My 1st Convict Spawn
- Thread starter Dark Jester
- Start date
Update time. 
Didn't get much of a view of the wigglers after I moved them to the 20g. The mom kept them locked under the Mopani log. Only was able to snap 1 pic of them when a few were just starting to free swim.
Was able to snap a few pics after they started free swimming:
Cleaning the sponge filters:
Ended up re-homing the mopani log. It took up about 80% of the floor space in the 20 Long. I wanted more visibility to the fry.
Tonight the parents started getting a little agressive. Dad was attacking mom a little, and I saw at least 2 fry get snapped up and not spit back out. Decided to take the fry and move them to a 2.5 gallon to grow out a little before they become food. I'll pick a couple to keep as well.
Parents will probably be back to spawning again in a week or so from what I've read. They chilled out after the last of the fry were siphoned out, and I put their mopani log back in. I'll see what I can carve for them out of shale rock in the next week.
Some pics of the Fry in their 2.5g.
Not exactly sure how many are left. They're almost impossible to count.
I'd guess at least 150 are left. They're all about 1/2" long at the moment. Living happy on Brine Shrimp and Hikari First Bites. Will be moving them to crushed flake food over the next week or so probably, with Brine Shrimp as treats.
Pretty cool how fast it's all happened. Only been 2 months since I got my first tank.
Anyway, will post up some more pics as they grow a bit.
Didn't get much of a view of the wigglers after I moved them to the 20g. The mom kept them locked under the Mopani log. Only was able to snap 1 pic of them when a few were just starting to free swim.Was able to snap a few pics after they started free swimming:
Cleaning the sponge filters:
Ended up re-homing the mopani log. It took up about 80% of the floor space in the 20 Long. I wanted more visibility to the fry.
Tonight the parents started getting a little agressive. Dad was attacking mom a little, and I saw at least 2 fry get snapped up and not spit back out. Decided to take the fry and move them to a 2.5 gallon to grow out a little before they become food. I'll pick a couple to keep as well.
Parents will probably be back to spawning again in a week or so from what I've read. They chilled out after the last of the fry were siphoned out, and I put their mopani log back in. I'll see what I can carve for them out of shale rock in the next week.
Some pics of the Fry in their 2.5g.
Not exactly sure how many are left. They're almost impossible to count.
I'd guess at least 150 are left. They're all about 1/2" long at the moment. Living happy on Brine Shrimp and Hikari First Bites. Will be moving them to crushed flake food over the next week or so probably, with Brine Shrimp as treats.Pretty cool how fast it's all happened. Only been 2 months since I got my first tank.
Anyway, will post up some more pics as they grow a bit.
Convicts are a great way to get yourself into breeding, If your anything like myself you'll want to try and breed harder things after you've sucessfully got the convicts down. Concivts are a great feeder fish, unfortunetly it takes a few months to grow them out big enough to get them to a reasonable size so without alot spawning around and you have a big setup for them it's not really realistic trying to breed enough to scratch out store bought food.
I was going to say don't be surprised if the parents snap up your first batch of fry, just because of the tank move and all the nose prints and finger prints on the tank from watching them. The thing i've found about convicts are that they scare easily and with alot of movement in the tank and out of the tank and infront of the tank they feel threatened and I guess their attitude is "If anyone is going to eat the fry, we are" haha
Congratz on the sucessful first batch dude. As they get bigger if you want to get another breeding pair raise 6-8 of your best looking fry in a different tank and hope they pair off in time. Then you can start your pairs to continue on using the feeder path!!
I was going to say don't be surprised if the parents snap up your first batch of fry, just because of the tank move and all the nose prints and finger prints on the tank from watching them. The thing i've found about convicts are that they scare easily and with alot of movement in the tank and out of the tank and infront of the tank they feel threatened and I guess their attitude is "If anyone is going to eat the fry, we are" haha
Congratz on the sucessful first batch dude. As they get bigger if you want to get another breeding pair raise 6-8 of your best looking fry in a different tank and hope they pair off in time.
Then you can start your pairs to continue on using the feeder path!!
Probably will try breeding some other stuff before long. Shrimp will probably be my next big project. Want to get a colony of marble crays going too.
Not planning on using them as the only source of food though. I'd sell them or give them away if I could, but nobody local will take them.
None of my other guys are really big enough yet to even eat feeder fish bigger than 3/4". Couple more weeks and I'll start the culling.
The parents aren't too skittish. I have a 3 year old that is always running around the tanks and looking in, so they're used to the activity.
Not planning on using them as the only source of food though. I'd sell them or give them away if I could, but nobody local will take them.
None of my other guys are really big enough yet to even eat feeder fish bigger than 3/4". Couple more weeks and I'll start the culling.The parents aren't too skittish. I have a 3 year old that is always running around the tanks and looking in, so they're used to the activity.
Well, the fry all went in the big tank, around 150 (just an estimate) just over 1/2" long. My big (4.5") JD and 2 firemouths were snapping them up like they were skittles. Gouramis even tried to get in on it but I think the fry were a bit too big for them. Pictus probably nabbed a few too. A lot of them went to hide in the Anacharis forest I have in there, but the JD started uprooting plants to get to them. I think only 2 or 3 are still alive in there hiding between a log and a rock where the other inhabitants can't reach. If they survive, they get to live.
Parents have already laid another batch of eggs under their mopani log I think. The female spends all of her time behind/under it, and the male turned aggro on the cleaning siphon straw like he did the previous time. Estimate the new batch will hatch any day now.
I think only 2 or 3 are still alive in there hiding between a log and a rock where the other inhabitants can't reach. If they survive, they get to live. Parents have already laid another batch of eggs under their mopani log I think. The female spends all of her time behind/under it, and the male turned aggro on the cleaning siphon straw like he did the previous time. Estimate the new batch will hatch any day now.
Congrats. Get another pair breeding and you should have enough food to feed your tank without buying anything else 
Dark Jester;4466273; said:
I was right.
Looks like they hatched yesterday, as I saw some wigglers in a little pit next to the log last night. Will see if I can get a pic of wigglers tonight. Can't tell how many this time as the mom has most of them buried in the sand. Never did see the eggs as I think she laid them on the underside of the log and I didn't want to disturb it.They should be free swimming in a couple days and I can try to get some pics and an approximate count then. Will see if I can leave them in with the parents longer this time too, as they won't have the stress of moving tanks this time.
I honestly had a harder time keeping pairs in 20 gallon longs than I did in community tanks. I found the males become more aggressive when there are no other fish in the tank besides the female.
I had one convict male that would attack the glass when I got close. He'd bite the hell out of me if I put my hand anywhere in the tank, attack the siphon...one night he ate an entire clutch and killed his mate. He was aggressive even as a lone fish; I eventually had enough of his shenanigans and gave him to a friend. When he was put into a community tank he mellowed him right out.
The pair in my 180 community are pretty chill. They are protective around the spawn, but not psycho.
I had one convict male that would attack the glass when I got close. He'd bite the hell out of me if I put my hand anywhere in the tank, attack the siphon...one night he ate an entire clutch and killed his mate. He was aggressive even as a lone fish; I eventually had enough of his shenanigans and gave him to a friend. When he was put into a community tank he mellowed him right out.
The pair in my 180 community are pretty chill. They are protective around the spawn, but not psycho.
Here's a few of the 2nd batch of fry. Probably around 300 on this batch, though I really have no idea. The 'Fry Cloud' is around 50% bigger than the last batch.
Looking at these compared to the pics of the 1st batch above, I think my pic taking skills have gotten better with this camera.
Probably around 300 on this batch, though I really have no idea. The 'Fry Cloud' is around 50% bigger than the last batch.Looking at these compared to the pics of the 1st batch above, I think my pic taking skills have gotten better with this camera.
