Which cons do I keep? (pics)

[Big Vine]

The striped pair...both male and female showing a lot of promise as far as coloration goes.

OR

The 5 pink cons and let them pair up...they're so cute!

OR

Any possibility of keeping both sets of cons until the pink ones pair-up...I could then hang onto the striped pair and one of the pink pairs---2 breeding pairs workable in a 55 gal.?

BV

 

[Big Vine]

BV

 

[Big Vine]

BV

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Keep them all, buy another 55 or 75 and hide the rest of your money so you don't loose it in the divorce.

 

[Big Vine]

Haha...very funny.

The pinks are too small to sex with any degree of certainty, so maybe I should just reserve the tank exclusively for the striped pair...with the addition of dithers, of course.

Any other opinions?
BV

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Might have 2 female black cons there...hard to tell on one of them. Never seen a male with that much color, but thats not to say it can't happen. And if it is a male/female....then i want to come steal the male, cause damn!

Any chance of being able to sex the pink cons? Might be able to just match a pair right off? First pic (Pink cons) bottem right looks to be a female.

How large are they right now? You might be able to keep them in the 55gal together long enough to get pairs, being that they are all new to the tank. Of course, you could end up with a mixed pair if that happens (which isn't bad IMO).

 

[Helena21]

hmmm...i like the striped pair , they are pretty. I say keep that pair and take back the others

 

[Fuzz16]

keep them all and see who pairs up

 

[FreshwaterJeff]

I liked the striped ones better, but like C-Man said - that leaves you less certainty of getting a pair.

I say keep them all until you get a sure-fire pair (even if it means mixing black and pink).

 

[VirgoWolf]

Yeah, I'm with C-man, Fuzz, and Jeff... keep them all untill you get some pairing. In the first pic of the pinks, I see what I believe to be 2 females though...

There is a tiny speck of orange on that 'male' striped though, if he is a male and you decide not to keep him, you just can't take him back to the store LOL, Matt has first dibs! LOL

 

[Big Vine]

Okay...lots of differing opinions here...I appreciate the responses.

I have decided to go with the striped pair.
The male's colors are too good to pass up; the female looks good; and ultimately they will grow to their full potential as rulers of the 55 gal. tank...which is what I want.

They are a true pair---I saw them defending the same territory together at the LFS.

However, I will say this:
The inept employee farted around trying to net them for so long that it became a real convoluted mess trying to pick out the two I originally had my eye on.

After a brief pause in the commotion, the female went back to the territory they had been defending and resumed defending it. LFS guy netted her up---I'm sure she's the one. The male really got lost in the whole kafuffle, but eventually he too (after I insisted that the LFS guy give it a rest for a bit...he was getting nowhere) went back to their territory and started defending it quite vigorously!

I'm fairly certain he netted this one, but to be honest I'm not 100% sure.
Guess I'll find out soon enough whether or not he netted the right ones!

BV

 

[FreshwaterJeff]

Heh, good luck. Can't wait to see pictures once they've acclimated to their new digs

 

[straitjacket]

Two females can "pair" and defend the same territory and even spawn together.

If you don't have anything else in the 55 I'd keep them all, removing singles. It would be a neat species tank. 2 different colors, several pairs.

You could do something like adding river rock to cover the bottom of the tank, some larger rocks to make "caves" here and there, add some high lighting to get a good growth of algae over the rocks (2 3' flourescent bulbs would be enough actually) and watch them act as they would in a biotopic situation, feeding together, picking stuff out of the algae, watching fry feed and hide in it, etc.
That's something I wanted to try in a 100gl tank with the addition of Mexican tetras. Although I can't find Mexican tetras (apparently they're illegal in CA) so I figured Buenos Aires tetras would be the next best thing. Havn't done it, but would love to some day.

 

[Big Vine]

Sounds like a cool idea.
I've returned the other cons and just stuck with the 'pair' though...verdict is still out on whether the larger con is a male or a female.

Either way, I'll have one convict pair ruling the tank with tetras as dithers.

Mexican tetras (apparently they're illegal in CA)

Any pics of these? Never heard anything referred to as "Mexican tetras."

I'm about to get pics up in the "What you got and what's in it?" thread over in the Lounge.

BV

 

[Katie217]

honestly BV, I think the 'male' is female. And I think that you should go to the LFS, and get 4 more cons, pink or black, doesnt matter, and let them form pairs naturally, instead of just assuming the two you have will breed

 

[Big Vine]

Whether they're both female or male and female, I think I'll do as you suggested and find a few more cons for them to choose from for pairing purposes.

Now I know what my 'mission' is for tomorrow, lol.

Thanks for the input, Katie.
BV

 

[Big Vine]

I think I'll do as you suggested and find a few more cons for them to choose from for pairing purposes.

Okay, scratch that---for the moment, anyway.
I got up to see what appears to be courting behavior, so I think I'll give these guys a chance to prove themselves (spawn and produce fry) before adding anymore cons to the mix.

BV

 

[FreshwaterJeff]

Good news!

I was about to say, this is starting to sound like deja vu all over again for you with the convicts

 

[Big Vine]

this is starting to sound like deja vu all over again for you with the convicts

Hehe...no kidding.
The young males can be tricky to sex...apparently. I'll give em' some time to reacquaint and hopefully they'll produce fry.

If not, I'm pretty sure I can find more convicts around somewhere...

BV

 

[Katie217]

Well if you suspect courting, I'd give them a few more days and see what happens. Keep us updated!