female convict acting strange...

[fishdude07]

i finally got my convicts yesterday i put them in my new 20 gallon tank with already cycled filters and gravel. im sure ones a female and almost positive the others a male. the only problem is, the female chases the male around the tank. is this normal? i wouldve thought it wouldve been the other way around. whenever the male goes by the decoration, the female chases him away to the right side of the tank. could she already be ready to lay her eggs and thats why shes being so agressive towards the male? do you think she doesnt like the male? what should i do?

 

[McG]

I think its pretty normal, who's bigger?

 

[fishdude07]

theyre pretty much the same size. the females a tiny bit bigger than the male

 

[UGAfan2001]

my convicts chased each other around the tank, more so the male chasing the female though. but about a week or two later, a ton of fry, which all disappeared one morning, then the female, was layed up in the corner, with nipped fins, im guessing that she wasnt ready to lay again, and the male was extremely aggressive. oh well enough with mine, good luck on yours

Brad

 

[Firebug]

It sounds normal to me! But I too thought that it would have been the other way around! That's what mine did. I thought the male was being rough on the female..but apparently not, as there is no apparent damage. I think females have an orange belly..that's what my lfs told me..(but then, we all know that lfs aren't always accurate!)

 

[fishdude07]

yeah the females have orange scales on their sides...but my females being even more agressive towards my male now...she chases him around the tank for long periods of time and this morning when i turned on the light, the male was right by the filter almost scared to death. hes fine now but the female still is bein mean to him and chasin him all over the place...most people say the males chase the females but its the other way around for me...maybe mine just dont like each other??

 

[Firebug]

Wow..I find it odd!! my female acted just like your male! But now things seem to be better..I think it's just a breeding thing. There aren't any visible wounds are there? Watch them for a few weeks..you'll see, it's probably just a breeding thing!! Are there any "potholes" in your tank yet? Does it look like a battle field?

 

[fishdude07]

i dont think the male has any injuries or anything, although his tail is a little ripped but not bad. they havent started digging yet...but ive watched the female try. the gravel is too big for her to move with her mouth so she wont be able to lay her eggs in a hole until shes bigger...maybe theyre just not sexually mature yet

 

[fishdude07]

an update: now the female is being even more agressive towards the male...she used to just not let him go by the decoration but now she chases him until he either goes way up by the corner by the surface or under the filter...is there anything i can do to stop this? should i just bring the female back to the lfs and get another female?

 

[Cichlidian]

Do u find any pits in the gravel bottom? If so she's nesting. Then wht u told'd hv been possibly rite. But mk sure of their sexing. As mentioned above females hv fatter orange bellies and males hv a more robust appearance with pointed dorsal & anal fins. Its quite normal with convicts. Having 1 pair in a 20 gal tank u wont hv any serious prob i believe.

 

[fishdude07]

actually about an hour ago i noticed them rubbing their bottoms together and digging... theyre breeding, thanks everyone for advice and info

 

[Cichlidian]

Congrats buddy. U're about to see a typical cichlid parental care. Hv fun.

 

[fishdude07]

thanks