Convict and Firemouth just spawned (pictures)

[Dekk]

UPDATE New Pictures: 8/14/2011

Just an update on my hybrid Convict(mother)/Firemouth(father) Fry, or Firecons! Last pictures I took was 11 days ago, so this is the development (if any) that happened in the last 11 days since I updated last time with photos. I also noticed my thread went to the 3rd page, so what better way to bump it than with more pictures.
CLICK ON IMAGES FOR FAR MORE DETAIL! Thanks








No Flash used, you can see a more golden color.


Recent Picture of Mother, with a glimpse of the Father Firemouth. Hes never far behind the mother Convict.

 

[allaboutfish]

doesnt work

 

[stoneyredneck]

They are looking nice and healthy, thanks for keeping us posted.

 

[allaboutfish]

WOW THOSE LOOK COOL!!! are you going to sell any? i like that mom.

 

[RazzleFish]

Thanks. Dont worry, my brother is keeping them isolated in a spare tank. None of them will reach the public, I promise. On another note, he mentioned one already died and he's only had them a few days. I have a feeling the whole batch I gave him will die off because hes not that great at keeping fish and they're still so young, but he insisted on wanting some now since hes anxious of putting fish in his empty tank.

I know I will end up keeping about 4 or 5 for myself, going to try to pick out the nicest looking ones just for a tank dedicated to the Firemouth/Convict hybrids. As for the rest, im not sure what im going to do with them. I have a 40g tank with just a single Jack Dempsey in it, maybe ill feed the ones I can't keep to him. If anyone has any ideas on how to dispose of the ones that I cant keep, let me know.

That's good to hear!

They sure are cute and I am happy they are all doing so well for you! As for getting rid of the extras your JD should do the job nicely!

Good luck with them!

 

[Fishfriend1]

Nice fish! I hope they get more of their mother's coloration, it's very nice.

 

[GuppyMan]

They're doing good!

 

[Dekk]

Bad NewsUpdate

I took this photo yesterday when I updated my thread of my hybrid fry. The mother, with the father closely behind.


Less than 24hrs later this happened when the lights were off for the night and this is what I woke up to.


The Convict and Firemouth spawned quite often, at least 15+ times, it just so happened that the batch that you all get to look at was the last batch these 2 will ever make.

I dont know what triggered the father Firemouth in killing her, but it is what it is. I still have their hybrid offspring so the mother Convict is still around in her own sort of way.

This thread has turned from something beautiful, to death. But as the Fry get larger, I will still keep the updates coming. There's other pictures in this thread of both the Mother Convict and Father Firemouth.

Its just strange that I just so happened to keep this batch of fry, not knowing it would be their last. And taking that picture of the Convict yesterday, not knowing it would be her last day alive. But im sure glad I made my first efforts to take care of these fry.

 

[RazzleFish]

Are you sure it was the firemouth that killed her? Usually cons can hold their own against even much larger cichlids...

Either way, I am sorry for your loss.

 

[Dekk]

Are you sure it was the firemouth that killed her? Usually cons can hold their own against even much larger cichlids...

Either way, I am sorry for your loss.

Thanks.

Im not 100% sure it was the Firemouth, since I didn't see the event occur. But no fish in my community tank could of done it besides the Firemouth. Also, the last several times the Convict laid eggs, she would not let him fertilize them, as she did prior times. This was the only time she stood up to the Firemouth is when eggs or fry were present. The other 99% of the time, the Firemouth had clear dominance over her. I hear its not uncommon for one to kill off the other. I can imagine it being even more likely since they weren't the same cichlids, and ever since they produced the last batch of fry, the mother would lay her eggs but not let the Firemouth near them. I think he finally had enough of her.

As a side note, I had the Firemouth and Convict in a 40g tank with a Jack Dempsey over a year ago, as they were juveniles. As the JD got bigger, he harassed both the firemouth and convict, so I had to move those 2 in my community tank (reluctantly) and let the JD have a tank by himself. So the 2 cichlids were the 'top dogs' in my community tank for a year before this happened. Surprisingly they weren't that aggressive towards my smaller community fish, they just kept busy w/ each other.