help with raising fry please

[Eclipse_sky]

I posted this under the cichlids sub-forum but got no responses. So long story short I saved a pink convict and her fry from a bad situation. I gave the mommy to my lfs and I still have 5 of her kids I am raising. They are between 2-3 weeks old. I have them in a breeder net in my 10 gallon. I've been feeding them 3 times a day rotating between crushed flakes and baby frozen brine shrimp. Can anyone tell me when I can reduce feedings and how long it will take for them to get big enough so they can be released from the fry net? I'm not familiar with convicts at all. Also I will be giving them to my lfs when they are big enough but I was thinking about trying to keep one. If raised in a community tank will it be ok with the other fish or should I not take the chance?

 

[Jumko]

With fry, a good rule of thumb is if they're small enough to fit in a fish's mouth, then they're small enough to get eaten. Of course, it also depends on the type of fish in the tank and how predatory they are in nature. Convicts grow way too large for a 10g - I'd say a 20long would be the absolute minimum for a pair, if that.Also, Convicts have been known to be extremely aggressive and just would not do well in a community tank. Even as juveniles they clearly show aggression and territorial tendencies.

 

[Eclipse_sky]

I wasn't planning on keeping it in a 10 gallon. I have a 30 and a 75. The fry net is in the 10 gallon until the get a little bigger.

 

[Eclipse_sky]

Bumpity bump

 

[alan j t]

dont chance it in a community tank. maybe a single one is fine, but once they become a pair they are true terrors.

 

[Fractalis]

they are called convicts for a reason

keep them in a species tank, sell them, or use them as feeder fish

 

[Eclipse_sky]

Lol ok ok I'll give them to my lfs once they are grown out a bit. Use them as feeder fish kinda pointless to have saved them then. I thought maybe 1 would be ok but I won't chance it.

 

[TabisFish]

They'd grow faster if they had more room to swim around

 

[MickRC]

In my experience pink convicts are less aggressive compared to the normal black-striped version. Still, they aren't ideal community fish. They have big mouths for their size, dig up a lot of gravel and tend to rush around the tank and bother timid fish.

 

[SubRosa]

They'd grow faster if they had more room to swim around

Bull cookies! That statement is based on the fallacy that fish grow to the size of their tank, which they don't. The key to raising fry rapidly is to massively overfeed them, and to change enough water that the water quality stays pristine inspite of the overfeeding. Tank size is about as important as your shoe size.