baby black convicts:}

[hippiefish22]

I have inherited 4 black convict fry, and I really love them! I got them from the pet store where I work because we can't sell any fry that are born in store, we have to adopt them out or give them away. So, I have wanted to try cichlids, and these seemed to be a good place to start. I may end up having all of them when they are grown, so I need some pointers.

1. What size tank would be ideal to keep them all together?

2. Would it be ideal to keep them together?

3. Will I ever be able to mix them with anything else?

 

[nikcasper]

20-30 gallons should be enough, if you want more fish you should start bigger.
have a few good spots for them to hide around a bit as they are aggressive, and if theres both genders a dominant pair will emerge that might beat up the others but thats ok if you have hiding spots and sight blocks.

once they get bigger they sometimes have crazy spawns leaving you tons of fry. and as far as compabality just check my signature.

also you mght wanna get a crayfish if your convicts ever spawn

 

[SinisterKisses]

You won't be able to keep all four together most likely. A pair will form and take over the entire tank. At the very least, you'd need a 55gal tank with two very different, distinct territories on either end.

Why on earth would they want to get a crayfish if they spawn? Cons would eat a cray when it molts, and a cray would try to eat the fish when they sleep.

 

[nikcasper]

duh.......you try to be so smart sometimes but it just comes out stupid. If you wanna have convicts and have fry but dont want a billion all the time get a crayfish, they will eat off some of the young and keep the population in check. Its also fun to watch the cray fight the convicts.

And no they won't just eat the crayfish, can you tell me a personal experience of yours where you watched your crayfish get torn apart by convicts?

the cray fish should be safe till it molts after it molts if he gets caught he'll be dead. other wise the crayfish will have to much fight in him to be taken down and to hard of a shell.
"this is from experience in my CONVICT +OSCAR TANK i had a 1 armed crrayfish that lived for 6 months molted once in the tank even and then was eatin after he molted again...i was not around

and seriously a 55 galllon, ive met people with 27 pink convicts "even though they were ugly" in a 29 gallon tank.

 

[hippiefish22]

Okay. Each of my sisters would like to try out luck with some cichlids. One sister is going to take 2, and the other sister just wants 1, leaving me with one. So now the question is, if my sister that ends up with the pair gets 2 same sex fish, will they live together peacefully?

 

[nikcasper]

convicts arent usually peaceful fish, but if you just want to try to give her a male and a female. a trick to tell females is that they are sometimes more egg shaped than the males.

but they shouldnt be a problem together, just give em enough room.

 

[hippiefish22]

okay thank yoou Nik

 

[SinisterKisses]

duh.......you try to be so smart sometimes but it just comes out stupid. If you wanna have convicts and have fry but dont want a billion all the time get a crayfish, they will eat off some of the young and keep the population in check. Its also fun to watch the cray fight the convicts.

And no they won't just eat the crayfish, can you tell me a personal experience of yours where you watched your crayfish get torn apart by convicts?

the cray fish should be safe till it molts after it molts if he gets caught he'll be dead. other wise the crayfish will have to much fight in him to be taken down and to hard of a shell.
"this is from experience in my CONVICT +OSCAR TANK i had a 1 armed crrayfish that lived for 6 months molted once in the tank even and then was eatin after he molted again...i was not around

and seriously a 55 galllon, ive met people with 27 pink convicts "even though they were ugly" in a 29 gallon tank.

You have got to be kidding me. "It's fun to watch the crayfish fight the cons"? What is your issue? That's not fun, that's sadistic. And you give me crap for saying a con would eat a cray when it molts, then go on to make the same statement of when the crayfish molts, it will be dead - do you even pay attention to what you're writing? If anyone here is stupid, it certainly isn't me, and after keeping convicts for many years, I know exactly what I'm talking about. A 55gal tank would be the minimum for two breeding pairs of convicts to potentially happily coexist. A single pair can be kept in something smaller.

Keeping the population in check is simple...leave the parents with the fry. They'll clear out almost all of them when they're ready to spawn again. Crayfish not needed. Add a cray, and not only will it get the babies, it will go after the adults as well. And, as you repeated after I already stated, when the crayfish molts it will be eaten.

It's nice that you aim for such happy, healthy animals in your tanks. Perhaps you should consider a pet rock instead.

 

[SinisterKisses]

Oh, and for the record - "a trick to tell the sex of convicts" is not that females are more egg-shaped. Most people know how easy convicts are to sex - females have orange on their bellies starting at about the 1" mark. Males don't.

 

[kenny1tothe6]

Nikcasper,

Sinisterkisses is right, maybe you haven't had any of your cichlids eat crayfish and maybe your crayfish hasn't eaten any cichlids, IDK, different fish for different bonds...[a friend of mine kept a ton of community fish in with a cray no problem and then when he added another cray, it ate a ton of his fish] but all she's trying to do is advise that a crayfish MIGHT kill and eat everything. It might not, but that's unlikely.

She's not saying anything against you[until you basically said she's stupid] she's just *trying* to help out another fellow fish keeper who asked a question about how to keep them healthy.

 

[nikcasper]

thanks for the input kenny, and that orange trick only works if the convicts aren't inbred, sorry for my mistake i've only breed pink convicts...and with them the orange never appears. So the easy trick i know is the egg shape deal, so thanks for the criticism, and are you sure she'll be able to see the orange with them still being smaller sized fry?

and i never said to add the crayfish right away, or even add one, i said "you might want to get one if there's fry"

and there was no reason for sinister kisses to quote me when this forum is still on page one. Whatching nature isn't sadistic

 

[SinisterKisses]

It doesn't only work on convicts that haven't been inbred. It works on 99.9% of all cons...and yes, that includes PINK convicts. And it is evident on females as small as 1". Pictures taken from a google image search:

Female zebra:

Male zebra:

Female pink:

Male pink:

Females don't visibly look "egg shaped" compared to the males, they looks essentially the same. They may get a little round in the belly just before laying eggs, but that's it.

 

[nikcasper]

touche, well i wish i would of gotten to see some colorful ones like that. I just have never seen any convicts that colorful. thanks though im gonna be on the look out.

 

[SinisterKisses]

That's because most convicts in stores today are washed out, overbred cons that barely look like they "should". This is what a black zebra con SHOULD look like:

Very dark, crisp barring.

This is what MOST look like in store now.

Washed out, barely-there barring.

 

[WarGoddess77]

no way you need atleast a 55g tank...my dad as been breeding these fish for years ....they breed like crazy i mean he one time atarted out with just for like you ...and ended up with hundreds of them and if u dont watch they baby will food for they others ..just something u need to think about ahead of time...and i read a book at the pet store and saw a site that said same thing that with theses type u have to watch they have been knows to changes sexes up to 3 times a year ...so the males u have now later could become a female and so 4th ...and they cant be kept with anyy other type of fish but some types of other cichlids...alll thing u need to think about and keep in mind

 

[WarGoddess77]

I dont know where you all get this info...have have had this fish for years ...my dad has raised them for years as well...i have right now 8 med sized once in a 55 gallon tank with a coper colered pelco and a female yellow lab...they are all just fine ...no bad fighting ...my lab liek to run em off of her choosen spot but other then that they arent mean and i can hand feed all of them .....and another thing cons ahve been known to change sexes up to 3 times a year...and its hard to find info on this matter ...no one wants to let any 1 know but some of my dads if now going through this same thing and i also read this in a book it happens ...not to every 1 but to some...and do not put anything in the tank that will kill the babies ...thats just down right mean and no its not cool...to watch them fight ...i mena if u end upw ith some that do ...just sep them other wise ...lets put you and a big dude together and watch u 2 fight all the time see how that feels...best its fun to watch

 

[SinisterKisses]

oh BULL. Cons do not change sex.