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View Full Version : Record Breeding of Convicts



Rocketman
09-11-2003, 6:16 PM
Hey all! So, I have a 20G High where I have just started to breed convicts...

At first I added one definite female and let her establish her territory. Then, a few weeks later, 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 his mate.) Now, just 6 days later, there are already hatched fry floating off from where their eggs were layed. Most have already floated off and been moved by mommy, (the first female.) What's strange is that even Sunday night, the pair had shown no sign of even building a nest - now, Thursday night, just 4 days later, they have hatched fry. I heard that it was supposed to take 2 weeks for a pair to mate! Not that I'm unhappy...

So, from you Convict breeders out there, when do you think the eggs hatched? It couldn't have been more than 24 hours ago... I'm feeding them Baby Brine Shrimp, (from an in-tank hatcher,) and just some Tetra tropical flakes. I'm getting some Omega for other tanks soon, so I figure this should be enough.

Any tips from anyone else out there? I plan on using most of the babies as fry when they are 4 weeks old. I think I'll seperate them from their parents at 3 weeks, and place them in another tank for however long it takes for them all to be fed, (shouldn't be more than a couple weeks.) Any suggestions?

Dahlia
09-11-2003, 6:54 PM
Hmm I suppose you are sure the second "female" isn't a male since "she" isn't hanging around with the mother? It's pretty easy to tell the parents so I'll assume you got the right fish. I have no idea about the fast hatching, but as for fry I have good luck using shrimp pellets with my convicts. The parents take the pellets over to the babies and break them up so the fry can eat them.

Rocketman
09-11-2003, 6:59 PM
Nice...but the definite female and male are definitly a pair...no one else gets near the nest.