put enough to spread their aggression. Also make sure you almost twice as much rocks and hiding places as you have fish, so that they have their own spot and don't really have to fight over a rock.

2. The above will be perfect for you because the only way you can stop them from breeding is by purchasing only females, young females. Sometimes you can purchase a female that is pregnant and then you have babies and the babies inbreed and so on. So try to purchase the young females or females if you can't do that. However, get no males.

3. Also, I would say anything that is 30 gallons up is fine.