Trying to breed Convicts

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heres acouple pics. i know the tanks dirty and boring but im trying not to disturb the parents with there babies. baby are hard to see so i didnt take a pic. but the pic thats circled is there eggs from the first spawn since i had them. and i keep a m/f pair of bn's with them. theyre in a 20g long right now. i have a40 gal. for them but i had to put a bullied fish in there. i got 3 baby cons that survived from the first spawn. theres probly like 2 dozen babies left right now from the 2nd spawn. after they start to swim for alittle i move them to a ten gal. with snails.

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Alright, here goes my setup...

I owned the fish 1 week before spawning.

The first pic is to illustrate just how small they are. That's a Hikari Gold Mini pellet in his mouth. They're 1 inch.

Then I have 2 pics of them and the fry. I estimate 100. I've been purposely letting sunlight in to build up algae as an alternative for the children to eat. I think the parents picked up on it too, cause the first algae-ridden rock i took from another tank they built their nursery under, rock to the far right. The fry are 6 days old in these pics. This is the parents first spawn. She moved the fry 3 different places... made a fourth they never used too... they're free swimming now so they're having a hell of a time trying to corral them.

Last one is of the setup - just cut some aquaclear 40 sponge down and jammed it on the filter intake. First set of plants is fake, and will eventually be replaced with real - second one is hornwart that was a week ago a 1" cutting... now is too tall for the tank.

The parents seem WAY stressed out, all they do all day is zip back and forth through the swarm of fry, commonly crashing into eachother and throwing fry around in the process... i'm lucky when i can get the parents to eat. They bite the crap outta my wrists while i feed the babys with a pipette. I'm planning on taking them out in 3 days, as I'm going to be gone for a week...

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haynchinook334;2926611; said:
Do you notice pink on the belly of the female? If so, then they will breed. And it will be a wise idea to crush the pellets.

lol!! i was about to say the same thing but then he is a beginner so he is ok... as far as Convicts go,i like them they have a soft spot in my heart,but they do breed like crazy.
 
any updates yet?
 
crowxviii;2977010; said:
any updates yet?


either two things have happand
1. the eggs got eaten
2. the eggs came loose of the side of the inside pot and fell deep inside where i cant see. does this usually happen before they become fry?
 
cONVICTS GROW TO AROUND 4 INCHES. tHEY WILL BE SEXUALLY MATURE BETWEEN 2 TO 3 INCHES. tHEY ARE ONE OF THE EASIEST CICHLIDS TO BREED. wHEN READY FEED THEM BRINE SHRIMP, DO FREQUENT WATER CHANGES AND TEMPERATURE CHANGES. THIS WILL MOST LIKELY GET THEM TO SPAWN,ASSUMING YOU HAVE A PAIR. gOOD LUCK
 
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