View Full Version : Breeding Convicts
Kim and Graham
07-08-2003, 4:08 PM
I have a 55 gallon cichlid tank containing 1 Oscar, 1 Dempsey, A convict and a Pink Convict, a Jewel cichlid, an Earth Eater, 3 Africans, a Bullhead Channel Cat, and a Blue Channel Cat. The easiest of these species to breed seems to be the convicts. Can someone please give me SPECIFIC details on how to distinguish male and female convicts. I would really like to breed them but all the info i have had has been very general and i cannot tell for sure whether my convicts are different sexes.:confused:
dbcb314
07-08-2003, 4:23 PM
your poll doesn't even have the right choices.
male cons generally have longer fin extensions and less coloration and tend to grow a small nuchal hump on their head. I would advise against your current inhabitants but im currently exhausted over those subjects right now.
DarthV
07-08-2003, 7:05 PM
I think you poll doesn't have nearly enough information for ANYONE to vote... what tank size are you talking about? That makes a HUGE difference. WHat tankmates? A red devil might not be too bad in a 240gal tank...and a convict can be an absolute monster in a 20gal... it all depends on the situation.
And you might want to think about getting a few more tanks for your fish...that 55gal tank you have now is barely large enough for an adult oscar, not to mention all the other fish you have in there. IMO you're going to end up with a lot of hurt and dead fish sometime soon :(
Out of your poll list, you only have 1 species that is considered a vicious fish, the Red Devil. Next in line I'd say the convict...but the dempsey is probably tougher.
thanks darth lol, im totally unwilling to argue with overstocking issues anymore at the moment. Im tired of that for one day.
I agree optix. I'm tired of the theme in general. Everyone takes it as a personal attack. I wish they understood that the only reason I know that tank is overstocked....is because I learned from my mistake. And then you have those like DBCB who just don't care and then flaunt the death of their fish to annoy people. Now thats pretty cool.
Anyway, (now that the rant is over), your tank is horribly overstocked. The Blue cat will get up to two and a half feet alone not to mention the other cat that will get over a foot. Oscar over a foot, eartheater will be killed soon by one of the convicts, Dempsey will take to hiding and probably get in a tussle with one of the Africans, if they don't die from the stress of the wrong water parameters first. And the jewel cichlid is a killing waiting to happen. Oh yeah and I wouldn't pick any of the fish on your poll accept the red devil or convict, the only truly aggresive and not simply territorial fish. Now that the flogging is done we all mean it for the good of the fish and not to be mean.
The difference between a male and female con that is easiest to distinguish is the female will have an orange belly. If you really want to breed them I would get rid of all of your other fish. You could add some schooling fish like silver dollars, a clown or galaxy pleco for algae detail, and maybe a raphael or talking catfish for scavenger patrol, they might eat the fry though. I hope you take all of this with a grain of salt and realize that we are not being malicious.
Sumpin'fishy
07-09-2003, 12:41 AM
I would have to say that the most common ways to sex Convicts are that the males have a nuchal hump (mature) and longer fin extensions. The females should have an orangish belly, and are generally 1/2 to 2/3 the size of the males (mature).
optix
07-09-2003, 12:43 AM
Ok I just want to know who voted for the jack over a red devil lol :p
DarthV
07-09-2003, 7:29 AM
Well convicts will breed well before any nuchial hump will start showing up, so that's not the best way...females will get an orange color to their bellies when they are ready to breed...and males usually have longer/sharper dorsal and anal fins.
Here's my male at about 2-2.5". As you can see he's starting to grow a hump...
And yes I know, I have to clean the glass! This is my new 55gal tank that just got finished on Monday night ;)
http://executor.hil.unb.ca/craig/images/fish/convict/convict010.jpg
dbcb314
07-09-2003, 10:15 AM
Originally posted by scott
And then you have those like DBCB who just don't care and then flaunt the death of their fish to annoy people. Now thats pretty cool.
*******...
but since were on the topic a bragging, one of my plecos in my 30 gal committed suicide, i found him on the floor hard as a rock. it scared me have to death, not everyday you walk in the room and step on a pleco.
dbcb314
07-09-2003, 10:17 AM
how come everytime a put a cuss word it changes to stars?
optix
07-09-2003, 11:53 AM
Originally posted by dbcb314
*******...
I can't figure out what this was supposed to be. B@stard??
peifc
07-14-2003, 11:29 AM
I've a convict and a jd in my tank. Heck...my jd is a ***** cat. He ran away from convict. The convict I have...I think is a psycho. He loves to lock jaws with fish...he just had a major jaw locking with my green terror. That was one amazing fight. I saw them shake then lauched at each other. At the end...green terror lost the fight. And my male convict showed it like an honor knight. Hahaa...
No harm done. They are still juveniles. No scratch on them at all :)
Of course, I'll have to remove the convicts (male and female) from that tank when they grew a bit more...to a different tank.
I agreed with everyone. You will have to think about removing RD from that tank. That guy is agressive. The Oscar is a timid fish...and big. My goodness...you either have to think about getting rid of some fish or getting a couple different tanks to house all different temparament fish.
optix
07-14-2003, 12:40 PM
my 2.5" male con jaw locks with my 4" jack and the con always wins that battle as well. My 2" saum (green terror) still hasn't got the balls to challenge my con. It always turns tail.
peifc
07-14-2003, 12:52 PM
Originally posted by optix
my 2.5" male con jaw locks with my 4" jack and the con always wins that battle as well. My 2" saum (green terror) still hasn't got the balls to challenge my con. It always turns tail.
My 2" convict is smaller than my green terror. Heck...that guy kick azz. My Green Terror is timid around the convict, but when he is cornered...he does fight back. As for my JD...really...their temparament is overated. I oughta name that guy chicken instead of Jacky *sigh*.
You know...I just found out...about the star thing (****)...the foul words are changed automatically. I tried to say azz in the right way...it came out 3 *.
So...I don't think it is about being gay. We are just being mornitored.
Its a content filter. There was a bit of immaturity about it in another thread where I was being bashed because they thought I wasn't "brave" enough to use profanity or something.
I read about that...the Oscar in 10 gallons tank. I found that thread is so senseless. Our date is hot or not isn't any other people's business. It is all personal preference. What I think is hot might be ugly to someone. Beside, the whole thread was off the point. It was about Oscar in 10 gallons tank...not about "My date is hotter" thread.
In that thread...it wasn't an arguement. It was a fight. When a person being attacked subjectively....that's called "fight" or dirty fight/being ganged up. Debate is about people have different view on an issue/topic.
That thread totally reminded me of AOL chatroom. EWWWWW...
Originally posted by peifc
I read about that...the Oscar in 10 gallons tank. I found that thread is so senseless. Our date is hot or not isn't any other people's business. It is all personal preference. What I think is hot might be ugly to someone. Beside, the whole thread was off the point. It was about Oscar in 10 gallons tank...not about "My date is hotter" thread.
In that thread...it wasn't an arguement. It was a fight. When a person being attacked subjectively....that's called "fight" or dirty fight/being ganged up. Debate is about people have different view on an issue/topic.
That thread totally reminded me of AOL chatroom. EWWWWW...
Yes and I subjected myself once again to that level. Gotta keep my temper under control :p. I love my queen and thats what matters. And yes im still against oscars in the 10 gallon, and yes I think jack dempseys are over estimated (used to not but have had my mind changed lately with my jack becoming a wimp) There almost got back on topic :D
I noticed that you were being attacked subjectively. Yes, I agreed your date is your own business. How you want to post your pictures is your own decision and right. I just don't understand why some people will attack on another person on that level. Unless they really got nothing to do but think about some silly things to argue about.
I don't agree the Oscar should be in that 10 gallons tank too. Again...that's our opinion. If the 3 musketeers feel the need to talk about law and order and argue...let them.
Beside...I don't believe HUMANE SOCIETY does "OSCAR" rescue. I looked into their website...don't see any freshwater fish rescue. Since we have the passion for fish...I don't blame paradigmcubed took the fish out of that house since no one else would help him...and definitely not the law.
I don't think you were out of line about defending your love one. And I'm sure the 3 musketeers will do the same if we attack them subjectively instead of objectively.
DarthV
07-14-2003, 5:00 PM
I'm getting a lot of fighting back and forth with my 3.5" GT and 2.5" con... tooks them less than 30mins after being moved to their new 55gal tank to start fighting... no marks, but lots of splashing... I've only seen them lock lips once..and that was for a split second... My convict is a nasty little guy...it pretty much owns the tank right now. I just picked up a 1.5-2" dempsey...once it's done with a 2 week preventative quaratine, it will get dropped into the 55...be interesting to see what happens.
Mystroe_TheMyst
07-14-2003, 11:11 PM
man cons kick ***' i once had a overstocked tank (was going for the old controled overcrowding method) bad idea had wrong fish in the wrong waters I think. First my male con eliminated the weakess con. then my jewels had a battle (red forest beat common) and then my male con knocked off my female con. After that things settled. Then male con kills Three spot Gourami x2. and then kills off the red forest jewel. I had a purple spotted gudgeon in there and that died cause it ate the bristlenose. so all that was left was a black widow tetra (still alive today, the lil battler) and a male con. Absolute carnage!
this was only in an 18gal where all the fish where no bigger than 2.5" But i got rid of the con after growing to 3"...he was a killing machine...I know better now..I lost so many fish to that male I named him the killing machine and took him to the LFS..he was gone 2days later....whoeva bought him I feel sry for.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/absnkwoo2/Old%20pics/maleCon2.jpg
*the killing machine*
NOTE: I have a bigger tank now and please do not have a go at me for overstocking...I was a newbie and I know better now...and could a few of you perhaps answer to my thread? (sry to ask)
I think you should have had Jaguar Cichlid on there. Ours is the meanest fish I've ever seen!:eek:
Unless you are talking about a dovii or umbee you don't get much meaner than a managuense :D
My festae would beg to differ.;)
I'm in the minority here I guess, but I think that some of the african mbuna, for their size, are the meanest cichlids. Have any of you every kept Kennyi or Chipokaes?
gonefishin
02-20-2005, 4:06 PM
Dempsey will take to hiding and probably get in a tussle with one of the Africans, if they don't die from the stress of the wrong water parameters first. And the jewel cichlid is a killing waiting to happen.
so I agree with most of the things you said, but the africans were not specified, and some africans have the same requirements as SAs. And the jewel should be able to fend for itself, since the other large fish in there probably won't grow to thier max size if kept in that setup.
cyberbeer65
08-23-2005, 10:34 AM
My Midas is a mean SOB,one day he decides to start trying to kill everything in my tank,so I have him in my 20 gal Q-tank untill a lfs here has enough room to take him in on trade.
PinkBloodParrot
12-20-2005, 3:08 PM
In my experience and what I heard from anywhere, red devil is the most aggressive. So I voted red devil.
xxnyjets83xx
03-05-2006, 3:44 PM
i have two pink convicts. one male and one female. i think that the female is pregnant, but how do you tell. what do i have to do if the female is pregnant. i have a 55g tank with 7 fish in it.
Zeromason577
05-10-2006, 10:10 PM
Well, are they both hiding out in one cave?
Do you have slate style rocks for them to lay their eggs on?
Depening on what you want to do with the fry, here are a few choices.
1-let the parents breed in the tank, wait till the fry are free swiming, then let nature take its course(fry will most likely be eaten).
2- remove mating pair to new tank, let breed, then return back to tank when they are done raising the fry.
3- let breed in the large tank, remove fry when they are mature enough, put into fry tank or sell to LFS/feed to larger fish?
their are many other things that can be done with them, i just let the fry hatch in my convict tank, after they mature enough whatever is left of them i take out, let grow up some in my 10 gal and then send them to my LFS.