Breeding convicts

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I think for now I'll just let them grow out with the parents in the 20. As I mentioned I think this will be more of just a treat thing, all my fish are already feeding fine on pellets and bloodworms so I'm not worried about NEEDING to feed them live fish. If in the future I can afford a larger tank to dedicate to this I might get like a 40long or something and put two dividers in it for 3 pairs of convicts then use the current 20 as a growout for the fry.

But thats all in the future ;) For now I'd just like to experiment with one pair of convicts and let the fry grow as quickly as they will in the parents tank. Just gotta figure out what to do with the pleco.
 
Moloch;4491237; said:
I think for now I'll just let them grow out with the parents in the 20. As I mentioned I think this will be more of just a treat thing, all my fish are already feeding fine on pellets and bloodworms so I'm not worried about NEEDING to feed them live fish. If in the future I can afford a larger tank to dedicate to this I might get like a 40long or something and put two dividers in it for 3 pairs of convicts then use the current 20 as a growout for the fry.

But thats all in the future ;) For now I'd just like to experiment with one pair of convicts and let the fry grow as quickly as they will in the parents tank. Just gotta figure out what to do with the pleco.
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You could leave him in as a dither fish. He probably will eventually get killed though, and might eat some eggs before he goes. The 40b with 3 pairs and 20 growout would be a great setup. You'd have 600+ fry per month.

One thing to watch for will be agression from the parents. Eventually they will get tired of babysitting and want a new batch of eggs, so they'll start eating their own fry. If you see that happen, take the fry out or you'll lose almost all of them within a couple days.
 
to be honest i think a 20 gallon is to small. go for a 20 long ( 30 long by 12 wide by 12 height ) it may be low in height but the length makes up for it though. and just transfer the pleco to the bigger tank or get rid of it. the cons WILL kill the pleco ( my pair i had to divide in my 5 foot. they almost killed my oscars which were 5 inches so 3 times bigger then the cons. cons dont take crap from ANY fish and will kill to defend there kids. ) so my advise DONT add or have any fish with the cons.

again this is just me tho.
 
livebearerfreak;4491946; said:
to be honest i think a 20 gallon is to small. go for a 20 long ( 30 long by 12 wide by 12 height ) it may be low in height but the length makes up for it though. and just transfer the pleco to the bigger tank or get rid of it. the cons WILL kill the pleco ( my pair i had to divide in my 5 foot. they almost killed my oscars which were 5 inches so 3 times bigger then the cons. cons dont take crap from ANY fish and will kill to defend there kids. ) so my advise DONT add or have any fish with the cons.

again this is just me tho.
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Larger tank is out of the question for another year or so.

I'm not terribly worried about the Pleco, its my wife's fish. But she's also been wanting convicts from the start. So I'm letting her decide if she wants to take the pleco back to a store and do a pair of convicts, or keep the pleco and do a guppy-style community (or something similarly non-aggressive and small) Oh, and moving the pleco to the larger tank is not an option, I will not be leaving my bichirs alone with that fish once the 65 is cycled.

As long as the two convicts will be happy/healthy/stress free in a 20gal with plenty of filtration...thats really all I'm worried about. If they breed slower because I don't have a growout tank for the fry, thats fine. If I don't get as many fry as I might with a growout, thats fine. As long as I'm not putting the fish in a bad situation by housing them in a 20gal.
 
20 is perfectly fine there is absolutely no reason to upgrade for 2 small convicts, especially if they are just breeding for food
 
Moloch;4493649; said:
Larger tank is out of the question for another year or so.

I'm not terribly worried about the Pleco, its my wife's fish. But she's also been wanting convicts from the start. So I'm letting her decide if she wants to take the pleco back to a store and do a pair of convicts, or keep the pleco and do a guppy-style community (or something similarly non-aggressive and small) Oh, and moving the pleco to the larger tank is not an option, I will not be leaving my bichirs alone with that fish once the 65 is cycled.

As long as the two convicts will be happy/healthy/stress free in a 20gal with plenty of filtration...thats really all I'm worried about. If they breed slower because I don't have a growout tank for the fry, thats fine. If I don't get as many fry as I might with a growout, thats fine. As long as I'm not putting the fish in a bad situation by housing them in a 20gal.
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FEED your pleco and he'll be fine in your 65. I have 1 senegal and 2 albino senegals in a 75 with a large pleco. He never ever touches them...
 
geronimo69;4493690; said:
FEED your pleco and he'll be fine in your 65. I have 1 senegal and 2 albino senegals in a 75 with a large pleco. He never ever touches them...
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As many horror stories as I've heard and as much advice as I've seen as to keeping them separate....I'm inclined to just not trust it. I have a good LFS that I'm sure would take the fish if we go that route. I might try it out and see how it goes, but I'd rather just not run that risk.
 
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