Can anyone help me out with my convicts?

[dilhcic]

Hey everyone...
I've just done something ive been wanting to do for ages..got a pair of convicts..well I havn't got a pair just yet I have 3 females 1 inch long and a male 1.5 inches long..they have been in the tank 2 days and the male is bullying all three females..my question is if I let them settle in and feed them well do you think my chances of my male pairing up with one of the females is good? At this stage he is bullying them all...chasing them around, at times pretty relentlessly..

My tank is a 20 gallon long..will a pair of convicts eventually outgrow a 20 long? Oh one other thing..I bought them all from the same lfs so there probably from the same batch of fry..is that a problem if i'm after a pair?

I know convicts are as common as anything and easy to keep but for some reason I find them fascinating

thanks for your help

 

[Sploke]

If you have male and female convicts in together, you WILL have babies. I'm not sure I'd plan on a 20L for life for a pair of convicts, although its probably doable, I prefer my fish to actually have some swimming room. Have you thought about what you're going to do with the fry? Most pet stores won't take them since they're so common...

 

[dilhcic]

yeh Im fully aware they breed like crazy..I have a couple of mates that live close by who have large cichlids and i'll probably give the fry to them as feeders..yeh I think a 20g is quite borderline for a pair so i'll look into a bigger tank in the future but for now there only small i'll be fine. I just want a pair to live together peacefully and not bully each other is that possible with cons?

 

[Mudfrog]

A couple things I've noticed..

A 20g will work for a long time but plan on going to a 30 or 55 in a year or two. The male is bulying the females now but once they spawn the female will bully the male. I've had females kill the male before if the tank is not real big (this was in a 29g). My 2 newest pairs have a 3.5" Male and 2" female and it seems to be fine. She'll still chase him some but I'm not concerned about anything lethal.

 

[lucy42083]

I just want a pair to live together peacefully and not bully each other is that possible with cons?

LOL....cons can certainly pair up and continue to spawn and live together without doing any real damage to one another...but I would definitely never call a pair of cons "peaceful" and they do tend to bully each other much of the time.

 

[excuzzzeme]

Males need to have more than 1 female to chase after. A 20L will need to be upgraded to a 55 at a later date and will need some caves for hiding. As far as breeding simply put a pair in water and stir until done. You will have more babies than you can get rid of. They are very prolific breeders.Absolute joy to watch when fry are present. The only way to spread out aggression or minimize is to have several.

 

[johnlarson66]

One of the things I enjoyed about having convicts is how they protect their fry. Also, they are not concerned with size. A smaller fish will stand up to a larger fish.

I didn't have one kill another one, but they did beat up on each other often. For me, if they were peaceful and getting along, they just would not be the same. I liked the interaction.

 

[dilhcic]

What size should I let the cons grow to until I get a 40 or 55 gal? They are between 1 and 1.5 inches now.

thanks for your help everyone

 

[Mudfrog]

I'd say once the male is around 4" or so.

 

[brentling]

What size should I let the cons grow to until I get a 40 or 55 gal? They are between 1 and 1.5 inches now.

thanks for your help everyone

??? A 20 long is certainly suitable for a pair (or 4-some) of convicts IMHO. I have rarely seen a 4 inch convict and I have raised them / bred them / sold them at an aquarium shop for years! They will eventually get that big after several/many years, but typically will breed at 2 inches or possibly less. You will need to make provisions to grow out the fry somewhere...

As far as the aggression from the male, do you have any caves or rocks, etc? I try to set up several areas that are visually separated from each other so that the fish can establish territories. Good luck. Breeding convicts is fun