As some of you may know, I do not disappoint with my convict projects. However, as many of you may know, the convicts from in and around the nicoya peninsula of Costa Rica are known primarily for their rapid growth and large size. Some may compare them to miniature amphilophus. I would like to close the gap between their differences, in both size and stature. The largest of nicoya convict males can achieve sizes of up to 8-10 inches, which already puts them in the size range of some of the smaller amphilophus, but I'd like to see if we can go bigger. I have also found that the orange blotching on the abdomens of females increases in coverage with each generation. This can be seen most prominently in leucistic or marbled females, who can show near full orange coverage without their stripes covering them. Seen below is a pink female held back from the first batch of my "indominus project" a few years ago.
The gold (or orange) dotting in the females of nicoya (and honduran) convicts is a little different, but still follows the same logic of increasing in coverage with each generation. I would additionally like to breed for higher gold coverage in the females of this line. Males can also be bred to have more red on their fins, and more yellow to their bodies (or at least faces). The misbar gene is also present (and prevalent, especially) in the bagaces population, so I may do something with that as well.
I notice my larger females produce larger eggs, which I expect to potentially gradually/exponentially produce larger offspring. They will be bred relatively responsibly (relatively because it is still a line breeding project), avoiding powerfeeding for size, or pulling fry (and subsequently skipping culling) to increase yields or chances of favorable fry. I will separate females to allow them to grow to their maximum size without the inhibition of spawning, pick out the largest and most favorable of them, and breed them to males of equal proportion. Fry will be reared with their parents to allow for natural culling and more natural growth. My end goal is to produce a line of convicts with males reaching around a foot in length, females around half that, with deep red/burnt orange fins in males, and females with high amounts of gold speckling up their sides, as well as misbarring in both sexes. They will never be crossed to any other locale to add "variety" or whatever. This project will likely take far longer than any of my other projects, but I intend to see it through, so long as I have this locale.
The gold (or orange) dotting in the females of nicoya (and honduran) convicts is a little different, but still follows the same logic of increasing in coverage with each generation. I would additionally like to breed for higher gold coverage in the females of this line. Males can also be bred to have more red on their fins, and more yellow to their bodies (or at least faces). The misbar gene is also present (and prevalent, especially) in the bagaces population, so I may do something with that as well.
I notice my larger females produce larger eggs, which I expect to potentially gradually/exponentially produce larger offspring. They will be bred relatively responsibly (relatively because it is still a line breeding project), avoiding powerfeeding for size, or pulling fry (and subsequently skipping culling) to increase yields or chances of favorable fry. I will separate females to allow them to grow to their maximum size without the inhibition of spawning, pick out the largest and most favorable of them, and breed them to males of equal proportion. Fry will be reared with their parents to allow for natural culling and more natural growth. My end goal is to produce a line of convicts with males reaching around a foot in length, females around half that, with deep red/burnt orange fins in males, and females with high amounts of gold speckling up their sides, as well as misbarring in both sexes. They will never be crossed to any other locale to add "variety" or whatever. This project will likely take far longer than any of my other projects, but I intend to see it through, so long as I have this locale.
