convict breeding help pls

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v3n0m

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 2, 2010
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Mt. Olive, NC
ok i have 2 convicts with the orange on the sides of the belly and 2 with long flowing fins and no orange on them so im assuming i have 2 males and 2 females. i cant get them to breed. Any ideas on the problem, they are about 2 and a half to 3 inches long. are they too young maybe? also the water quality is excellent and they are in a 90g, with plenty of rock, and vegetation to hide in. any suggestions would be awesome.
 
How long have you had them and have they just been moved to the 90gal? In my experience Convicts will eagerly breed when they are ready which usually takes no time at all. Feed them properly, keep up with the water changes and they will breed constantly. What are the other tankmates? If you have plecos they will often times eat the eggs of other fish before they can hatch. If you have really aggressive fish with them, the cons may not be able to breed because of stress and the constant need to run or defend themselves. If they are in a amicable environment, the cons will breed without question. If you just bought these guys just give it a little more time. Before long you will have an endless supply of fry and feeders!
 
Water temp? What's their diet?

Fill them full of blood worms, keep the temp near 80 deg. F and give them a few caves, and they should get it on.
 
illl try to get pics up, as for the rocks its slate.
 
Gruff Master;4246889; said:
How long have you had them and have they just been moved to the 90gal? In my experience Convicts will eagerly breed when they are ready which usually takes no time at all. Feed them properly, keep up with the water changes and they will breed constantly. What are the other tankmates? If you have plecos they will often times eat the eggs of other fish before they can hatch. If you have really aggressive fish with them, the cons may not be able to breed because of stress and the constant need to run or defend themselves. If they are in a amicable environment, the cons will breed without question. If you just bought these guys just give it a little more time. Before long you will have an endless supply of fry and feeders!


ive had one pair for about a month and a half, the other pair i got about a week ago. theyve been in the 90 since ive had them. i do have one pleco in there about 8 inches long, could this be the problem? and as for the agressive fish i have a jack dempsey and a red devil with them growing them out, but they arent too aggressive and arent too much bigger than the cons so they can easily hold their own, i have seen the lil jd go after my my oldest pair of cons and the the cons just double teamed it, so i dont believe this is the prob, it seems as if all the fish know to leave them alone lol. thanks for your reply man!
 
Streetcorner;4246995; said:
Water temp? What's their diet?

Fill them full of blood worms, keep the temp near 80 deg. F and give them a few caves, and they should get it on.

i keep my water temp sitting on 78, and as for their diet they get cichlid sticks and pellets on a regular basis as well as about 2-3 live feedings per week with things like bloodworms and grasshoppers, they seem to really enjoy the small grass hioppers and i enjoy watching....is this an acceptable diet?
 
yeah my bet would be on the pleco eating the eggs before you see them, i would move him to another tank
 
Sarah88;4247673; said:
yeah my bet would be on the pleco eating the eggs before you see them, i would move him to another tank
Agreed.

You could also rearrange the slate to give the convicts some spots where the pleco won't fit into. My pair ended up excavating their own little cave between a rock and a piece of slate and stuffing all of their eggs in there, so they could keep them away from the pleco. The female ended up sitting in front of the opening for a couple weeks straight. ;)

Or a different option would be to set up some sort of nighttime lighting so they can see the pleco when he's looking to rob the nest. Moon lights or LEDs. Not the most cost effective option though.
 
Sarah88;4247673; said:
yeah my bet would be on the pleco eating the eggs before you see them, i would move him to another tank

+1

I had some for a while and the little jokers bred in my tank within a week. :nilly: They are the rabbits of the cichlids so I'm betting something is eating the eggs before you see them.
 
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