Advise for rookie convict keeper please.

[mickey]

I ordered a pair of convicts for my 55g from my LFS, they duly arrived and i took them home and added them to the tank.
The problem is i think that they are both females, one of the cons has a lot of pink on it's belly, the other has pink also, although to a lesser extent and is chased all over the tank by the other fish every time eye contact is made.
I have had moderate success breeding other types of cichlids like oscars, b-acaras and severums but this is my first time keeping convicts and already i can see they are full of character.
A few questions?
Do male and female both have pink bellies?
Are they aggressive toward each other?
How can i be sure i have a male and a female?
If they are both female should i add one or two males?
TIA
Cheers.

[ChilDawg]

Are both their fins rounded?

[mickey]

Originally posted by ChilDawg
Are both their fins rounded?

No i wouldn't call them rounded, both fish are 1.5" and have similar body shape and fins as far as i can tell.
Cheers.

[ChilDawg]

I'm going to grab an article on sexing Cons, but the fins are one of the biggest signs.

[ChilDawg]

Here we go: http://www.angelfire.com/my/fishpage/convicts.html

[ChilDawg]

Toward the bottom of this page (http://www.cichlidresearch.com/simpleaquarium.html), you will find information on sexing the Cons.

[mickey]

THANKS FOR THE INFO CHIL

[ChilDawg]

No prob...always like to help people with those beautiful fishes!

[optix]

Just to throw my .02 here. female cons also have sharp pointy fins at least mine does. And almost all that I've seen. The best way to tell is males are just grey with black stripes if they are common blacks and the females have the different colors, mostly the orange bellies are give aways that its a female. HTH I've been breeding them for awhile and have 2 males that have reached almost 4" My little female isn't even 2" yet and doesn't show signs of growing anymore. Also I wouldn't add two more males. I'd take one of those females back and get a male. Two breeding pairs in a 55 gallon may or may not be havoc but I wouldn't risk it.

[optix]

Heres a thread over at the cichlid forum that may be of help as well.

http://cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=24245

[Molino]

What optix said about the pointed fins is true, it can also be observed on the female convicts although to a lesser extent. This difference, in my experience, is not as obvious on young convicts. My male convict has very long trailing fins, but is over a year old.

A better sign is the red on the belly. The female convict can also have blue and yellow tints on her fins. The colouration on the fins and belly becomes more obvious when she's in breeding colours.

[breaker_1113]

just to try helping out a bit
this is my male con
http://www.geocities.com/breaker_1113/mcon.jpg
and this is my femail but if you look carefully in the pot theres some eggs so her color isnt as good as it can be. about a week before they lay eggs there belly will turn orange and less pink
http://www.geocities.com/breaker_1113/fcon.jpg

[demon_surfer]

honestly your best bet at getting a pair is to go down to your LFS and spend 2 bucks and get another 4 ;) youll get at least one pair out of six cons. Those things are like the cheapest fish out there I think...baring feeders maybe

[mickey]

Originally posted by demon_surfer
honestly your best bet at getting a pair is to go down to your LFS and spend 2 bucks and get another 4 ;) youll get at least one pair out of six cons. Those things are like the cheapest fish out there I think...baring feeders maybe

They ain't that cheap where i come from, 2 bucks wouldn't buy you one con, never mind 4 still money dosn't come into it ,
i think i will try your suggestion D.S and add 4 more, if lady luck is on my side and i get a pair i will return the others to my LFS,that is if they survive, i have a feeling things might cut out rough as the 6 cons try to sort themselves into a pair.
THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP GUYS.
cheers.

[optix]

Every time I've bred cons all I did was add a male with a female and they spawned. They are like the guppies of the cichlid realm. You don't need to do the traditional method of pairing cichlids and getting 6 or more juvies. Trust me, just get a male and female, let them duke it out for awhile and I almost promise you they will pair up.

[mickey]

Thanks optix
Cheers

[dave76]

from what you are saying it sounds to me like you have two males. I am with optix I added a male to my female and two weeks later I had fry. ime the males are larger and tend to have a darker coloration. More of a purple and black. They will not have any other colors to them than that. My female has fins that trail much further than my male, but my female is older than my male is. To bad your in Ireland I would gladly let you have my entire next batch minus the ones I use for feeders.

[Tightdog1]

normally the females have the coloring on their bellies, orange or green normally, and he seems to have females but they are still fairly small and it is harder to tell but i would take 1 back and see what they have and compare the two, compare the sizes of the fin extentions and also the bellies, ive never seen a male with coloring on his belly. that is my main area of interest with these 2 cons. at this age the fins could be the same legnth on both males and females.

[Rocketman]

I have a 20G High...

At first I added one definite female and let her establish her territory. Then, I added what I thought was a male, but what I now assume to be a female. Both were about 2 inches. About two weeks later, I added a 3 or 4 inch definite Male, (he breed at my Pet Store, then killed the mate.) Now, about a week later, I have seen that the first female and male have already hatched some fry. They simply chase the other convict away when he/she gets too close. I can't get rid of the other female because I have no home for her, (although i can just bring it into my own store.)

More to answer your questions though; the first two fish, (a definite female and probable female,) chased each other around a lot. Actually, the first female did the most chasing as she was added first.

[Rocketman]

Here are some pics.

www.smithbridges.com/rocketman/img/con11.jpg

www.smithbridges.com/rocketman/img/con11s.jpg
for a smaller size image

You can see the fry right above the female's mouth and a little to the left.

[mickey]

Originally posted by Tightdog1
normally the females have the coloring on their bellies, orange or green normally, and he seems to have females but they are still fairly small and it is harder to tell but i would take 1 back and see what they have and compare the two, compare the sizes of the fin extentions and also the bellies, ive never seen a male with coloring on his belly. that is my main area of interest with these 2 cons. at this age the fins could be the same legnth on both males and females.

Heres where i have a problem tightdog, i can't take one of the fish back to the LFS because the LFS dosn't stock cons [it's very small] i got the guy to order me the two fish from the suppliers,
i asked for a pair but i'm nearly sure that i have two females as they are both showing pink bellies.
I have ordered two more pair for friday, so heres hoping that that a male turns up. i dont really wan't 6 females. :rolleyes:
Thanks for the help guys.
Cheers.

[Rocketman]

I have heard of multiple partners in a tank before, as well as situations where the male or female with 'sleep' with multiple members of the opposite sex, (gender, in case it gets censored.) Worst case, you could get 1 male and 5 females, and a few of the females may be eliminated. Not to say it's preferable to finding them all a good home, but in the case that you can't, at least it's natural. And whatever female survives will be, through a Darwinian selection process, the fastest, prettiest, and healthiest female.

[mickey]

Cheers rocketman, any news on your fry.

[Rocketman]

I started a new thread...

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15829

I'll try to keep everyone posted with a "Diary" of sorts on my website which should be up soon, (although I'm working all weekend and have loads of homework...I dunno if I'll have the time.)

If you have any questions Mickey just PM me or post it on the forums.

[mickey]

Many thanks.
Cheers.

[mickey]

I went out and bought 4 more cons, to add to the origonal 2, as far as i can tell i have
4 females and 2 males, all the fish are doing well so far, i will have them a week tomorrow, still no sign of any pairing up.
Still it's early days, they sure are a fun fish to observe.
Cheers.

[mickey]

Hey guys i think i 've found myself a pair of cons.
a male and a female have taken up residence in a cave
and have chased the other four cons to the other side of the tank,
they patrol their territory and woe betide any fish that invades their space.
No sign of breeding yet but i am monitoring the situation.
Cheers.

[mickey]

finally i got my self a pair of convicts, not only that but a breeding pair, how do i know? i got up this morning and they were guarding fry,i never even knew there was eggs,
the eggs must have been buried in the substrate.
Talk about fast work i only got them a couple of weeks ago.
I have never seen parents like them, i am gonna have to find new homes for the other 4 cons before the parents kill them,
there dosn't seem to be anywhere for them to hide, the parents just keep tormenting them.
Question. Will baby brine shrimp and crushed flake suffice for
feeding the fry.
Cheers

[Molino]

Baby Brine shrimp and crushed flake food should be fine, that's what I feed my fry.
Good luck :)

[mickey]

The way these fry are going after food is unbelievable,
they are only 3 days old and they are insatable.
Iv'e never kept hungrier fish.
Cheers.