Convict

[khyle]

hey there guys!

i got bored w/ my pair of oscar & recently returned them to my lfs in exchange of another fish. then i saw this cichlid a grayish blue w/ a black stripes on it's body about 10cm in size. the attendant said it's a male. fascinated by its color & behavior & being the only one of its kind in the tank so i bring it home. it is now in my 29g w/ rocks & cave/pot in it w/ 2 RES about 6cm in size.

i did research just now & found out that i've got a black convict. i want to give him a pal. now the question is, is it alright to add another male convict of the same size or 1 or 2 female convict? what are the pros & cons? appreciate all your comments.

 

[btate617]

if you add a male they will probably fight...... a female lots of babies

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Btate summed it up very nice.

If you add a male, like Btate said....you will have a fight. If you add a female you will get tons and tons of babies. Personally i'd go the female route, females offer an awesome color pattern, moreso then the males since the females have metallic orange scales on their belly. However, just add 1 female. SA/CA cichlids are not like africans in which they usually only court 1 female at a time.

Very cool cichlid, great to see them raise fry (because its so easy to get them to breed).

 

[Panther28]

I have 2 male convicts and the bigger one chases the smaller one around. The smaller one is not a saint either. When ever he gets a chance he hits and runs. It like a hit and run thing with him or hiding in the caves. As for getting a female. it is nice at first you know babies and all that. but after the 3rd or 4th batch it will become a headache.

 

[btate617]

and also if you are looking for feeder fish for some other fish you may have..... the female may be a good way to go. just something else to think about

 

[Panther28]

Convicts Rule

 

[khyle]

thanks guys for all the replies. now my search is on for a female convict.
i don't worry about tons of fries, i can always feed them to my koi & goldies or give some for adoption to some friends.

 

[Panther28]

After reading this post. I dont know what came over me. I bought 2 female convicts so the males can have some fun. The bigger convict is already all happy and swimming around with the bride while the smaller male is still in the process of dating. I am actually very happy that I got my male convicts something to do rather then chasing each other. At first the bigger male convict got pissed off on all the new additions but after 12 hours everything is doing good. (touch wood)

 

[Panther28]

Just wanted to show off my convicts

 

[khyle]

lucky for you Panther28. all your cichlids seems getting along well. my new male convict is a bully. i tried mixing my male yellow lab in his tank & keeps on chasing the lab, so i taken out the lab and put it back in the other tank where he used to be. so i guess i'll just keep the 29g for my convict alone w/ his future mate
just went to my lfs last night unfortunately there was not even a single convict. but i was able to buy 2 fem lab though. well.... i'll check my other lfs by tomorrow, i'm crossing my fingers to find a fem convict. can't wait to see them do the dance, laying eggs, raising fries, etc.

 

[Panther28]

well When i added the new fish my male convict would chase all of them from one corner to other. I stayed and watched for a while. But he was still doing the same. then i left them till morning and by morning they got friendly. But the smaller male convict does not want to do anything with his mate. They still chase each other around. If a tank is heavely populated then the convicts seem to adapt to the community. Convicts are usually big bullies. For how many days did you leave the yellow lab in the tank? If only for a few hours then you should try keeping them for 2-3 days. If nothing changes then you can remove them. Well I was very lucky to find 2 female convict exactly the corresponding size's to the males I have. Well good luck.

 

[khyle]

coz i had bad experience before. i mix a pair of lab w/ my pair of oscar about 3" only to found out the male lab dead the next morning, most probably due to stress of the oscar chasing him around. so i just tried for a few hrs if yellow lab & convict can b good housemates..... they don't. i can't afford any loss of my cichlids again.

 

[Panther28]

well then you did a good thing removing them. I have not lost any cichlids till now thanks god. (touch wood)

 

[BigDaddy420]

and also if you are looking for feeder fish for some other fish you may have..... the female may be a good way to go. just something else to think about

thats what i thought. now i have like 10 1 inch convicts roaming around my 55 gallon because the oscar couldnt catch them, the bichir ate a few but he must not have been able to catch them either.