Will convicts eat their young?

It's called "recycling the protein" euphemistically speaking, and, yes, all Cichlids will do that if their tank is overcrowded and they have urges, or just the first few times that they brood.

IMO, the parents should be kept with the fry. Cons produce a body slime somewhat like that of discus which they use to supplement their babies' nutrition. They also provide great care in other ways, which aquarists could duplicate, but it would take a lot more time and effort than a brood of Cons is worth.

ive found that wiv my pair they start to knock them off after about 2 weeks, its kinda a routine. all you ahve to do is observe the first time, and see how long it takes them to be eaten, i knwo its hard, and then hte second time, take them out approx 1 week later, or whenever the fry are free swimming is when they should be separated.
BiG EaRs

hmmm I thought only discus did this? I haven't seen/read of any other cichlid doing this. do u have any references I can read on other cichlids that do this? for sure my breeding pair of cons have NEVER fed their young thru their slime coat. and my brood of cons is 2 months old now & still w/their parents.

Originally posted by ChilDawg
Cons produce a body slime somewhat like that of discus which they use to supplement their babies' nutrition.

Click to expand...

"The fry of some species feed upon the parents' protective slime cover until large enough to feed on the other microscopic food sources available."--Donald Conkel, "Cichlids of North and Central America," page 6.

Also, it mentions this in Dick Stratton, "The Guide to Owning Central American Cichlids." He euphemistically calls the slime "grut" and says that there are some species whose young parasitize them so much that they are rendered ineffective to resisting disease. I do not have the book in my dorm room, so I cannot give you the exact quote.

I don't think that you could say "for sure" that this does not/did not happen with your Cons unless you watch(ed) them 24/7. See if the next brood doesn't "glance" off the parental units at first...the grut is not used as a primary food, to be sure, but the fry really do grow better when given the chance to utilize this added source of nutrition.

the problem w/those quotes is they do NOT mention any fish in particular... ur right I don't watch my fish 24 hours a day, but I do know what goes on in every tank. I have bred convicts & jags & I highly doubt they do the slime feeding (I've never seen it). the cons have been thru multiple broods w/no slime feeding behaviour what so ever. maybe it happens in the dark of the night?

I think that the quote may be applied to Cons in particular in the Stratton book, but, like i said, it is not right in front of me at present. Even if it is a Con thing, it could be possible that you feed yours well-enough that they do not need grut, which is supplemental. Cichlids will also mash up large food for their fry, and that could be what is happening in the stead of grut-feeding, or I could just be plain wrong about the application to Cons.

P.S. I knew that you didn't watch them 24/7 only b/c nobody possibly could do so.