Convicts - is this normal behavior?

[Wulfonce]

The 4.5" male convict in my tank appears to be overly aggressive to the two 2" females... but only sometimes. He will often chase the females around the tank for minuets at a time. He even gave himself a nasty 1/2cm gash on his head. The females don't seem overly concerned with the chasings cause I gave them alot of places to hide.

Other times the male acts normal and hangs around the females, although the females haven't taken alot of interest in him. Maybe hes to big, or to much "man" as someone else put it.

Other then chasing the females around, hurting himself, and uprooting the plants he dig out a large hole in the gravel, underneath an overhanging rock. I was temped to boot him out the door but started thinking... is this a nest?

Your thoughts?

 

[Deaths Sting]

IME the females were the home makers. maybe..... ur male is a metro sexual...lol jk!!!

 

[aussiesk8]

In my experience the males can do this alot, i ended up having to get a new tank for mines because of how aggro they were lol. Even after all the fry were long removed from the tank the male was still whoopin butt where he could. Maybe its his way of saying im the boss

 

[Wulfonce]

In my experience the males can do this alot, i ended up having to get a new tank for mines because of how aggro they were lol. Even after all the fry were long removed from the tank the male was still whoopin butt where he could. Maybe its his way of saying im the boss

Will they ever breed though? Or should I just give him back to the lfs and get another "smaller" one?

 

[Deaths Sting]

Will they ever breed though? Or should I just give him back to the lfs and get another "smaller" one?

i would.

it also helps to have the males and females form different LFS. this will prevent birth defects in the fry,

 

[aussiesk8]

Yeah man they will breed, sometimes it just takes a little patience, the last batch i had were breeding within 24hrs of purchasing them. Its harder to get them not to breed lol

Signs of aggression normally point to breeding behaviour in my experience. I might be stating the obvious for you but so long as there are plenty of hiding/safe areas you should see some results. You could try going to another LFS if you like

Another pointer of a female prepared to breed is the colours along the fins and a red/pinkishness in the belly

Good luck mate

 

[Jason_S]

yeah that's pretty normal behavior. the females may just not be ready yet, but they will be soon.

 

[siebertn]

they WILL breed and as soon as they start they will never stop.
some1 once said that all you need for a convict to breed is a wet sponge.

 

[TrikkyMakk]

Sounds normal to me.

 

[Wulfonce]

Alright then, I'll just give it some more time.