I just got back from the pet store with what the worker said was a female convict (but he wasnt sure). As soon as i put it in with my male, they seemed ok together, then my males stripes faded into big dots. And now hes chasing the new convict without giving it a rest. Is this part of a mating dance or is this new convict another male that is soon to be dead?heeeeeelp.
Convict emergency. Help!!!
- Thread starter fishy45cory
- Start date
If he's tearing the new convict up, I'd remove it. However, your con should have darkened right up if he was showing dominance, not the opposite. Either way, it's not always such a great idea to add a single female to a male. It is better to add several females and let the male select one, then return the others to the lfs (or find them other homes). It's not uncommon for a male to reject a female.
Ive removed the poor convict. So whats a good way of telling if its a female? I know females are supposed to have a little red on their underside, but its so hard to tell. This one looked like it had red on it, but now im not so sure.
One thing you can do is add the female to a tank, give her time to stake out a territory, (a few weeks,) and then add the male.
Hi fishy45cory,
How big is the new convict that you were hoping was a female? They sometimes don't display any colours if they're not in the mood to breed; however, you should see some pink or orange colouring around her belly and also orange in her fins. The females have rounder anal and dorsal fins than the males, and also do not get as large. That might be hard to determine if the fish is still very young. This female was only about 1.5" when I took this picture, and there are no males in the tank with her, yet she is still quite evidently a girl.
Hope that helps.
How big is the new convict that you were hoping was a female? They sometimes don't display any colours if they're not in the mood to breed; however, you should see some pink or orange colouring around her belly and also orange in her fins. The females have rounder anal and dorsal fins than the males, and also do not get as large. That might be hard to determine if the fish is still very young. This female was only about 1.5" when I took this picture, and there are no males in the tank with her, yet she is still quite evidently a girl.
Hope that helps.
That helps me a bit. Ive taken the convict back to the store and they told me to come back in a couple of days and they will have a fresh shipment of convitcs in so it will be easier picking a female. The convict I have is about 6 inches long, the one i got that i thought was a female was about 4 inches long.
Just some general knowledge: All female cichlids will have a rounded "top" (I can't remember what it's called now...) fin. The males will generally have a fin that extends beyond their body.
Thanx for the info. I can tell my males a male cause his top fin is very long, it extends more than an inch past his tail. Ill look for the rounded fin when i get a female this week.
