Kingdom of the convicts

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Ogertron3000

Ogertron3000

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Nov 6, 2017
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Australia
Hey guys, it’s been a while since I have been on here but am still in the fishkeeping game.

Thought I would get myself a Xmas present, and rescape and rejigged my 40G .
Probably boring for some of you but after 35 years of keeping fish for the first time ever I have got some convict cichlids. A LFS had some small ones with a buy one get one free offer so I couldn’t resist. I have 4 and hoping for a pair eventually.

They are in with a few guppies and some stray tetras from a tank my wife lost interest in. Currently they are tiny ,pretty sure 1 is a male but can’t tell with yhe others yet. Not sure how they will go with their tankmates but will wait and see.
Maybe I will get some swordtails too.

I told the LFS guy I would probably regret doing this but am enjoying them a lot so far. Sometimes the simple things are the best.
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Noice mate! Tank looks great. You may know this already, but the gals develop an area of bronze colored scales on the belly & a black bar that extends upwards into the dorsal fin.
Anyone that has never had convicts at least once is not a true hobbyist :WHOA:
 
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Tank looks great—very natural layout. Convicts are underrated. Beautiful fish, great parents, good eaters, don’t get too big, hardy…the list goes on. Got my mother a pair of HRP and she’s having a blast watching them spawn and raise fry.
 
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Remember the old saying, Convicts are the easiest fish to breed. 1) get a male 2) get a female 3) add water...

I had a pair literally days and they decided to breed in the same tank as Toni my Oscar...
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Best of luck to you on you journey thru convict keeping. Great fish.
 
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Congrats on the new fish! Fish don't need to be rare or expensive or even necessarily colourful to be interesting; it's great to be in the hobby a long time and then experiment with some dirt-cheap common-as-stink fish that you haven't kept before. I hope you keep us posted on the progress of the little scrappers...:)

You may find that after a year or two you've had your fill of them...or this might turn into a decades-long love affair. :)
 
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Thanks for the kind words guys, I was expecting more people saying the tank was too small or convicts are boring and I should get some obscure expensive type of Apisto or something.

I do like the idea of trying to do good for an under rated fish. I have had cons in the back of my mind for a while so it’s good to take the plunge. They are still only 1.5-2cm so still too small to see any sex difference but the biggest one is very bossy after only 5 days and has claimed a cave as his turf so am guessing at least 1 male.

My main inspiration was after a trip to Bali where the hotel had a pond with koi but also a convict population where each pair has a rock they guarded. Was fun to watch and see how large and colourful they were compared to want I normally see here in oz. Also I recall Jexnell Jexnell and his convict paradise from a few years back.
Maybe I can spark a convict revival in the hobby.

Oh yeah, Merry Christmas to you all too.
 
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Last edited:
Hybridfish7 said:
Very optimistic of you given I couldn't. Interest in convicts overshot and went to polar parrots.

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Honduran red points | Page 41 | MonsterFishKeepers.com https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/honduran-red-points.746962/page-41
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Thankfully due to Australias ultra strict import laws we cant get the polar blues here. We cant even get the yellow nanolutea ones unfortunatley.
I am definitely being optimistic, they are seen as a rubbish fish here and always have been, thats why the shop was offering the buy 1 and get 1 free deal.
I dont care, I am very happy with them so far.
 
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