convict tankmates

[dbcb314]

my brother wants to get a convict, but he i dont and he doesnt know if it is advisable. here is what he has (dont worry about tank size)

gold severum
green severum
rainbow cichlid
green firemouth
blue acara
6 cory cats
large pleco


im pretty sure the acara wont work, but i need adivice. never had convicts. the fish are all full grown except the acara and the pleco. thanks in advance

[ChilDawg]

And why needn't we worry about tank size?

[scott]

Childawg, my money is on a thirty three hex.

[ChilDawg]

:)

[dbcb314]

33 hex, dang, you got it on the first guess. i was embarressed to say.

but really, thanks for the help. it is really helpful.

you dont have to worry about tank size because if need be, i can get a bigger tank, i have a friend who is getting rid of some of his tanks, so i could get one if need be(up to 150)

why dont you just answer the question or dont write anything. if need be, ill just let my brother experiment with it, and see what happens. but, i was hopin to save any unwarrent fish death.

[ChilDawg]

That whole thing about not worrying about tank size was not something that you should have put had you not wanted us to question that.

The con will probably "do in" the cories, and that should be enough to keep it out of the tank.

HTH,

Matthew

Practice what you preach, when it comes to answering the question, because otherwise we will call you on it over and over again.

[dbcb314]

actaully, its not.

what exactly of the fish i mentioned will be killed?

whose matthew?

[caz]

i think why you should worry about tank size, is that convicts can be very territorial and very aggressive :) so if you have a big tank, you would do find. if its crowded, i would say a few of your fish might be toast.

[dbcb314]

which ones though? thats what i need to know really. which one of those fish will be killed.

my guess is the acara, cory cats, and maybe the firemouths

im talking about non breeding convicts. just one. (tryin to clear up any confusion)

[caz]

non breeding pairs will be less territorial. im not sure which would be attacked, because convicts have been known to beat up fish much much bigger than them. sorry i cant be more specific, if your fish are very very agressive, then they should be ok. any less agressive fish though i would keep an eye on.

[stik6shift98]

it was dumb to put the statement about tank size in the post in the first place.....it just makes us think u have a 20 gal....my bad 33 hex;) ....and you dont care about packing it with fish....when people ask tank size just tell them...whats the big deal...if u can get a 150 gal then people can advise you on getting it or not once they know what they are dealing with


just my 2 cents

[optix]

haha wow, don't worry about tank size, well I'll tell ya something, My little Male convict whipped my 4 inch jack dempsey's *** in a 55 gallon a long while back when I first got started, and they were the only two in there. Now my little guy is one mean little SOB, and while we are on convict's I will post a pic later but right now I am curious, is it normal for a male convict to get the little hump on its head (not to be a post *****) because my little male is forming one. He's gorgeous none the less and he seems to have a lyre tail thing going on, his fins have seperated into like 3 sections and they just flow. He is unique if you ask me. And yes its a convict. Trust me, I'll post a pic in another thread

[Jayhawk]

The hump is perfectly normal as the males age. It sounds like you have one beauty of a convict. I hope my male looks that nice when he grows up - he's already started to get the flowing fins.

IMHO convicts are seriously underappreciated.

[dbcb314]

if i didnt put that in there in the first place, everyone would ask, i was trying to save extra typing, but obviously that backfired.

so nobody has kept a convict with a severulm, rainbow, or firemouth before?

[optix]

I will be keeping a firemouth with my male convict in a 150 gallon, which im sure will be fine, but I'll let ya know how that goes. As for one being in a 33 hex with all of those you listed. If that convict is anything like my male is. Your severum and rainbow at least are in trouble, the firemouth I'd say would be last in line, but it'd be in trouble too

[caz]

with out given the proper space, anything that isnt extremely aggressive, and atleast twice the size of the convict might be in trouble. if there is tons of room youll be fine. so make your decision on that :)

[stik6shift98]

Originally posted by dbcb314
if i didnt put that in there in the first place, everyone would ask, i was trying to save extra typing, but obviously that backfired.

so nobody has kept a convict with a severulm, rainbow, or firemouth before?


so saying i have a XX gal is longer then saying dont worry about tank size

:confused: :confused:

[andruboz]

one does get the feeling sometimes there are board surfers who go through each post with their trusty calculator and compute max length of each fish mentioned and divide it into gallons and post their mathematical genius as the answer to the question.

doesnt matter that they may not have owned and have no personal experience with the fishes that were in the initial question. in their mind, the pure math of it makes any other answer null and void.

the question is about behavior. tank size is important. it does affect behavior. so it would be nice if posters would include tank size.

the other things i wonder is: when's dbcb's brother going to log on and get the info direct? no point in beatin him up over his brothers mistakes. or is it better to go thru dbcb?

and whats a green firemouth? i've only seen bluish ones with red throats.

[ChilDawg]

Originally posted by andruboz
one does get the feeling sometimes there are board surfers who go through each post with their trusty calculator and compute max length of each fish mentioned and divide it into gallons and post their mathematical genius as the answer to the question.

One does get that feeling...and one sometimes feels like doing just that...but I, for one, have gotten a little better about doing that, and listening to others' opinions/experiences on the subject. However, it is still necessary to know how many gallons a tank might hold in order to give some definitive answers when it comes to the stocking of tanks.

Trust me, rules of thumb don't always apply. I'll be the first to admit it...but there is some truth to parts of them, and being a little conservative when it comes to computations and calculations with regard to tank stocking never hurt anyone...it makes their job a little easier.

Hey, andruboz, if that is directed at me, I understand your feelings on the subject, but please note that, much of the time in my posts, I will end my work in a thread by mentioning that I am basing this on theory, and people with actual experiences should chime in. If not, I apologize for making that assumption.

[dbcb314]

andruboz,

amen

i have not heard of a green firemouth myself, but the dude at the fish shop i almost always go to called it a green firemouth. it actually is green compared to the one i have which is the one found in books and on websites. it has the same body shape and magnificent red throat, but the rest of its body is green.

my brother asked me to ask. he didnt want to go through all the signing up stuff when i was already on the internet and i am already signed up. thats all no biggie. hes just lazy pretty much

thanks to all who have actually helped.

[optix]

Hmm that calculator would come in handy if you were thrown in a prison cell with ted bundy. Im thinking you'd want your space. Without proper thought in the process of choosing a fish to house, you are not only attempting to waste money, but you are putting your fish through alot of unnecessary drama. Our government wouldn't throw you in a cell with pee wee herman unless you deserved it. And even if you did they wouldn't put you in with Ted bundy, its unmoral. Now I know these are fish we are talking about and its a little off base, but chilldawg was trying to be helpful, that firemouth and severum didn't do anything to deserve the nice *** whipping that convict will lay upon them during its first day of introduction now did they. These fish have undergone lots of observation by biologists for years and along with that we the aquarists have also done lots of observing, so therefore these "rules" aren't just there for no reason. Its a safe medium that anyone should follow if they are hoping to enjoy fish keeping. There's no reason for us to bash on him for not speaking of the tank size, then there's no reason to even post the question of compatability. And as far as going through him to get information from his brother, I do believe he is the one that came in here looking for the info.