# Breeding Convicts...



## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

i want to start breeding some convicts as feeder fish for my piranha. i have heard that they are VERY fast breeders and will produce young all the time.

i was just wondering if they are picky breeders? by this i mean if i bought a male and a female would they for sure breed? or should i by like 5 or 6 to get a "pair"?

also, i am not positively sure how to sex them. I have read that the females show red on their bellies will males do not. is this true and how easy is it to know for sure that u have both a male and a female?

thanks!


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## armac (Nov 28, 2002)

very easy to breed, you only need two. go to the pet store and look in there tanks, you will notice the extra color of the females. buy a male and a female and set up a small tank, i have a pair that breeds in a 5.5 gallon tank on a regular basis. feed them well and change water and they will breed.


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## SnowCichlid (Jan 10, 2003)

just add water and they will breed ... seriously

males are larger and have more pointed finnage
females have colourful bellies, like orange colouration to them.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

alright awesome!!!!









i was just about to ask if a 10g tank would be too small for them to breed in, but obviosly not if armac breeds them in a 5.5g.

im excited about this. perhaps i will buy a couple tomorrow when i go to buy gravel for my 90. there is a lfs that on every sunday has like %50 off sales on gravel and such.

thanks a lot for your help guys!


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

Damn that sounds easy. 
How long untill they grow to a decent size for feeding?
I have a few extra 20gal tanks laying around.
Just use a small A/C filter with a pre-filter fitted?


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## smb (Jun 1, 2003)

armac said:


> very easy to breed, you only need two. go to the pet store and look in there tanks, you will notice the extra color of the females. buy a male and a female and set up a small tank, i have a pair that breeds in a 5.5 gallon tank on a regular basis. feed them well and change water and they will breed.


 That is not correct.

You can't buy a male and female and expect them to breed. Anytime that happens, percentage-wise all that you'll end up with is a male that kills a female because he's ready to breed and she isn't. That goes for any cichlid species.

Get a 30G and buy 7-10 2-3 inchers and in a couple months you'll be sorry you wanted to do this because you'll have so many fry and not enough tanks to hold the "month" class in.


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## smb (Jun 1, 2003)

oh yea, i forgot...
once you get a pair, get rid of all the other convicts or else they'll be hurt or killed. But buy some FAST dithers so the couple have something to attack instead of each other. That pretty much goes for any ciclid species tho so you probably already know that but thouhgt I'd better say that anyways.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

well i went to the lfs today with the intention of just trying to buy a male and female convict and take my chances whether or not they would breed or injur each other. when i got there they had about 1 inch convicts 2 for $1.00. so i decided to get 8 for a mere 4 bucks.

now i should hopefully get a real nice pair that will breed often.

thanks for the input and ill let ya know how thigns go!


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## SnowCichlid (Jan 10, 2003)

Just about any male and any female will breed when put together with my experiences, It is other cichlid species in comparisons that you have to be more aware of...


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

well by now u know that i have 8 convicts in my 10 gallon tank....

the tank was pretty much a quarintine tank for my feeder fish. if i set up the tank (gravel, caves, etc.) would my convicts be likely to breed in such a small tank?

OR shoul i use my 20 gallon tank for them to breed in? once i get my rhom moved to its correct tank of course..(the 90 gallon)


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## armac (Nov 28, 2002)

well reckoning, i'll tell the 2 pair that i have outside to stop breeding because you say they should not. i bought 2 pink and 2 regular convicts and placed them in separate tanks (one 5.5 gallon and one 10 gallon) and they have bred about 20 times each, you are spending way too much money to get convicts to breed, stop reading books or discussion boards and buy yourself a pair and see for your self


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

first of all i didnt read any books at all about them.

these convicts only cost 2 for $1...so i spent a total of 4 bucks for 8.

i was just curious as to whether they would breed in a 10. and aparently they will. then comes the question "where do put the fry"?. if i breed them in the 10 what will i do with the fry intill they are big enough to be fed to my fish? i dont really wanna breed them in the 20, but i just might have to.

also, i saw convicts at and fish shop for like 3 or 4 bucks a piece i forget. atleast 5 times more than what i paid for them. maybe i can trade them in as well.


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

buy a couple 10g tanks. There go your space problems. They only cost like 10 bucks each


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

yea that is true, but i already have too many damn tanks as it is...









my sister has taken an interest in my tanks though just recently.









everytime she sees them i can tell that she wants one...she wants one of mine.

perhaps i will make her a deal that if i buy her tank then she HAS to keep a pair of convicts in it and i get the fry..


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## smb (Jun 1, 2003)

> well reckoning, i'll tell the 2 pair that i have outside to stop breeding because you say they should not.


LOL. Yea, I know. I definately don't think I'm always correct when I post. I just try to add what little knowledge I have in the hopes everyone will and we can all come to a conclusion, and maybe learn something, in the end. :smile:

I've just heard of a lot of people having problems just adding a male/female and the male ends up killing the female.

I see after I posted that, that I am in the minority tho and it's the best way for me to learn. :smile:

I gotta at least try.


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## beccad (Jun 12, 2003)

Hey All,
I went to the lfs and thought the convicts were so cute. So I bought a pink pair and a black pair. And THEN I went home to read up on them. Whoops! Within a week or two, I was wondering what that was in the bottom of the tank. The pink pair had presented me with their first fry. So my son took the other pair home with him because (pink) daddy was all over them. So in the last month or two, we have had 3 sets delivered. The black convicts have just had their first fry about two weeks ago. The blacks are now twice the size of the pinks (adults). Mine are in a 20 gallon with some fake plants and a couple of pots. No big expense here.
Since the blacks are in a 55 gallon, do you think the size of the tank has stunted mine?


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

i have not kept convicts for very long, but with the information that i got on this forum i would say not.

how big are yours?


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## beccad (Jun 12, 2003)

The pinks are 2 & 2.5 inches. The blacks are 2.5 & 3 inches. They were the same size when purchased approximately 2 months ago.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

that is not that big of sixe differnce.

feeding habit could also play a role...


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## Aristarchus (May 30, 2003)

my lfs gives away convicts for free... my buddy that works there said he can't get rid of them quick enough, even when giving them away.. think i'll set up a breeding tank too


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## Shred Revolution (May 16, 2003)

I have a male and female convict pair in a 25 gallon tank.....its been 3 weeks and still no results


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

is a cave a good thing to have if u want convicts to breed?!

if so...how big should it be? i have a flower pot that is about 5" in diameter that i JUST put in. should the botoom be broking out?


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## smb (Jun 1, 2003)

JesseD said:


> is a cave a good thing to have if u want convicts to breed?!
> 
> if so...how big should it be? i have a flower pot that is about 5" in diameter that i JUST put in. should the botoom be broking out?


 If you have room for a cave, it wouldn't hurt. They'll probably use the flowerpot anyways, but they might like that more.

I would break the bottom out of the flowerpot. I've had success both ways tho.


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## beccad (Jun 12, 2003)

JesseD-I have two five inch flower pots in the bottom of a gravel filled tank (1.5 inch gravel). I felt that if I broke the pot, I would probably ruin it. After about the third time I got fry, I added some fake plants for the babies to hide in, just in case. When the new arrivals appear, it is always in the back corner where they (the parents) have carefully screwed up the gravel! But I leave it alone because I never know when it is happening again. (And people talk about rabbits!









Ok, help me out.
Are they having babies?
Giving birth?
Call them babies?
What are some correct terms for this?

All I know is that we have babies all the time!


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

as far as I know if they are egglaying species the offspring are described as fry, and and free-swimming live born fish are babies - I could be wrong about this though, but we all know what you mean.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

i just added gravel, plants, and a flower pot for a cave to my convict tank.

check it out. i found this old ass gravel in the garage from an old tank. works though


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

number 2....think that Convict is gonna lay eggs thats in the pot? its walways in there and chaces all others away.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

third and final pic...


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

oops. im an idiot


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

Very nice


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## beccad (Jun 12, 2003)

After bragging about all my babies, the male killed the female tonight. I didn't take it too kindly so I threw his butt in a breeder net. Chased him around quite a bit but don't care too much if he is mad at me. His tank is in the office and as I write, he is staring at me. If looks could kill.


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

here is a pic of a nest that my convicts dug. i started with 8 in a 10 gallon tank, but when i thought i had a "pair" i removed the other 6 and put them in my 50g aquarium with my piranha. i assumed that they would live for awhile because of their speed, but i did not intend on them actually staying there.

today i was going to syphon out some water and realized that there had been a nest dug by one of my convicts. the 'pair' that i have in my 10g have not bred yet, but it does seem that they have a nest dug as well. although it is not as obvious as the one in my 50g...it may just me an intendation from when i put the flower pot in because it is directly behind it. i do occasionaly see them siting there though. they often set all around the flower pot so i dont know if its just coincidence that they are there.

what should i do? the convicts obviously cant have babies in with my p cause they will surely die. and im not sure the 'pair' in my 10 have actually dug a nest. should i remove the pair from the 50g now so they breed in the 10g or will that interupt their cycle or something?


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

beccad said:


> After bragging about all my babies, the male killed the female tonight. I didn't take it too kindly so I threw his butt in a breeder net. Chased him around quite a bit but don't care too much if he is mad at me. His tank is in the office and as I write, he is staring at me. If looks could kill.


 that is ludicrous of you to try and "punish" a fish like that


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

would a convict dig a hole like this if it didnt have a mate to breed with?

he is still at it and he is making some good progress









he has almost dug a cave all the way under the coral...


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## JesseD (Mar 26, 2003)

...


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## ratt (Sep 15, 2006)

hi ... i am new to convict breeding but was wanting them for feeder fish for my oscar... i was given two male and a female..the three were all fighting and then i brought a white or pink female convict and the three zebs started pickin on the white one. so i seprated 1 male and the white female. the other two i left in the tank with my oscar... cross my fingers they have cleared all the rocks from the inside of a shipwreck and have exposed the glass.. i hope these two have paired up and feeder fish soon to come..... ok back to the other two... will the male zeb breed with the white female? and will he kill her if they are the only fish in the tank? would he be pickin on her because she has a little bit of white spot on her tale( goin to get white spot remover tommorrow)? thank you .... ratt


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

ratt said:


> hi ... i am new to convict breeding but was wanting them for feeder fish for my oscar... i was given two male and a female..the three were all fighting and then i brought a white or pink female convict and the three zebs started pickin on the white one. so i seprated 1 male and the white female. the other two i left in the tank with my oscar... cross my fingers they have cleared all the rocks from the inside of a shipwreck and have exposed the glass.. i hope these two have paired up and feeder fish soon to come..... ok back to the other two... will the male zeb breed with the white female? and will he kill her if they are the only fish in the tank? would he be pickin on her because she has a little bit of white spot on her tale( goin to get white spot remover tommorrow)? thank you .... ratt


they will cross breed pink cons with black cons not white and zebs they dont care about colours they will breed as mine used to.

he shouldnt kill her either and he wont pick on her cause of a spot on her tail

post pics


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## ratt (Sep 15, 2006)

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sorry . i said white spot .... like a fungal spot sorry i cant get pics close enough to see the spot... is this boring tank ok to breed in? they were sort of fighting b4 i put the gravel in( as this was planed to be a quarantine tank if any got sick so had no gravel when i added the convicts two days ago) which was bout two hours ago and now they seem to be more pleasent to each other... was this courting???? cheers ratt


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## flaredevil4 (Sep 9, 2006)

what do you mean by "is this courting" ?

If he was aggressive to her, then he probably was being territorial which indicates he's not interested in their...er..."relationship"

If he's calmer now, it should be fine


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## ratt (Sep 15, 2006)

Quantum_Theory said:


> what do you mean by "is this courting" ?
> 
> If he was aggressive to her, then he probably was being territorial which indicates he's not interested in their...er..."relationship"
> 
> If he's calmer now, it should be fine


sorry i havent been in touch ... my uncle pass away last week and i havent been near the puter
first let me say thank you all ..... we have FRY... and lots of them.... bout 5 days old now .... tanks again ratt


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## gar~spaz (Jul 21, 2006)

ratt said:


> what do you mean by "is this courting" ?
> 
> If he was aggressive to her, then he probably was being territorial which indicates he's not interested in their...er..."relationship"
> 
> If he's calmer now, it should be fine


sorry i havent been in touch ... my uncle pass away last week and i havent been near the puter
first let me say thank you all ..... we have FRY... and lots of them.... bout 5 days old now .... tanks again ratt
[/quote]
sorry to hear about your uncle. unfortunatly i know the feeling.







anywho, congrats on the fry. they'll make some tasty feeders!


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## zig (Oct 7, 2005)

right now my sister has pink convicts we alreadt had 2 baches of babies they usually breed every 2-3 weeks and all we have in there is rocks that are off the ground off the tank by putting smaller rocks underneth them and they seem to dig in the rocks that means they are going to breed soon


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## Malok (Mar 26, 2006)

mine go every 2 to 3 weeks and 3 days before the nextbatch the female turns color dramatically (i have pinks) almost all orangeish red i have that 3 day period or i lose a batch

its odd though sometimes they eat the old batch sometimes the new

i dont always get the batches since i have them in almost every aquarium in the house


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## flaredevil4 (Sep 9, 2006)

sorry about your uncle









and congrats on the fry, raise them up and sell them to your lfs or keep them in a new tank


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