Well, I'm a first time fish grandpa...my convict pair laid eggs then babies emerged after 3 or 4 days I think. After another 5 days they started exploring the tank and eating baby food...then bam! they went missing overnight. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Do Convicts Eat Their Own Babies?
- Thread starter littlewangzfan
- Start date
I´ve heard that convict fry are the toughest and can survive pretty well in a tank. that being said parent fish do eat their fry sometimes. it´s why most of the time people put the fry in seperate tank to grow them larger before selling them, or reintroducing them. You can also use a breeding trap used for livebearers.
Thanks for the quick replies. More info: tank is 15g and no other fish, filter intake is covered with foam. Male is 2.5", female 1.5".
They probably ate the fry as preparation for spawning again. Convicts will breed every 1 - 2 weeks like clockwork in most cases.
^Agree w ryan. They will only protect their fry until they're ready to breed again, then the old fry become snacks.
If they let the bigger fry survive and hang around, they would be endangering their newest batch of fry. It can't be easy to raise babies when you have hundreds of other convicts looking for food, but I've heard of parents leaving the older fry alone in larger tanks where they don't feel too threatened.
If they let the bigger fry survive and hang around, they would be endangering their newest batch of fry. It can't be easy to raise babies when you have hundreds of other convicts looking for food, but I've heard of parents leaving the older fry alone in larger tanks where they don't feel too threatened.
My parents hide their babies at night in a cave tho and then they all come back during the morning. Convicts do not spawn every 2 weeks, more like once a month imo.
Mmm...I'll check again later. I have 2 holey rocks in there, they might be in the other side of it. They're only half the size of a grain of rice. I'll drop some food and see if they come out.
Hey everyone. Just an update, its confirmed that the frys are missing. I was surprised that they would do that. I thought they are protective parents. Will wait for the second spawning and see what happens. Thanks again for the replies.