How young can convicts be sexed?

[dwarfgourami7]

I saw some convicts in my LFS and was intrested in getting a pair. I know that the orange scales on the belly/side are a way of seeing the female. Whats the minimum age that you usauly see the orange scales. The ones in the LFS are small so i dont want to risk it and end up with 2 males or 2 females, they are about 2-3 inches long.

[ibr3ak]

You can sex them at about 1.5"-2" and at 2-3" you can be pretty sure which is which.

[MySpace Mike]

Actually you can sex convicts at 1", but it's not always females that have orange coloration on them. It has been known that Convict Males can have a bit of orange on their belly, not as bright and well seen as a female though.

And if you bought 2 juvenile Convicts and housed them together 1 would end up female, and the other male.

Convicts can change their sex up til 1yr old or 4", unless they have already spawned in the past.

Most Cichlids are able to change their sex when juvenile due to their respected tankmates. Basically if you have a tank of mostly large female cichlids, and add a 2" female this juvenile would most likely change to a male.

Here's a link to a thread about cichlids changing their sex

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99723

[Mystix212]

My 5th batch of convicts showed visible signs of gender at .9" TL or so. They are now breeding .4" later.

[dwarfgourami7]

Well i have an empty but fully cycled 20G tank. Is it possible to get 2 small convicts and get them to breed when they grow some more?

[Tonyvensis]

The males also grow much faster than the females so after about 1 month you should see the difference in growth rate.
If I was you I would not buy a pair from the same tank as more than likely they will be
brother and sister. Personally I would not breed then. They breed too often and unless they are on their own they will cause havoc in a central American setup.

[Mystix212]

If I was you I would not buy a pair from the same tank as more than likely they will be
brother and sister.
:iagree: Buying from different sources is a better way to deter yourself from inbreeding.


IF they're purpose bred as food, then go for it. If not, cull the fry as we are swamped with convicts in this world. Then again, you can make money from colourful females.

[dwarfgourami7]

Well only one LFS sells them, im not to fussed about interbreeding, im not planning on letting the fry leave the tanks other than as poop cleaned out form the tanks where thye have been eaten. As for stocking. 20G mature setup, 2 convicts and fry, thats it, no other fish.