# Trying to Breed Cons



## FanMan23 (Dec 16, 2009)

i have breed cons before once, in my reds tank on ACCIDENT. so i dont know what i did to make it happen.
i just got two cons in a 30g tank and they are really big but i dont see the orange on their sides but my lfs said they were
male and female. i put them in my tank and they just keep together by them selves in like this cave thing i have... i just want to
know how to get them to breed?


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

FanMan23 said:


> i have breed cons before once, in my reds tank on ACCIDENT. so i dont know what i did to make it happen.
> i just got two cons in a 30g tank and they are really big but i dont see the orange on their sides but my lfs said they were
> male and female. i put them in my tank and they just keep together by them selves in like this cave thing i have... i just want to
> know how to get them to breed?


First, you need to make sure you have a male and a female... use google and there will be pics on identifying your specific type of convict.

Second, the way i got my cons to breed was water changes... once they are in a tank and settled in, have paired up (not just fighting with eachother all the time) do a 30% water change with cold water... or like i would do 10% ice cold straight from my well and drop the temp like 7-10 deg. This would always trigger mine to breed.

Then when they have fry, you siphon them out with a hose like the one from your gravel vac... i would have a spare 10 gal tank or 2 ready for fry. (they are 9$ at walmart) and some sponge filters, or better small HOB filters with sponges over the intake. The great thing is you use 10 gals of water from the parent tank, so then you just add cold water and start the cycle again.

You will have more fry than you know what to do with... and if you were to setup a "breeding system" consisting of like 4 or 8 10 gal tanks, by raising fry to a couple more breeding pairs, you could have endless and safe feeders for your other fish.

Can you get some pics of the fish?


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## FanMan23 (Dec 16, 2009)

Ægir said:


> i have breed cons before once, in my reds tank on ACCIDENT. so i dont know what i did to make it happen.
> i just got two cons in a 30g tank and they are really big but i dont see the orange on their sides but my lfs said they were
> male and female. i put them in my tank and they just keep together by them selves in like this cave thing i have... i just want to
> know how to get them to breed?


First, you need to make sure you have a male and a female... use google and there will be pics on identifying your specific type of convict.

Second, the way i got my cons to breed was water changes... once they are in a tank and settled in, have paired up (not just fighting with eachother all the time) do a 30% water change with cold water... or like i would do 10% ice cold straight from my well and drop the temp like 7-10 deg. This would always trigger mine to breed.

Then when they have fry, you siphon them out with a hose like the one from your gravel vac... i would have a spare 10 gal tank or 2 ready for fry. (they are 9$ at walmart) and some sponge filters, or better small HOB filters with sponges over the intake. The great thing is you use 10 gals of water from the parent tank, so then you just add cold water and start the cycle again.

You will have more fry than you know what to do with... and if you were to setup a "breeding system" consisting of like 4 or 8 10 gal tanks, by raising fry to a couple more breeding pairs, you could have endless and safe feeders for your other fish.

Can you get some pics of the fish?
[/quote]

alright.. one problem is that i dont have room for a 10g tank... i thought i could just leave the fry in the tank.... BUTTT my mom snatched the camera but i will try to take a pic with my cam on my laptop


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

If you leave them in the tank, theres a good chance they will be eaten... mostly by the male to trigger breeding with the female again.

Some pairs do, some dont... guess you will have to see.


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

convicts are very easy to breed..make sure you have a female and male...place a pot inside in tank...watch and enjoy the breeding...they breed like rabbits...use to breed them to feed my oscars.


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## TJcali (Mar 27, 2009)

does it have to be a single female or can you have a couple with the male?


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA (Dec 8, 2003)

If you have a male and female they will breed. How long have they been together now?


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

TJcali said:


> does it have to be a single female or can you have a couple with the male?


They will pair up, and prob kill the other female(s) once eggs are laid...


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## FanMan23 (Dec 16, 2009)

Man i have had these two cons for about 3 days... and im not 100% sure that they are both male and female.. the lfs told me they were but neither one of them have that liitle spot the females have. one of them is a little bigger and kinda like the leader, the other is a follower and sometimes gets chased. i think maybe the smaller one has been beaten up a bit because its fins are a little messed up... there also VERY skiddish of me when i walk into the room... they eat a lot when i leave but they never come out from hiding when im around


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## Devon Amazon (Apr 3, 2005)

Usually the females have more orange on the belly area, males are larger and have longer fins..


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

what does it mean when one is all black then out of no where has a few orange scales???
I thought I had 2 females and a male...they killed one female and now the one I thought was male is turning slightly orange???


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## james79 (Sep 11, 2009)

my cons breed like rabbits i dont have to do anything it just happens and they always have loads of young


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## Alexx (Jan 20, 2006)

how to breed cons??..... just add water









mine bred within a week of getting them, and they were only 2"
... she ate the babies... had more babies a couple of weeks later, then she killed the male


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## Devon Amazon (Apr 3, 2005)

I think convicts are one of the most under-rated fish in the hobby, they have great characters, look cool, breed readily and show great parenting..
So much more interesting than the fish they usually get fed too.
Just my opinion


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## Alexx (Jan 20, 2006)

Devon Amazon said:


> I think convicts are one of the most under-rated fish in the hobby, they have great characters, look cool, breed readily and show great parenting..


couldnt agree more mate... great little fish with a big fish attitude


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## TJcali (Mar 27, 2009)

thats for sure^^^^^


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