Re convict fish
- Thread starter Ray K
- Start date
Most will probably be eaten. The parents will keep them safe until they feel like breeding again, then will eat them themselves if they are still around. You might have some which are smart enough to escape mom& dad, and live long enough in the rocks to mature. I don't think it will be very many. You also may have the problem of your convicts killing your other fish, especially as they get larger. They are petty small right now, a full grown male can get bulky & could easily take over a 250l from some africans.
I'd suggest you need to worry more that the rest of the fish would get beaten up.
Honestly in my experience in keeping convicts in a mixed species tank they should do just fine. I housed mine with plecos, 2 American flathead cats, 2 jack dempseys, 2 Oscars, a green terror, about 7 mbuna, a venustus, a 14 inch giant gourami, a 1ft. asain red tail cat, 2 Pike Cichlids and 2 severums. About 3 months later I had about 200 convicts swimming in there bullying everything in sight lol. I eventually put a stop to it and only kept the original male convict and used all the others as fish food. But yeah like everyone one else has said so far, the convicts will take over the whole tank and try to kill everything else for more space.
I had no idea about agressive convicts. I got two as rescue fish and they had been living in my mixed cichlid tank for a year. They are in my patio tank now, but they aren't too big for a 2 year old fish. Under 3" long. This photo is over a year old.
They live with two 12" Sailfin Plecos, a 5" Malawi peacock female, 5 assorted Corydoras, 5 juvenile Mollies, and a lone Serpae tetra. A few juvenile guppies live in the pond basket, surviving all odds. I lost my other Serpae a while back, but no telling how. I found no trace of remains.
I was thinking these fish would grow to over 4" in under two years but they have not. Either they grow much slower than Africans or maybe I have some dwarf variant. No telling, as the lady who gave them to me is long gone.
I believe they are both female, thus no breeding habits of aggression.
They live with two 12" Sailfin Plecos, a 5" Malawi peacock female, 5 assorted Corydoras, 5 juvenile Mollies, and a lone Serpae tetra. A few juvenile guppies live in the pond basket, surviving all odds. I lost my other Serpae a while back, but no telling how. I found no trace of remains.
I was thinking these fish would grow to over 4" in under two years but they have not. Either they grow much slower than Africans or maybe I have some dwarf variant. No telling, as the lady who gave them to me is long gone.
I believe they are both female, thus no breeding habits of aggression.
The females convicts stay much smaller than the males. I had a female that didn't get much bigger than 3" but her male was a beast at about 6".
Yup, females usually max out around 3 or 4 inches, while the males can push 6"+. And non-breeding females are usually not too bad aggression wise as long as the tank is large enough for them. I'd say your experience is normal for females. Even the males, while still aggressive, are not as bad if they are not breeding, but once there are eggs, the situation is much different
I have kept convicts for some time with Mbuna's and they are a super fish to keep with a lot of personality.
And yes they did kill everyother fish in the tank. The male was the last one standing, his size when i gave him away was 5 inch and all bulked up.
I also had a pink convict then he is in the left corner of the pic attached (Sorry for the PIC quality, these are old photos). this guy as he was slow on the growth could not withstand the Mbuna & the convicts aggression
And yes they did kill everyother fish in the tank. The male was the last one standing, his size when i gave him away was 5 inch and all bulked up.
I also had a pink convict then he is in the left corner of the pic attached (Sorry for the PIC quality, these are old photos). this guy as he was slow on the growth could not withstand the Mbuna & the convicts aggression
Yeah cant keep convicts with most anything. More often then not, if ya put a convict in with a bunch of other fish in the beginning, all u'll have left is the convict in the end. They are very cool fish tho and tough as nails.
