Convicts bred! Now what?

[tooth517]

I have a cichlid community in a 135 gal. I did a water change and filter maintenacnce last weekend. I noticed tonight that one of my convict females was very aggressive and kept chasing away any fish that came near a cave. A closer look confirmed my suspicion. She has a clutch of eggs in there. All the fish are juvies in this tank and the convicts are some of the smallest. I am not interested in breeding them for any reason other than parasite free feeders for my 13" jaguar. I decided to let this batch go and see what happens since there aren't very many eggs. I am not experienced at breeding fish so I was wondering if next time I should remove the eggs to another tank, or should I take the eggs and parents out till the fry are free swimming? Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[TwistedPenguin]

I'd probably remove them as soon as they're swimming around on their own. Otherwise the parents will probably be the ones ending up eating them so they can breed again.

 

[Gruff Master]

Whatever you do, be prepared to do it many,many times. Your Cons are going to breed pretty often and they are going to be aggressive everytime too.

 

[poly-nomial]

Feeders
!!

 

[deano7104]

let nature take its course... feeders for the rest of the tank, and those that survive can be moved on for the jag... or if you have a spare tank, put the cons in that and breed all the feeders you will ever need...

 

[peathenster]

If they are comfortable enough to breed in the community tank, there's a good chance that they can defend the fry, which means hell for other fish. I know it's hard to believe, but you may be surprised how little size matters when it comes to these guys.

What else is in the 135? Take some pictures and be prepared to make some changes

 

[tooth517]

If they are comfortable enough to breed in the community tank, there's a good chance that they can defend the fry, which means hell for other fish. I know it's hard to believe, but you may be surprised how little size matters when it comes to these guys.

What else is in the 135? Take some pictures and be prepared to make some changes

I already saw this behavior. The gt has always been the tank boss, and the cons were driving him off which caught my attention because he is 4 times the size of the cons! I have a ten gallon that's empty I could set up for them to breed in till they are too big for it, or I could just take the fry out when they are free swimming. I'd rather not let the fish in the comm. tank eat live food for aggression reasons.