Will a pair of female cons swim together and be at each others side most of the day? I picked up two cons last night. There were two fish defending the corner against 40 others. So I had the kid try to get me the pair. Some how it looks like I have two females when I thought I had a pair. Any one experice this before?
female convicts
- Thread starter fishlips
- Start date
I have three female cons that swim together often. They are all different sizes too. Sometimes they chase each other, but no harm done. They like to fight over worms.
it sounds like they were paired up and defending eggs or fry.
do they both have orange markings on their bellies?
do they both have orange markings on their bellies?
One fish is about two inches the other about one inch. The smaller one has an orange belly the other looks like it has spots on the belly not orange but blueish. I think these are the two that were defending the corner but can't be positive. I guess I'll have to wait and see. Perhaps Ill be better off with just females?
sounds like male/female to me. if the smaller one has the orange, then the larger one is definately old enuf to be showing it i would think. the males are generally larger too. another thing you can look for, but might not be apparent in juvenile fish.... the males upper and lower fins (dorsal and anal?) will extend past the tail (caudel) fin. the blueish iridescence happens in both male and female i believe.
is there a problem with them?
i think i would suggest watching them for awhile tho. from the behavior you were describing they were guarding something, probably eggs or fry. something common for the species: parental violence after abortive mating attempts, especially in younger fish. i'm not sure if putting them in another tank will figure into this or not. but it's pretty common for the male to beat the female even to death after losing a batch of youngsters from what i have seen.
you might want to look into some sort of target fish to keep the male preoccupied. i also sort of hope you have them in a fairly large, unpopulated tank as convicts are pretty well known for being extremely aggressive when they breed. they have been known to do a number on other fish even if the convicts are smaller.
post back if you have any more questions.
edit: just noticed you were from ct too, welcome. and the inevitable speeling problems. 
i noticed i missed a question too, convicts really don't "school". sometimes they group, or they pair off, but they don't really follow each other around unless they're chasing each other.
is there a problem with them?
i think i would suggest watching them for awhile tho. from the behavior you were describing they were guarding something, probably eggs or fry. something common for the species: parental violence after abortive mating attempts, especially in younger fish. i'm not sure if putting them in another tank will figure into this or not. but it's pretty common for the male to beat the female even to death after losing a batch of youngsters from what i have seen.
you might want to look into some sort of target fish to keep the male preoccupied. i also sort of hope you have them in a fairly large, unpopulated tank as convicts are pretty well known for being extremely aggressive when they breed. they have been known to do a number on other fish even if the convicts are smaller.
post back if you have any more questions.
edit: just noticed you were from ct too, welcome.
and the inevitable speeling problems. i noticed i missed a question too, convicts really don't "school". sometimes they group, or they pair off, but they don't really follow each other around unless they're chasing each other.
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Are female convicts less agressive than the males?. I have a female and its just letting itself be chased around by everyone else, even the JD which is the same size as the convict. It doesn't seem like the agressive kind of fish that I hear about.
female convicts are less agrresive i have 2 in my 55gallon with firemouths cory cats giant danios black tetras even paradise fish no harm done they display some agrresion but not as bad as males