Baby Convicts... Problem?

[AndyL]

Hi Everyone,

My brother/sister in law had a tankfull of baby convicts about a month back, so we decided to 'help' them out by taking 4 off their hands... (Wife thought they  were cute) They're now the only survivors of that spawn (BIL doesn't believe in water changes...)

Anyway, 3 of them have been doing great, the 4th I'm starting to become a bit concerned about... Its still the same size as it was when we got it (Others have more than doubled in size) it spends all its time hiding. It eats very little, and is very inactive (it just hangs out in its hiding spot all day)

Is this normal? Or should I be considering removing it from the tank?

Andy

 

[colesea]

That little guy is probably the least dominate member of your family there, and it is a very normal occurance.  I had the same problem when I took home four baby convict fry from a customer that had a whole spawn of them and didn't know what to do.  I now have one the size of a dime, two that are half the large one's size, and the 4th went MIA, I suspect he was probably eaten by someone in my tank.  #4 was the smallest, most sumbissive, and hid the most, of the convict babies.

Take out the little guy and give it some extra TLC if you're looking to raise it up. Just watch though, because the pecking order will get re-arranged again, and you might end up with another one at the bottom of the trio who doesn't seem to be doing so well.  My big, dominate convict swims around the tank boldly, eats with the other fish (even though the other fish are twice his size), and has started to show some red pigment.  The other two cruise around the bottom of the tank and are always ducking in and out of the decor, and really only show up at chow times.

Such is the nature of fish.
~~Colesea

 

[zimmerlyct]

I have two Convicts...Had three...1 male 2 fems...

anyway...1 mal and 1 fem wanted kids...i could tell by them uprooting stuff and basically making a "future" home for their babies.....the time came..they did it  & became very aggressive to other fish in tank....firemouths and jack dempsey's.......but that was understood...so, i moved them into a tank by themselves and as many babies as i could...ended up selling the babies for credit...well, the male got really aggressive to the fem and killed her...i was pissed...anyway, i bought a black spotted eel a few weeks ago and he and the convict didn't get along, so i put the convict into the tank with 1 convict...3 dempsey's and 3 firemouths....NOW HE'S MATING WITH THE OTHER CONVICT.............WHAT DO I DO...I DON'T WANT TO PUT THE OTHER FISH IN HARM BY KEEPING THEM IN THERE, BUT DON'T WANT TO put the convicts in w/ the eel.............maybe i should just stir up the rocks and stuff and keep making them start over!!!!!!!!

 

[colesea]

The only way to prevent two convicts from breeding together is not to keep two convicts together.  You will have to seperate your happy couple if you wish to prevent spawning.
~~Colesea