Amorous Convicts?

[G2-B]

These two have been digging such a large hole in the corner of the tank since yesterday that they were undermining that standing rock next to them.
They are also chasing other fish away from that side of the tank.


On the other side of that same rock, another pair started digging this afternoon.
Their neighbors aren't very happy about it.

I turned the rock a bit more sideways and added a 'screen' with plastic plants to extend it somewhat.
Hopefully that will allow both pairs to come and go without starting a fight every time.
If they decide to go to war after all, they'll just have to figure it out.

 

[Andy Sager]

Keep in mind that "letting them figure it out" can easily end up with only 2 fish in the tank. Yes, Convicts are that mean, especially when they are preparing to and guarding a spawn.

 

[G2-B]

Gosh I hope it won't be that bad.
I don't have another tank ready to put those breeders in.

I'll see if I can do something to create a partition to keep them separate. How much space would a breeder pair require? Would 10 gallons of a 55-gallon tank be OK?

 

[G2-B]

I DON'T BELIEVE IT.

I moved these convict cichlids 70 miles on December 20. They were stuck in a blue barrel for the 3 days it took me to set up their tank.
They're in a 55-gallon tank with 18 convicts, 2 African cichlids and a sailfin pleco. January 1st, they looked like they were getting broody. A few days later I disrupted their nesting hole by moving the filter right over it. Today I noticed they're guarding dozens of babies on the other side of the tank.

So much for being "very aggressive." I knew they were no longer in the original nesting hole, but did not know where they were in the tank. No infighting or aggression that I noticed, but I think I probably should move that big sailfin pleco to another tank.

Convict Cichlid brood

 

[Andy Sager]

I DON'T BELIEVE IT.

I moved these convict cichlids 70 miles on December 20. They were stuck in a blue barrel for the 3 days it took me to set up their tank.
They're in a 55-gallon tank with 18 convicts, 2 African cichlids and a sailfin pleco. January 1st, they looked like they were getting broody. A few days later I disrupted their nesting hole by moving the filter right over it. Today I noticed they're guarding dozens of babies on the other side of the tank.

So much for being "very aggressive." I knew they were no longer in the original nesting hole, but did not know where they were in the tank. No infighting or aggression that I noticed, but I think I probably should move that big sailfin pleco to another tank.

Convict Cichlid brood

Consider yourself lucky that you didn't lose any other fish. Others have not been so lucky. With the farming of so many species, a lot of the natural tendencies have been bred out of the fish it seems. I always refer back to Angelfish. These fish have been bred to the hilt and I've had as many as 100 pairs at a time in my hatcheries and their personalities can be so different. Case in point, I had one female that had to beat the snot out of any potential suiter before she would spawn with them. She would typically take out one eye of her males. ( I documented this in the Wigglers at last!!!! and Birth of a hatchery threads here. ) I've had other pairs where there was no pre spawning " testing" and all went well as if they had been married for years. I've had pairs that would actually stop spawning and come to the front of the tank for food when I passed before continuing to spawn and others that would eat their eggs if disturbed. So you can never tell. As I said, the nature of convicts is that they will aggressively protect a mate and a spawn. If yours didn't do that, they must be wimpy convicts. Do you have food to feed the fry? Once they start swimming, they need to be fed.