what are some good tank mates for a male convict cichlid in a 55 gallon?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
koh the face stealer said:
currently in the tank is
1 pleco
1 blue gourami
1 convict
2 golden chinese algae eaters
2 columbian tetra
3 skirt tetra
2ghost cats
2glass fish

i want to work around the convict.what wouldnt harm him and what would avoid his aggression?

Jon gave me a great suggestion

take out the pleco,gourami,one algae eater,columbian tetra,(i failed to mention glass fish in that post).

add a smaller growing pleco,make a school of 9 plus of ghosts and skirts.

i like that but would like to see what others would do.
thanks
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Jon gave you good advice. A school of Black Skirt Tetras or some other similar sized Tetras would work with your male Con. I don't know much about Ghost Cats and Glass Fish though. I would remove both Golden CAE. I've seen them injure cichlids and other fish by relentlessly sucking on their slime coat, making them susceptible to sickness and disease. One of the small pleco species or a group Cory Cats could work too. A lone male Convict can grow to a nice size, with great color and form if cared for properly. Yours could be a great showpiece in time. Good luck.
 
its cool disorganizer,when i feel strongly about something i get carried away as well and i agree with you on that topic of it might actually help sales while informing,and still people will buy for the wrong reasons.
i still research as well,we are always learning new things or relearning things we forgot.
none the less i am still a noob when it comes to fish keeping and i seek out the wisdom of the people of this site and a variety of literature. no matter how much we ask of people there are some things we have to learn by observing on our own as each specific case varies and nobody could possibly give us all the answers we seek.

from my observations the skirts,ghost and glass are too quick and small for the convict. the few times when my convict directed his aggression (when the other fish were in the tank) towards the skirts they showed too much speed and agility for him to even get a fin nip in and my convict didnt pursue as long as seemingly to me his dominance was understood to all the inhabitants of the tank.the convict doesnt even pay any mind to the glass and ghosts but when he comes near them they seem way too fast as well and they are gone before he even looks at them. the gourami would get punked at least once or twice a day. now that i have gotten rid of the other mentioned fish the convict pays no mind to anything in the tank.i definately got rid of the caes as i dont even want to risk their known behavior in my tank.

thanks Gruff,in the short time my convict has been in this 55gl his colors have gotten deeper,hes grown and his shape is definately looking alot healthier than when i adopted him. cichlid flakes,tropical flakes,cichlid pellets and beefheart(as a weekend treat) is what his diet consists of and possibly the live plants that have nibbles in them.

does this convict have that biological time clock where he feels he needs to breed??
 
jvai said:
well thats a hard one.. you might get lucky as for dealing with fry you can always have fish that will cull them for you that won't get tore up... fire mouth maby?
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i would never put any fish in a tank with a breeding pair of convicts as ive been informed by multiple sources a breeding pair could easily kill a full grown oscar. thats just asking for an all out war in my aquarium. thanks but no thanks.
 
jabbajikk said:
well, off the start you have alot of fish that you shudnt have with a convict, and in a 55, what goes great with convict cichlids is other convicts and dwarf plecos... like a bristle nose
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i might just do that! i have a blacck con in a 55 with two snails.. he cant see well and is 4''
 
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