Convict tank mates!

[t_h_e_s_a_c_k]

A buddy of mine wants to start up a community type tank and wants to know what will mix well with convicts.

thx

[Tom_Hung]

How big is the tank?

[t_h_e_s_a_c_k]

30g's he says.

[yonderway]

Originally posted by t_h_e_s_a_c_k
30g's he says.

30 gallons is about right for a pair of convicts with nothing more. Convicts are pound for pound pretty tough fish. I had a mated pair in a 150 gallon tank with a mated pair of managuense. The managuense were about a foot long and the convicts just a few inches. The convicts would beat the crap out of the managuense and then eat their young to add insult to injury. When the convicts were spawning, which was pretty often, 2/3 of the tank was their territory and the managuense were stuck huddled at the opposite end.

The convicts ended up moving to a 29 gallon tank by themselves to leave me with a couple thousand managuense fry in a few weeks and a couple hundred convict fry to feed to the managuense. Some of the convict fry survived and as soon as they were old enough to tell the genders, they started pairing off and breeding in the managuense tank. Argh.

If I had to put anything at all in there with them, it would be giant danios. Why?
1) They aren't conspecifics so aren't viewed as competition.
2) They are pretty big as dither fish go.
3) They are pretty fast.
4) They hang out in the upper layers while the convicts hang out in the lower layers.
5) Maybe they are fast enough to eat some of the $!@# convict fry. :D

[Bwana]

Would one convict work in a 20g? Or do they need pairs?

[optix]

A single convict would work in a 20g. They do not need to be in pairs.

[ScottoMacD]

Originally posted by t_h_e_s_a_c_k
A buddy of mine wants to start up a community type tank and wants to know what will mix well with convicts.

thx

Single convicts will have no problem with a few tankmates in a 30 gallon.

I would suggest to go with a female for the following reasons however.
1) Coloring
2) smaller size
3) more tolerent

I currently have a female in my 33 gallon with the following.
- breeding pair of rainbow cichlids
- female JD
- female firemouth
- 2 plecos (bristlenose and p.204)
- juvenile Buttikoferi (soon to be moved to one of the big tanks, as soon as she can hold her own against the big boys)

I will be putting in a blue acara to replace the Butt-kicker as soon as it moves out.

I also have my male con sharing a 45 gallon with a breeding pair of severums, a hoplo cat, and a very large (7.75 inch) nasty festivum.

Solo cons can go with quite a few different species. Anything of same size or bigger with a similar temperment is fine.