Will they breed?

Oscar_Mania

Oscar_Mania

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Oct 8, 2003
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I went to the lfs and bought a female convict ( two days ago) to put in with my male convict with the hope that they would breed. The male right now is just chasing her around and her fins are all torn. Is this normal for convicts before they become interested in one another? I'm sure it is a female as she has a lot of orange on her belly and dorsal fin. The female is about 2 inch. and the male is 3 inch. They are in a 10 gallon tank. Water conditions are fine.
 
Alright, that makes me feel a lot better. I'm new to breeding fish, so I'm still learning what to look for before they start breeding. I've done a bit of reading so I have an idea of what happens. Thanks for the reply.
 
Keep a close eye on them to make sure he isnt beating her up too much. If she isnt ready/willing to spawn he will still continue to abuse her. You may have to seperate them for a bit. Usually it is the female you add to the tank first so she can become used to her surroundings and claim territory b4 the male does.

Keep us posted :)
 
Increase the number of hiding places. I have a small rock cave that only 1 convict can fit in at a time. My female takes refuge in there and she is able to keep the male out. She nips him every time he tries to stick his head in. He doesn't back down for long, but he does give her a little rest.
 
well the amount of abuse has gone down from the male since I last posted. They seem to have their certain places where they stay for most of the day. In the morning the female ventures out and I even found the two of them under a slanted rock together. I've seen the male go up to her spread his fins and then go back into his hiding spot. He does this over and over. I don't think the feamle is ready because she doesn't really respond to it. At least all the nipping and chasing has stopped.
 
Give it a little more time. Even though these are Convict Cichlids...you are placing two fish together without giving them a chance to actually pick their mate (which they would be able to do in a small group).

What are your water conditions btw? Although Convicts arent picky by any means....they do prefer hard, basic water. Having the Ph above 7.0 is a really good thing. If you want, you can raise the temperature to 80*F.

What do you feed ur Convicts?
 
The pH is at 7.6, ammonia is at 0, and the nitrites are at 0. I'm not sure about nitrates and water hardness though. I feed my convicts blood worms, frozen cichlid chow, nutrafin floating cichlid sticks, hikari cichlid gold pellets, krill, and wardley slow sinking cichlid crumbles.
 
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