Yet another convict fry thread

[phxl]

I was adjusting the pump in my 150g tonight and while I had my hand in the water, the larger male convict was showing agression towards me. A little searching and sure enough I found mom and her fry about a foot away. I already have another tank with a convict pair, and I realllllly don't need a bazillion covict babies. Really.

The short question, what to do with the fry?

This pair is in a 7' tank. There are also two other convict that are not breeding. One is a female pink who lost her partner to her parents before I moved them, and the other is a runt that I swear stopped growing half a year ago. Moving up the food chain, there is an Asian Chromide, about 2.5" a Firemouth, about 2.5" two female Dempseys, both now over 6" and an Oscar, 9".

How will this situation most likely play out if left alone? Can I count on the larger cichlids to eat the fry, or will the parents hold them off?

 

[GuppyMan]

You will be surprised what convicts do when it comes to there babies! I have heard of 1.5" pairs chase off 5" JD's and such. Most likely, the chances are that the fry will not survive. But hey, it all depends on the pair and how aggressive they will be.
And if you notice the other fish cowering at the opposite side of the tank, you know the convicts are good parents

Trevor

 

[dave76]

I would say that you will end up with some nipped fins on everyone but the parents and a lot more convicts. I got the bright idea to feed my oscar, GT and JD convict fry for healthy feeders, well, without parents to protect them at least 20 of them survived. I ended up "donating" them to an LFS and separating my pair.

The parents were an inch long and pushed around my other 6" fish like they were nothing. They took over the 6' tank until I moved them to a 55 I had setup.

Good luck.