Going to breed convicts

[badger126]

Hey I'm relatively new to the hobby and I'd like to start out small. I've had aquariums before, but I've bred anything before and it sounds like a fun experience. I re-set up my aquarium the other day and bought a couple of convicts that I am hoping to breed. Now I know that it's best to get one male and a couple of females, but I'm trying to save money to upsize aquariums so I just went with two. I've been reading a lot here and on other sites and I'm HOPING that I got a male and a female. Please help me out if you can, I don't know how early you can tell, but they are pretty young.

Here's the one that I think is a female:

Here's the one that I think is a male:

Now hopefully I did well, I couldn't find any concurrent information on a specific determining factor to tell the sex besides venting and from what I understand that's only definitive at sexual maturity. What do you guys think?

 

[badger126]

Trying to get this picture thing figured out. Above is the suspected male and below is what I think is a female.

Thanks for any help you guys can give on figuring this out for sure.

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

well convicts could only be the pair no uneven numbers ... icant see the pics

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

now i can see them. U have a pair!

 

[Pyramid_Party]

You have a male and female, but I wouldnt call them a pair yet. They may fight and one could be killed. If you are trying to form a pair with just these 2 fish, I suggest throwing in a few dither/target fish. What size tank do you have?

And for future reference, females will have a colored belly, orange/red in color.

 

[badger126]

I had read that about the colored belly and that's why I selected this pair, but I did hear that occasionally males had a colored belly as well so that's why I was wondering.
They are currently in a 29 gallon with a small firemouth and a small red zebra cichlid. The two convicts are definitely the dominant fish in the tank. The female follows the male around most of the time, it's pretty cool to see how they stick together so hopefully this means they will continue to get along. I'll be upgrading to a 55 gallon in the next week and hopefully I'll upgrade from that in a year or so.
Another question: I read that if I put a pleco in with a breeding pair then the pleco would eat the eggs, is this true? Do you guys recommend getting a pleco for algae control or at all?
Thanks for the help!

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Ive never heard of males having a colored belly. The zebra cichlids sound like african cichlids, you may want to get rid of them. Anyway, a 55 gallon would be fine for a convict pair and firemouth. Could even throw in some dithers too. It sounds like they have paired up already. They breed alot too, so be prepared to do something with the babies.

I dont suggest a pleco, yes they can eat eggs but also they outgrow the tank. The common plecos at the store get huge. Plus convicts are very aggressive when breeding and it may be killed if it attempts to eat their eggs.


A better choice is just cleaning it yourself, fish dont do a good job really at cleaning algae.

 

[badger126]

Yes it is an african cichlid. I know that you aren't usually supposed to mix the two, but I had a species like that in a previous tank and it worked out so idk. If the african isn't getting picked on much is there anything else to worry about?
What do you mean by dithers? What other cool fish would go good in a 55 gallon with this setup? A bichir is next on the list, but I would like to add one or two more fish besides that.
Hopefully I'll be able to put the babies back in the 29 gallon and use them for feeders later.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

A senegal bichir is fine. You can leave the zebra, only issue is water conditions they like hard and alkaline water. But I suppose it will adapt. Dither fihs are jsut fish you add that your cichlids can chase or take their aggression out on. These fish are usually fast too, so that they dont get caught. People use tetras, barbs, danios and things like that, since they move fast.


I dont know how big the zebra cihclid gets, but consider the size of all your fish. Dont overstock the tank. Wait until you have the 55 gallon befoere adding more fish. Cause overcrowding causes more aggression and poorer water quality. If you need help on stokcing your tank, let people know.

 

[badger126]

Ya if the zebra becomes a problem he'll be gone. My wife wanted me to get him since he's the only really colorful fish in there. Just your standard PetSmart bright orange cichlid. He's definitely the underdog of the tank currently tho lol.

That sounds like a good idea getting some dither fish - I'll have to take care of that. I'll probably be getting the 55 gallon tomorrow so it'll be setup with fish in it etc in a couple of days, so any other suggestions would be great. I was wondering if there were any mid-top swimming fish that would make a good addition since I'll be getting that bichir and my cichlids generally stay to the bottom in the rock caves I have set up.
As far as water conditions, if the africans like hard water, do the SA/CA prefer soft? I asked this question in another thread, but i live in an area with really hard water and I was wondering what my fish would prefer and what I could do to modify the hardness to suit their needs.
Thank you for all your help Pyramid. I know that I probably have a lot of kind of obvious questions, but I'd really like to learn more about the hobby and do what's best for the awesome fish that I own, so I appreciate your time.