breeding convicts:my log

[alison73]

Im starting this thread just to express my experiences as this is my first..Id like to invite anyone to post on here any advice or experiences as info would be apreciated...

My convicts fry is 2 days old, not much to tell except that they are being guarded well by parents from the other fish..I dont have a breeding tank and just letting nature take its course.Parents seemed to making a kind of den under some driftwood which im gathering they will be transfering fry into....

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

Hey Allison, My convicts are also now three days old, all hatched.

The story: I aquired 5 convict fry off some lady down the road from me, about 1/4" and raised them in their own tank, three of which died, and the remaining two have grown to be about an inch and a half now. It turned out one was Male and the other Female, so I then added a small flower pot from the dollar store like many people mentioned to do, and about two weeks later I noticed them cleaning it and then whitish eggs attached to the roof of the inside of the flower pot. A little more than a day later as the eggs started hatching the female would remove them from the roof and place them on the bottom of the flower pot. Now three days later there is a dark wiggling mass in the back of the pot with the Female gaurding them very carefully and the Male not far away!

I am very excited, although I know how easy everyone says they are to breed, but this is my first batch of eggs from this couple and my first egg laying fish, in the past I have only had livebearers with no parental care given.

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

Update: wigglers have vanished...disapointing, but there will be more

 

[alison73]

oh im sorry to hear that..

Well its been a week now since they hatched..free swimming now but what a nightmare..All was good as parents kept them in one corner of aquarium, now that they are moving they, the parents have been extremly aggressive to my other fish.

So i had to suck out about 200 of the fry leaving about 100 in tank..Then bought some perspex to separate parents and fry from other fish.So now i have my other fish in 2/3 of aquarium and the convicts in the other 1/3..

 

[alison73]

YouTube - convicts moving 5 day old fry

Ive put some more vids on here....

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

That sounds like alot of work for you, what are you feeding them? anything special?

I noticed today my convict parents are white as ghosts, maybe they are feeling guilty for eating their babies...

 

[alison73]

really, lol.....

Well i was told at my LFS not to feed anything different to what i feed my others. Was told that theres enough food in the tank for them to feed on.I feed mine on dry and live bloodworm, they seem to love it, some even feed from my hand!(not convicts tho lol..they have had enough of my hand!)

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

I noticed you have a sand bottom, hows that working out for you? and what kind of sand is it?

I have been thinking about doing that once I finish the stand I am making but I have heard it might ruin my HOB filter as its inlet tube is real low to the bottom of my tank.

I wish that black moon sand was cheaper, I think I am stuck with pool filter sand as its the cheapest by far

 

[alison73]

I had gravel before and wasnt keen on it, so i just changed it for sand..Again from LFS and around £5 for a bag. I find it alot easier to clean and to me i think its alot nicer.

Im not all that clued up on some stuff so i dont know whether it will ruin your filters or not..But yeah defo recommend sand if thats what you are wanting to do, worth a try anyways....

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

haha alright I'm sold!

 

[alison73]

so how long till your convicts breed again???

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

No idea, I hope soon, as I had said before that was their first batch of eggs ever! I raised them from fry so they are just learning the ropes I guess.

I would hope a max of 1 month to breed again, but I have no idea, also I am going to be moving the tank to another room and adding sand and some new rocks and stuff in the next week or so whenever I get around to finishing this tank stand. I also dont know if the change will make them take longer or not, I hope it will speed up the process as I plan on making many new caves and stuff for them.

 

[alison73]

sounds like you guna be busy...it took about 1 wk in new tank then they started..as soon as i filled it with live plants n wood they started making a den and then started their business..lol..I wont be letting it happen again,not unless i get another tank,not fair on my other fish,so im pleased with what ive seen so far,will see if these survive but no to worry if they dont..

 

[alison73]

just a quick update.....

I have had to buy a small tank to put the lil wriggers into..Wasnt fair on the other fish in tank..I did put the mother in at first but as soon as i did she started eating them so i got her back out and put her back in main tank..Fry is almost 2 wks old and doing really well, ive got about 100 left. But parents now showing different behavours...

female very depressed,but calmer....male more aggressive towards female,sometimes looks as if he attacking her, but early days yet..

 

[alison73]

Could i lose my female because i have removed the fry?? she's not looking to good

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

I wouldn't think so unless your water is off or the male has beat her up or something, send them to some counselling

 

[alison73]

lol.....waters fine, think shes really mad at me, she wont come out of hiding!! im just guna have to keep an eye on her i guess.....

 

[fearlessfisch]

Very cool video. I love their cave!

 

[alison73]

YouTube - convicts and 1 week old wrigglers.....


Just a little video i found of my little wrigglers with parents..I think they around a week old....

 

[DizzCat]

Well i was told at my LFS not to feed anything different to what i feed my others. Was told that theres enough food in the tank for them to feed on

Just wanted to let you know, if you want your fry to live then this is very bad advice! The little ones will starve to death. They need either live baby brine shrimp or crushed up flakes, depending on how big they are. If you don't feed them 3 times a day you may be lucky to get 1 very strong, smart one to survive. All the rest will slowly die off of starvation. Their advice does work with fry from mouth brooders, like Mbuna, because those fry are big when released and smart enough to grab food floating by, but fry from SA cichlids are very tiny when they become free swimming and need all the help you can give them.

I would hate for you to loose all your fry because of this terrible advice. I have raised lots of fry and I feed them 3-6 times a day, depending on what they are. For my tiny Bolivian Ram fry I feed them live baby brine shrimp that I hatch in a DIY hatchery. They are fine in wiggler stage, but need to start being fed when they become free swimming.

How are they doing?