convicts breeding or fighting?

[PGJE]

I recently got two small convict cichlids. The male is always attacking the female, and she has some small bite marks on her tail. The person at the pet store told me the male was trying to breed with the female, but I found it strange that he would bite her fins. Help please!!!

 

[convict242]

are they the same size? if the female is smaller you can build her a hiding space

 

[PGJE]

They are the same size... every time the female tries to hide the male comes out and attacks her, she can't hide without being bitten. There are multiple hiding places in there, like rocks, caves, and a plastic plant.

 

[tlindsey]

If the male is ready to spawn and the female isn't the male will be aggressive towards her. Like stated provide hiding spots preferably for only the female to fit in or use a divider.

 

[PGJE]

Would getting another female work? I was thinking that maybe the male will pick on the two and give one of them a break every once in while?

 

[Chiapet29]

Convicts are notorious breeders, first I would make sure you have a male and a female? Pound-for-pound they can definitely hold their own, I had a 4" male bully my red devil & flowerhorn that was slightly bigger, all depends on what size tank you have & other tank inhabitants sharing his domain

 

[PGJE]

I'm pretty sure their male and female, the female has a red spot on her belly like females do, and the male doesn't.

 

[convict242]

i would not recommend you to buy another female. depending on tank-size the breedingpair could kill the 3rd fish. I would go for a temporary divider

 

[jonclark96]

How big is the tank?

 

[PGJE]

ok, now the female just hides a lot and only moves when being chased by the male. The male is eating a lot and gets excited to see me (because i feed them), and I really like him, so I was wondering if I could replace the female with a larger one. Would a female that is bigger than the male not be harassed??? I am not very interested in getting rid of the male.