# Breeding Convict Question



## thundergolf (Mar 13, 2009)

I currenly have a 10 gallon tank setup with 4 small convicts, two females and two males. I know that the tank is to small
to house and breed all of them. I am hoping to get a pair to breed and then eventually move the parents to a 20 or 30 gallon.
I do not have an extra tank at the moment I will have to purchase that sometime down the road.

My question is do you think I should remove two of the convicts to better my chance at some eggs. Or should i keep my current
setup with 4 convicts and hope 2 pair off. Its been about 2 weeks and still no sign of breeding. I have read about people breeding them 
in a 10 gal. so I no it is possible. At the moment this is my only tank option, and am hoping to increase my chance at eggs.


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## Scooby (Dec 25, 2003)

thundergolf said:


> I currenly have a 10 gallon tank setup with 4 small convicts, two females and two males. I know that the tank is to small
> to house and breed all of them. I am hoping to get a pair to breed and then eventually move the parents to a 20 or 30 gallon.
> I do not have an extra tank at the moment I will have to purchase that sometime down the road.
> 
> ...


I would not attempt breeding if all you have is a 10 gal. 4 Convicts in a 10 gal is already a faux pas; Adding fry will just exacerbate the problem. Patience is key and once you get yourself a 40gal + then give it a try. Best of luck.


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## exodon king (Mar 25, 2009)

20g is minimum for a single breeding pair.


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## Scooby (Dec 25, 2003)

exodon king said:


> 20g is minimum for a single breeding pair.


Go big or go home lol







It's honestly all a matter of opinion. a 10 gallon hands down is too small. While a 20 gallon may be sufficiant your fish are going to grow and their fry will grow as well meaning your eventually going to need to upgrade again. May as well get something that you can play around with for a bit instead of having the consistent need to upgrade.


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## exodon king (Mar 25, 2009)

unless youre planning to keep all the fry, a 20g is more then enough. i mean, come on, theyre just convicts. you could breed them in a zip lock bag if you wanted. lol


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## Scooby (Dec 25, 2003)

exodon king said:


> unless youre planning to keep all the fry, a 20g is more then enough. i mean, come on, theyre just convicts. you could breed them in a zip lock bag if you wanted. lol


We should try that


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## thundergolf (Mar 13, 2009)

The fry wont be a problem as i am planning to feed them to my elong.
They are digging all aroung my tank but still no signs of eggs.


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## exodon king (Mar 25, 2009)

if you just plan to cull fry for feeders, a 20g is perfect.


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## thundergolf (Mar 13, 2009)

Thanks for the info i thought it would work.
I now have 1 male and 2 females, do you think i should remove a female?


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## exodon king (Mar 25, 2009)

convicts arent harem breeders, so eventually the male will pair up with one, and the other female will probably get picked on. 
wait for them to pair up, to ensure a breeding pair, then remove the extra female.
then you have feeders...FOREVER. lol


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## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

thundergolf said:


> I currenly have a 10 gallon tank setup with 4 small convicts, two females and two males. I know that the tank is to small
> to house and breed all of them. I am hoping to get a pair to breed and then eventually move the parents to a 20 or 30 gallon.
> I do not have an extra tank at the moment I will have to purchase that sometime down the road.
> 
> ...


Well, you are right, a 10 gal is way to small. Even for a pair of convict's that is way to small. Now, if that's all you can afford now. Then I would say, get rid of 2 of them. Make sure that the pair you keep in, are compatible. 
I have a 120g and have 6 con's right now. Just bought some pot's today and will wait for pair's. Once I get them I'll get rid of the rest. At the moment everyone one is chasing everyone! I would hate to see what it would be like to have 2 couple's in a 10g. 
Try your best.


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## Guest (May 23, 2009)

Wow a 120G for 6 cons is overkill IMO. Convicts are really easy to sex, if you must use a 10G I would just place 1 pair in there and hope for the best, a 20G would be better.


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## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

ksls said:


> Wow a 120G for 6 cons is overkill IMO. Convicts are really easy to sex, if you must use a 10G I would just place 1 pair in there and hope for the best, a 20G would be better.


just to let you know. The 6 con's are my throw away fish. Meaning, I'm using them for entertainment, but am at the same time. Using them for cycling my tank. I'll be getting my 4.5 blue diamond in a couple of week's.


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

my friend breeds his cons in buckets with a air stone and a pot in each then uses a 20g for fry 
is is right guess not but u can breed them in anything


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## EZmoney (May 13, 2004)

Gerrad said:


> Wow a 120G for 6 cons is overkill IMO. Convicts are really easy to sex, if you must use a 10G I would just place 1 pair in there and hope for the best, a 20G would be better.


just to let you know. The 6 con's are my throw away fish. Meaning, I'm using them for entertainment, but am at the same time. Using them for cycling my tank. I'll be getting my 4.5 blue diamond in a couple of week's.
[/quote]

Geez, that will be one lucky little rhom.


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

gamgenius said:


> Wow a 120G for 6 cons is overkill IMO. Convicts are really easy to sex, if you must use a 10G I would just place 1 pair in there and hope for the best, a 20G would be better.


just to let you know. The 6 con's are my throw away fish. Meaning, I'm using them for entertainment, but am at the same time. Using them for cycling my tank. I'll be getting my 4.5 blue diamond in a couple of week's.
[/quote]

Geez, that will be one lucky little rhom.
[/quote]








thats what i was thinking

having a tank with breeeding cons with a rhom in the midst of them is a sick looking tank. a member on here (can't remember their name) has something like that going on. the cons breed faster than the rhom can eat them. looks really cool


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## thundergolf (Mar 13, 2009)

just recently got a great deal on a 55gal. Will move my convicts into that. How long should it take them to breed in this size of a tank?


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## Guest (May 28, 2009)

Your convicts should breed with 2-3 weeks of being placed in that tank. Make sure you have seperate areas on either side of the tank with a clay pot on either end. If after two weeks, no breedings have taken place, lower the temp by 3-4 degrees for a couple of days then place it back up to where it was prior. This should kick them into spawning.


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

why do people insists on huge tanks for every fish
u can put a dozen convicts in there
just need something else for growin out babies


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## thundergolf (Mar 13, 2009)

I will grow them out in my 10 Gal.


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## Guest (May 30, 2009)

I would just keep the fry in the 55G to grow out, 10G is to small.


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## Fishnut2 (Feb 25, 2009)

I have 10 adult convicts in a 10 gallon tank. I had multiple spawns on the same day. I pull the eggs and hatch them in a different 10 gallon. These aren't HUGE convicts though. The biggest one is about 3".


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## Guest (Jun 1, 2009)

Fishnut2 said:


> I have 10 adult convicts in a 10 gallon tank. I had multiple spawns on the same day. I pull the eggs and hatch them in a different 10 gallon. These aren't HUGE convicts though. The biggest one is about 3".


Wowza, I had 2 pair in a 20G and they beat the livin crap out of one another to the point where I lost a male and they were so stressed that they would not breed. As soon as I removed the other female I had a spawn 4 days later. Right now I have so many freaking convict fry from one pair of adults, its crazy!!


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## Fishnut2 (Feb 25, 2009)

LOL,
They do breed a LOT! Mine are smaller convicts. That's why I can get away with that many in a 10. I'm not sure if they are still young adults...or if they were stunted. I got them at an auction for $1. >>>They are in a 125 now, with my Rhoms<<<


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## Vince302 (Sep 8, 2008)

Fishnut2 said:


> LOL,
> They do breed a LOT! Mine are smaller convicts. That's why I can get away with that many in a 10. I'm not sure if they are still young adults...or if they were stunted. I got them at an auction for $1. >>>They are in a 125 now, with my Rhoms<<<


I was wondering if baby convict are fast enough to not get eated by your rhom ? , I got about 50 3/4 inch long baby convict in a 10 gal with parents and I'm not shure if I should put them in my 55gal with 3 ,6" reds, do you thinks they will last long ???

thanks!


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Vince302 said:


> LOL,
> They do breed a LOT! Mine are smaller convicts. That's why I can get away with that many in a 10. I'm not sure if they are still young adults...or if they were stunted. I got them at an auction for $1. >>>They are in a 125 now, with my Rhoms<<<


I was wondering if baby convict are fast enough to not get eated by your rhom ? , I got about 50 3/4 inch long baby convict in a 10 gal with parents and I'm not shure if I should put them in my 55gal with 3 ,6" reds, do you thinks they will last long ???

thanks!
[/quote]

Well as soon as your "parents" start breeding again, they will prob kill all of the babies anyways... you might as well add them to your red tank and get something out of them! Trust me, in the time it will take them to eat the fry, you will have another batch ready for them to feed on. Either that or get another couple 10gals with sponge filters, so you can keep your fry and parents separate until you want to feed them to your Ps


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## thundergolf (Mar 13, 2009)

Its been about three weeks in the 55g. and over two months with the convicts and still no signs of breeding?? Is this crazy or have you heard of this?


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## Guest (Jun 12, 2009)

1. Are you sure you have a male and a female (females have reddish/purple marks on their stomachs)
2. Have you lowered the temp. by 2-3 degrees for a day or two and then bumped it back up?
3. How many convicts are in the 55G?


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## thundergolf (Mar 13, 2009)

I currently have 8 toltal. Prolly 1.5 - 3 in. range. Three are males and five are female. I have lowered the temp. Still no signs of mating or fighting. They are very friendly and come to the front of the glass to be fed every time i approach the tank.


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## Guest (Jun 13, 2009)

They will mate once you bump the temp. back up. When I had two pairs in a 20G I had to remove a pair because they were to focused on attacking one another instead of getting on with the dirty deed. Once I removed a pair...bingo bango I had fry. All I can say is make sure you have a few clay pots and lots of plants (fake real whatever) so they feel comfortable enough to get their mojo working.


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## NTcaribe (Apr 8, 2004)

Death in # said:


> why do people insists on huge tanks for every fish
> u can put a dozen convicts in there
> just need something else for growin out babies


like someone stated ealier go big or go home....fish will like a bigger tank alot bigger than a small one hands down....last time i has a 10gal was when i had a newt and even the newt was to big for it
get a bigger tank


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## Scooby (Dec 25, 2003)

I see we're really beating the dead horse with this topic. You can keep 10 of most fish in a 10 gallon but their not going to be happy and it's going to cause stress. Hell, you can keep 1 human in a 6 by 10 jail cell for 20 years and he will survive but will he be happy? Probably not. The goal of this hobby is to maintain a healthy and happy tank not stress your fish out because your ghetto and can't afford a bigger tank. If you can't afford the setup then you shouldn't attempt the breeding.


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## thundergolf (Mar 13, 2009)

I think a 55 gallon is plenty big for some convicts.


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## thundergolf (Mar 13, 2009)

Finally got babies!!!


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