help!!!!!!!!problem w/ convicts

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T

troutking

Piranha
MFK Member
Mar 18, 2008
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i got a pair of convicts hoping they would breed but when i put them in the female started beating up the male. is this normal or should i seperate them. what should i do. also what is the best food to feed it to make it spawn
 
It's normal. She'll whup on him awhile and then he'll kick her butt until she lays eggs, then they'll spend 3 days getting along and taking care of babies. The next day you'll wake up and he'll have eaten all the babies and will be kicking her fins off again (if he doesn't kill her) until she lays eggs again. Then it'll start all over again. I don't understand the attraction in breeding fish that you have to seperate. The fish shops around here won't take Convicts if you offer to pay them.
Ummm....have fun :-)
 
Not all breeding fish beat the pants off eachother constantly. You may find that your newly introduced convicts are sorting out dominance and territories. Yes, they are Convicts, yes, they do breed like rednecks, but they're still Cichlids so let them work out their differences. I had a Male Firemouth constantly harass a Female for about 2 weeks before I woke up one morning to watch them trying to start fights with every other fish in the tank; they spawned the next day.

If it continues for more than fortnight or so I'd consider taking some sort of action.
 
Add some cave-like areas so whomever is getting beat on can escape. My male convict is a dither in my tank and I bought him a big white pvc pipe from Lowe's and he loves it. It's definitely a lifesaver for him because as soon as he comes out he gets chased aggresively.
 
i think the female had eggs when i bought her and she is just chasing him around b/c he wasnt her mate. she is even more aggresive today.bump
 
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