Breeding pair of convicts..

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C

Chark_ox

Feeder Fish
Jan 21, 2008
4
0
0
Bristol
about a week ago i set out to by just a convict, but the fish shop offered me an albino female for free aswell.. so i took her and yesterday i noticed they were chasing off my bp's and other fish in my tank keeping half the tank to their selves.. so i gathered that they were breeding, today they have layed some eggs in a cave made out of rocks and a tile. i just wondered whether i should move the fry when they hatch to another set up or a breeding trap.. or leave them and then move my convicts into another set up too breed after a while is no fry surrvive as my bps and angels may eat them. atm they are in a 260 litre tank. my bps have also layed eggs today. but i am not expecting anything from them as they have never been sucessful before.
if i move my convicts i will be puttin them in a 2ft6 set up.
 
convicts will care for there fry... IMO they take the best care of there fry outa all the cichlids in the world. i say just leave them.... if they do eat the eggs oh well you will get plenty more.
 
True...convicts will defend their fry. Just make sure there is plenty of room for all your other fish because if they get too close they will lose their fins. Also, if you do decide to let them continue to breed in this tank keep in mind that they will probably overrun your tank at some point. They breed and breed and as the fry mature more and more pairs will form and start to breed. I suggest taking them out and giving them their own tank if you want to continue to breed them. I have some myself and decided to separate them because they were destroying my other fishes fins.

just my 2cents.
 
convicts are know for the best care takers of there young there mounths are shaped to pick up debree to get the algae sturred up so the fry can feep on it
 
p.s. congrats on the spawn
 
thanks for all the replies it deffinately helps,
i didn't really know alot about them before i bought them, just that they were cichlids and tended to be territorial, i was shocked about how easily they breed lol.
i will probably set up the other tank after a while, i might just keep a few males in my other tank. i like breeding fish so i will probably carry on when i get their tank sorted.
thanks guys :D x
 
cool glad your getting them there own tank.... try mixing colors togther like pink and black.
 
honestly, amazing fish, but in my opinion, the absolute worse fish to own! why you ask?

they breed like insects. one day you'll have 2, then a month later you have 30, then month later you have 90 lol. when i was younger i had an entire breeding setup for convicts. they breed so fast and raise their young to perfection and live in horrible conditions that they're too good in an aquarium. make sure you add a catfish of some sort to get some of the eggs at night :( sad but it's better than having a million fry you can't take care of :D

i agree with jaws, mix colors. if you have a 180, i say get pair each of albino, pink, and black convicts, let them mix. raise the fry in 125g. good luck!
 
or if you have just way too much....siphon them out or scoop them out with a fine netting then just feed them to other carnivorous fishes...like other growing cichlids and stuff...atleast you dont got to worry about them that much when their are too many lil wrigglers around the tank like a swarm of locust...
 
thats what im doing now....breeding a pair of convicts and feeding the frys to my growing umbee's =] at least you dont have to worry about any disease transfering to other fishes when eaten like feeder goldfishes
 
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