I would like to have a breeding pair. I tried to purchase a male and female from a LFS but ended up with two males. Yesterday I spent fifteen minutes watching a tank but couldnt tell which were the females. Would it be alright to purchase a bunch and put them in a 50 gal tank until they pair off? Once they do, I would donate them back to a LFS or give to my neighbor. If this is ok, how many should I buy?
Convict Cichlids
- Thread starter The Flizzle
- Start date
maybe they do not have any females at the moment.. its pretty distinct the red orange on their lower halfs so you will know its a female pretty quickly.. just wait a little while longer maybe they will get some more
The Flizzle;5035344; said:
Female COns are easy to pick out....Look for the fish with color on its belly....Usually a red, sometimes an orange, in the form of a blotch on the females belly............Males have NO color on their body.........ANY, I mean ANY, male and female con will breed with each other within two weeks......I have seen my pair breed up to three times in one month, but this was because I removed the eggs right away into a growout tank......For a 55g, I would suggest 6 individuals.......You will definately get a pair within two weeks.......Then partition the tank into two halves.....Save the other half for the fry when they are a month and a half old, or half and inch.....
I would suggest getting your female con from another source to try and get at least a little genetic diversity. With a fish that's so easily bred people are not putting in enough effort in getting a good pair. Getting fish out of the same tank at an lfs you are basically buying siblings with the intention of breeding them. Gross.
i have 4 cons, 2 male, 2 female. all four are from 4 different suppliers in 4 different stores. I wanted to make sure my bloodlines were as clean as possible to avoid any inbreeding...
Thanks for all the info. The store I visited today didnt have anything to purchase. Ill let you know how things go.