Our new Convict Cichlids... personalities

DavidBeoulve · Apr 2, 2003

Last weekend I finally got the 38 gallon aquarium I had wanted for my family...

At first I thought I wanted African Cichlids, because they are hardy and beautiful. I spent $16 on chemicals to set the PH to 8.2 and a salt mixture for Africans, got home, set up the tank, let it sit, and read more about Cichlids. That's when I came across a website on Convict Cichlids.

Overnight, my wife (who is from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico) and I decided Convicts were the way to go as we read this website. While not as lustrious, their parenting and personality seemed to make up for it, on paper. The stupid fish store wouldn't take back the opened bottles, so I got a PH 7.0 bottle for $8 and a replacement tank (the first had a small ding in the glass) and set that up, with some bio-goo they said would start the biological ecosystem of the tank.

I have read online that you still need hardy fish, and there isn't any evidence I can find that this bio-stuff does anything.

24 hours later we got four Convict Cichlids, all a little less than 1" long. Here are some pictures of our babies...

We got the fish on Monday (April 1st, 2003) night.

PERSONALITIES:
Perhaps I'm your average moron, but I've seen distinguishable personalities in everything from yellow ratsnakes to box turtles and boa constrictors and fish. These little Convict Cichlids have more personality than any other captive fish I have seen; I thought the Koi I had when I was young were entrancing to watch (and they were); these little guys are amazing.

Bernard is named after the saint who started one of the few successful Crusades, and he thinks he owns the entire tank. He likes the pots, but will chase any of the others, anywhere.

Antonio/Antony is named after a saint who cared for animals (can you tell my lovely Latin lady is catholic?

and is much less aggressive, and already taking a like to Rosa, who, when near, he will actually stand his ground against Bernard.

Bernard wanted Rosa too, but she wasn't interested in him. Rosa is your stereotypical pretty girl with little personality, near as I can tell.

Drita came with a nipped tail and a lot more orange around her belly than Rosa, both of whom have smaller fins than Bernard and Antony (hence, why we think, aside from the behavior, these are the correct sexes). Neither of the males are very interested in her, yet she's the champion small cockroach eater.

The bugs aren't poisoned around here, and boy do these guys like them; again, Drita is preternatural about picking them off and darting about until she's wolfed it down. (Is feeding them small bugs dangerous?)

They Learn!
It took my Koi two weeks to learn that when I whistled, it was feeding time. After three days, these little Convicts have figured it out... they are incredible learners and very alert.

Does anyone have any Cichlid personality stories to share? Convicts or other kinds. That's my story, and if you have the time, I would love any comments.

SoulFish · Apr 2, 2003

um when 2 of the convicts pair up your other fish in the tank will be destroyed, just thought id mention it if you dont know

o, and about convict stories, i breed convicts to feed the fry to my other fish, the other fish love it

DavidBeoulve · Apr 2, 2003

Uhhh...

Can someone please corroberate or extrapolate on that?

beaker · Apr 2, 2003

Convict Cichlids don't get along well with other fish, including their own species, when breeding. They'll get extremely territorial, and you may find that you have fish hiding under the filter, or in the upper corner of the tank.

I have one instance where the father started getting chased away by the mother. This was more of a community tank. I took the father out, and the mother was semi-behaved. In a different tank, the parents would tag-team the chasing of other fish, but in this case, she couldn't leave the fry for very long, so it wasn't too bad.

I have heard of instances of two batchs of fry, one at each end, in which case the person made out ok.

DavidBeoulve · Apr 2, 2003

Okay... so watch them... other stories?

Okay so I have to watch them... maybe invest in a seperator screen for the tank...

More stories and help please?

SoulFish · Apr 2, 2003

when a pair pairs up they become super agressive defending their fry and eggs, and they breed like wild so once they pair up youll have a constant stream of babies that they are protecting, you will encounter the problem of convict fry pouring out your ears, you sohuld work now to find someone who will take the fry or be prepared to feed them to your other fish

DavidBeoulve · Apr 2, 2003

More...

Roger that. I've read it can be hard just to unload them, so yes, culling is the next thing. I won't say that's easy, but I've done it to blind puppies. Not something I recommend there, either, I'm sure real former rancher have far more harrowing tales, hah hah.

At any rate, I am more concerned about the fish my wife and kids named. More on how the adults will inter-relate? Will a lot of cover help? What about a common plecostomus down the road?

DavidBeoulve · Apr 3, 2003

Added more slate, and they are all happier

I added more slate rock and now everyone is happier and more sedate regarding territorial disputes.

New Pictures of our Convict Cichlids

I plan on getting a seperator of some kind so when trouble does start (if two become a breeding pair all of a sudden) we can seperate them.

Comments guys?

Avalon · Apr 3, 2003

Well, cichlids need lots of room when breeding. Ideally, acquiring a larger tank would solve the problem. If that's out of the question, the infrastructure should be improved. I think large pieces of rock or driftwood work very well. My favorite is live plants, but using live plants opens up another can of worms if you're just getting started in fishkeeping. Combinations of all of the above work wonders.

The goal would be to establish as many territories as possible. The more open water you have (save for 20% or so), the more problems you're going to have with territory disputes. This is what all cichlids are about: territory for them to do their "thing."
Think of it like an apartment: if a large family is in one, the only reason they all don't go mad is for good relations and walls. Well, fish could care less about relations, unless they are doing their "thing." Fish like nooks and crannies to establish territory, just like humans like walls and "space."

I was in my LFS the other day and they have a huge tank with all CA cichlids. At the bottom, there were 3 pieces of rock. The lone adult convict had established his territory by digging out some gravel around the rock. Any fish that swam near was shooed away immediately! It didn't matter: Jack Dempsey, Red Terror, whatever, nothing could invade it's space!

Convicts can get along with most other cichlids, as long as each fish has its own territory. Most catfish such as plecos and synodontis, and even loaches are all ideal tankmates.

I've just picked up 4 convicts (just for the heck of it, I had extra space) to go along with my Green Terror, Nicuaguarense, Texas, and Firemouth. I also keep a blue gourami (my friends), some SAE's, 4 loaches, 5 black skirt tetras (they are there because I couldn't catch them), and a big pleco, all in a 100g. I've got lots of plants, some rocks, and a small peice of driftwood, and just today I added a huge piece of driftwood my dad found for me. Just the shape of the driftwood alone added at least 2 new territories, along with a place for the loaches.

I'm not at all worried about the fry they may produce. My other cichlids are always hungry

I'm more worried about being able to keep the fry I want!

Oh yes, female convicts have orange on their bellies and have more blue on their gills, along with a shorter top fin and caudal fin. There's nothing wrong with feeding your fish bugs, just as long as there's no poison around. It's what they eat in the wild!

* * * * *

That's really neat how you came up with the names of your fish! I like that!

Also, your sig is great as well! Lots of good info there! Do you do usability testing or design websites? I'm studying technical communications, and we learn quite a bit about usability.

SoulFish · Apr 3, 2003

sounds like a good excuse to get another tnak to me

DavidBeoulve · Apr 3, 2003

delete

DavidBeoulve · Apr 3, 2003

The items we need help with

Hah hah hah relax Soulman, I just got this one

My family and I are enjoying it. Man, I can't believe it's been 12 years since I have kept fish... I had Koi last time, they were lovely, but not nearly as fascinating to watch as these Convicts. Entrancing (I fell asleep watching the koi swim back and forth many times) but not engaging like these guys.

Take a look at our layout. On the left side, Antony and his girl, Rosa, hang out to rest or sleep. Antony is kind of like me I guess, complacent until he has a girl to protect... Bernard used to chase him everywhere, and still can, unless Rosa is around. It's the most bizarre thing.

Drita, I think, might be pregnant already (from before we got her)? Bernard wanted Rosa, who chose Antony, and is now trying Drita (and Rosa when Antony isn't around her), but Drita likes none of the males. She has a growing belly and a lot more orange which I've read they get when they are pregnant... but she's only 1".

So anyway, please look at our layout and give us advice. I have anther 1' by 8" slate rock I can break apart for more pieces, or use it to divide the middle of the tank.

How can we safely lay rocks against the glass?

RECAP:
1) Please look at our layout and give us advice. I have anther 1' by 8" slate rock I can break apart for more pieces, or use it to divide the middle of the tank.

2) How can we safely lay rocks against the glass?

3) Regarding my signature, I'm a Graphic Designer and old-school webmaster fluent in Macromedia Dreamweaver and a big proponent of CSS and the Web Accessibility Initiative. I run user studies to make the website better when I'm allowed; management is sometimes scared of the potential results, which is insane. I've read Dr. Nielson's work since 1998 and keep up with it every article he puts out. So don't listen to me, read his work

Avalon · Apr 3, 2003

Re: The items we need help with

The more nooks and crannies you can create, the better. Your tank looks ordered. Fish don't percieve logic as we do. Break the logic boundary and embrace the random.

Very carefully

No one ever said you couldn't. Just don't tap the glass

Pssshaaaw! Let's not be too humble now; it sounds like you have quite the repertoire (feel free to divulge secrets of success at any time)!

DavidBeoulve · Apr 3, 2003

1) Hah hah it's highly structured. I can press on any rock either down or at an angle and they don't budge (well unless I really pressed ultra hard). I also structured the slate so that they'd block lateral vision but not the view from the front of the tank.

Again, I think you are right here, Avy. I've noticed the Convicts being more interested in those little nooks and crannies than the areas I laid out such that, even as they get larger, should be useful.

Advise on random structure? hah hah I can't bring myself to even do "random" without a logical reason behind it.

2) Okay so rest the stone carefully on the glass and try to make sure it doesn't budge. Is there something safe I can put between the glass and the stone? I guess I need pieces of driftwood? What else?

3) User experience is key; users don't come back; no amount of cool makes up for a useful site. Look at http://www.w3c.org and of course http://www.useit.com/alertbox and you will see how to organize a lot of content in a useful manner. Amazon.com is great in how it offers similar things and learns what to show you based on what you look at or buy.

The biggest thing, always, is that what the user perceives is key, not what the designers or management think. But I'm only a flower arrainger... I have the same set of flowers that Dr. Nielson and others have regarding usability, all I can do is arrainge them the best I can, which probably isn't as good as they can do.

Thanks everyone, and Avy.

beaker · Apr 3, 2003

Orange on Belly, Blue on Gills...

... seems to indicate that the female is ready & able to lay eggs.... after mine have layed them, both the blue and orange colorings fade some....

DavidBeoulve · Apr 4, 2003

Interesting. Drita (the orange bellied girl) is starting to tolerate Bernard, which is different from the normal opinion of him (Antony and Rosa hate him). In fact, Bernard is the only real big trouble maker among the four... I won't replace him and I had a friend at work tell me that you don't introduce new Cichlids into a Cichlid tank without first taking everyone out and rearrainging the whole tank (resetting the territory disputes) but just for the sake of arguement, does getting rid of the most aggressive fish cool the tank down, or does someone else step up to the same plate?

Check out the new pictures. The new slate rock is in, the pots are boiled, and with all the rock formations, Bernard has cooled down on chasing everyone else around, as has everyone else regarding chasing each other. They needed the extra homes and hiding spaces.

Also, no fish sleep outside now; any time of the night my wife and I look, none are outside of the caves, nor even in the pots.

Avalon · Apr 5, 2003

Someone else will step up to the plate. There will always be a dominant fish and a pecking order. However, some fish can be far more violent than most. These are the fish to be wary of.

DavidBeoulve · Apr 5, 2003

Bernard

Take a gander at my link, I have fish-bios up. What does Bernie sound like to you, Avy & others?

Our new Convict Cichlids... personalities

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