Con Solo the Convict

[FINWIN]

The more nooks and crannies for him to explore the better! You could even stack stones vertically he could hide behind. High contrast environment brings out the best color.

I like his shape too, almost un-convict like.

 

[Matth05]

Solo's reconstruction of his tank is never ending. As you can see by the fake plant now floating around. I glued those leaves to the wood months before setting up this tank, but I guess Con Solo was no longer a fan.

 

[Deadeye]

View attachment 1500605
Solo's reconstruction of his tank is never ending. As you can see by the fake plant now floating around. I glued those leaves to the wood months before setting up this tank, but I guess Con Solo was no longer a fan.

It’s only the beginning lol

 

[FINWIN]

You've got enough space to put a high arch in there for him to swim through. I find structures off the floor get bottom swimmers to use more of the tank.

 

[Manu8__too]

Nice fish! Convicts are (and always will be) one of my favorite Cichlids in the hobby. I can’t keep track of how many of them I’ve kept over the years, but it has to be dozens (plural).
Below is a pic of a 5” male that I owned several years back. I love when the older male Cons start to grow trailers on the back of their caudal fin(s). Definitely an underrated fish in the hobby.

 

[Matth05]

You've got enough space to put a high arch in there for him to swim through. I find structures off the floor get bottom swimmers to use more of the tank.

Thanks for advice! Just did a quick search and found that manzanita wood can form some really nice tall arches. I’ll definitely be considering that.

 

[Matth05]

Nice fish! Convicts are (and always will be) one of my favorite Cichlids in the hobby. I can’t keep track of how many of them I’ve kept over the years, but it has to be dozens (plural).
Below is a pic of a 5” male that I owned several years back. I love when the older male Cons start to grow trailers on the back of their caudal fin(s). Definitely an underrated fish in the hobby.
View attachment 1500664

Thank you. This is my first convict and he’s just an awesome little fish. Really no other way to put it. That male in the photo looks amazing. I would be real nice to see Con Solo grow into a little chunk like that.

 

[Matth05]

So some pretty good news for the future of Con Solo. I now have a spare 55 gallon and I’m going to be building my own stand. I think the 55 will be a good tank to grow out Con Solo and I’m also kind of interested in getting a female convict for him to breed with. Or maybe some Central American dithers with Con Solo as a centerpiece fish.
Anyways, this is probably going to be a project for winter break after this college semester. I’ve never really built something completely diy so I got some time to do a good amount research.

 

[FINWIN]

LOL! Convicts go buck wild with babies, so you'd better start getting a bunch of tanks...

 

[Matth05]

So some even bigger news. If you’ve seen some of my recent threads I’ve rehomed Bruce, my Carpintis, and will be moving Con Solo into my 75. The work load in my classes has increased a lot this semester and it’s only going to get more difficult as time passes, so thought it’d be best for both myself and the fish to rehome Bruce before he grew too large. I’d hate to have to choose between my studies and taking care of my cichlids, I think that stress would kill me. Having Con Solo in the 75 will be so much more manageable being my only tank. Now I’m rambling lol, talked about this more in my other thread.

I mentioned in one of the above post some of the ideas I had for the 55. Still sticking to those same ideas for the most part just now a little bigger tank size. I was able to get 6 swordtails at one of the lfs in my area and they'll be quarantining in the 75 for the next couple of weeks. Never was much interested in livebearers but they're actually quite pleasant fish. I believe I have a split 50/50 ratio of males to females so 3 and 3. I'm unsure if I am going to go down the female convict route. I've been reading some other threads and others have stated that would most likely just make the swordtails unnecessary targets for the cichlids rather than dithers. Most likely will be keeping Con Solo as the solo centerpiece cichlid. Very excited to get this all put together.