Pink/Striped Convict issue

[bagodonuts22]

Whats up guys...

I have 3 baby convicts in a 10 gallon tank for now.
I cant really tell if they are female or male yet, but what I do know is that the biggest one of the 3 has taken over the cave, and most of the tank. The other 2 convicts are limited to corners of the tank. Is it because of the size of that tank? The aggressiveness of the bigger convict. Should I bring the aggressive one back, because the other two seem to get along together, should I put the agressive one in a tank by itself for now then reintroduce it to the tank in a week? Im really not sure what to do. All i know is that this is causing stress to my fish, they spend all day hiding while the biggest one of the 3 has a ball and swims around all day. And when i say biggest one, i mean 1.5 inches...he's got some balls to act so tough !!


any suggestions?

thanks.

 

[Managuense]

convicts can be bred in a 10 gallon, but you have to understand how aggressive they are.

i am not sure what is happening, but sometimes if you raise a few cons together one of them will grow and mature faster than the others. if a male happens to do this (as they typically do) he may wish to breed with one of your females, even if she is not ready. this can cause him to constantly harass her or the others in a desperate attempt to reproduce. this aggression can be magnified in a small tank where there is much less space for your other cons to hide. unfortunately, this aggression towards the female or other rival males CAN lead to dead fish.

if you look closely at your cons, you may notice that there will be an orangish coloration around the "belly" area. these would be your females.

males do not usually have this orange coloration and also have more pointed dorsal fins.

the problem is that your fish may be too small to notice these things......

i would raise your aggressive one (likely a male) in a separate tank until your little ones (male or female) start to get a little size--at which point you will be able to sex them and stock accordingly.
M

 

[bagodonuts22]

Thanks

Thanks for your help buddy. I also noticed that all of them have damaged fins except for the biggest one. Which obviously makes sense since no one is chasing him, he is doing all the chasing. But believe it or not, the biggest one (the bully) does have orange under its belly...could there be such a thing as such a dominant female. Can females be this dominant just because they are bigger then their tankmates. It looks to me that it has the same orange under its belly as the other ones. Could they all be females, I highly doubt that.

Will their fins grow back, i have a beautiful striped convict that has like a blue glow to its dorsal fin, but its rear fin is damaged, will it grow back?

thanks.

 

[420Loach]

actually they COULD all be female. i have a 3 inch female in with my jack dempsey(33/4-4 inches), and while the JD is larger, he gets harrased and bullied away from this one cave made of rocks that the convict inhabits. she even chases away the snails and plecos that go by it too.

from the looks my JD gives me hes just playing along, but the convict does seem to be the dominant fish. they get along sometimes though, they hang out together in the bigger rock cave in the tank.

the fins should grow back, but it depends on how damaged they are. two of my kenyis got into it and the smaller one lost its whole tail, where the other only lost peices. the larger ones tail came back, but the smaller one still just has a nub.

 

[bagodonuts22]

Thanks -

Thanks for update..
So i guess ill have to just wait and see if any of them develop a lump on their heads...What i can do is purchase a developed male at the local LFS. Introduce him into the tank when I realize that they are all females...That will always work as well...I just have to make sure that i dont overstock the tank, maybe return some that are female in exchange for male.

That could work as well.


How much would that suck if all 4 of my convicts are female...just my luck.

 

[Managuense]

out of 4 cons you are almost guaranteed a pair, though it is possible to have all of the same sex.

dont worry about a thing bro! cons are very available and cheap to boot.

one last tid-bit....... do you have access to more than one LFS that gets their fish from a different supplier??

if so, you could grow out one from the first supplier, then get the other sex from a different supplier. this would prevent inbreeding and give your babies a little more genetic diversity..... not that it really matters a whole lot, but since cons are so common im sure you could do it.
M

 

[bagodonuts22]

Convicts

Yes, im going to another LFS now to see if they have definate males in stock. I will look for the obvious bump on their head and a decent size to compete with the dominant large mail/female convict that I have which taking over the thank. Fighting is natural, we cannot stop the aggressiveness and fighting with these fish, some people feel bad at the stress levels and such, but this is natural, and territories will always be an issue, no matter what size tank. Im gonna go pick up a definate male and drop him in. Another thing, I can see the other convicts developing a lump on their heads, and I willl haev all males..lol.

Again, just my luck.


we'll see

 

[wayne at home]

A 10 is the smallest tank for breeding them in, but won't work for 3 long term, let alone a pair plus 2 others. Get a definite male , and the 2 smaller will be killed pretty soon. If the larger fish isn't a female (and you're guessing a bit now) that will also be killed.
A 10 is not, despite what a lot of people say, a good solution for a 4 inch hyperaggressive cichlid

 

[bagodonuts22]

Amazed at the females

I am just amazed that all of my convicts (4) have orange under their bellies. I have 4 convicts in a 10 gallon tank...Babies. 2 are 1.5 inchs, and 2 are 1 inch. All have noticable orange under their bellies, the 2 larger ones have blue/neon fins as well. I went to my local LFS and saw a decent sized male with bump and no orange. I am going to throw him in, and He will most likely take over the came and mate with one of the 2 larger females and probably kill the 2 smaller ones. I will move the smaller ones into another tank. What do u guys think?

 

[Managuense]

Originally posted by wayne at home

A 10 is not, despite what a lot of people say, a good solution for a 4 inch hyperaggressive cichlid

i have to agree and disagree, in that a 10 gallon is really just fine for a single PAIR of cons.

if someone doesnt really know how to visually sex them (as is discussed earlier in the thread) IMO the best way to get a pair is the let them pair off naturally.

yes i do agree that once a pair is formed you need to get rid of the others, especially in such a small tank.
M

 

[bagodonuts22]

Got the Male

Ok guys, I purchased a distinguished male at the LFS. About a half inch larger then my dominating female - he also has the almight lump on his head and doesnt have as many colors as the 2 females, so I am definate this is the male. So anyway, after normal introducing procedures...ie. water, ph, etc. Once the male is now in the tank, he immediately goes for the cave which the female has owned for the past few weeks, they did their lip locking thing, gills opening like psychos, and the male actually gave up, he left the cave and the female stands strong inside..and she's not anywhere near his size??? what is going on? however, i did notice that the other convicts (now i have 3 female, 1 male) are all nicer to eachother and the dominate female isnt going after anyone anymore, as long as they stay out of their cave. Could it be the male is shy at first, then will get agressive. The dominant female is following him around everywhere, not to hurt, but i guess to just follow him, but he is not allowed in the cave. This cant be an parental procedure since i just introduced the male into the cave. Im just wondering are the female convicts happier and at ease that there is not a male in the tank, or will the male eventually grow balls and start running the show, or could we see some bonding action? I'm just amazed that he backed down to the female half his size, suprised and amazed. Get back to me, thanks guys.

Bags.

 

[bagodonuts22]

Update/New male convict

Let me just give you all the update on the convict issue.
The male is now just as scared as the other females in the tank. The dominant female convict is chasing away the larger male convict and he looks scared. All the other convicts are nowhere near as vicious and hostile as the larger female convict. Pretty soon it will be getting fed to my dog if I continue to have issues with this one pain in the ass dominant female fish.

Thanks.

 

[420Loach]

hehehe, or you could find a very aggressive male and make killer convict babies but i had a funny picture in my head when i read the feed it to my dog part

but i think your right along the lines of ridding the tank of the dominant female, just take her back to the lfs ya got her from and trade it in for credit or something else

 

[bagodonuts22]

Will do

I think thats what im gonna do. When I come from work tonight and I see the 3 of the convicts in corners and the Dominant female just hanging out swimming around. She will be returned...There is no room or patience for such a dominant devil.