# got my convicts!!



## Vince302

I buy 2 convicts today after reading a bit about breeding this species , I figure I could try it. So I start the same 10 gal we use for piranhas fry couples weeks ago , I have 7 red and blue "neon" feeders for cycle, and its almost done with minime nitrites reading and no ammonia...

Now my question is , should I remove the neon or leave it there with the convicts?

aslo what should a feed to the convicts?

I try to take one with some red color on the belly and a darker one but i'm not shure if its a male and female, I will post a pic later so maybe you could tell me...


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## Vince302

So here are the pic...

on this one I supose the female is on the left and male on the right









same thing here ... female on the left ...









female with a little coloration on the belly..









tell me what do you think!!


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## khmerboiRED

nice pick up man. Hopefully they'll breed.


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## dschoter05

Females are rounder, though this difference is easily masked by a belly full of food. Males may have nuchal humps (a hump on the forehead). i used to have a breeding pair i thought they were easy to sex. if you could post close ups of each fish they would be easier to tell.


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## Vince302

Thanks for your responses!!

I try some pic with the "macro" mode its a little bit better...

first 2 pictures of the supposed female



















male I think , little smaller, more grey and stripes are more visible , the other is more pinky/orange...









I don't really feed them since its their first day... and I don't see difference on the rounder...


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## Vince302

Those little bastards have killed 3 of the 7 neon LOL !!

and they are chasing each others









hope this is normal ...


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## MiGsTeR

Your tank might be too small thats why they are fighting.. Whered you get your convicts anyways? I want some.. lol


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## Vince302

MiGsTeR said:


> Your tank might be too small thats why they are fighting.. Whered you get your convicts anyways? I want some.. lol


I picked them at Montreal, they don't have any at my LFS

I will add some plant for hiding spot to see if it help ...


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## wizardslovak

listen 10gall is too small
i have mine in 10 gall and they are always chasing each other (female beats up male) if i'd have bigger tank i would move them out but i dont. 
What to feed them?? well use pellets and high protein food as blood worms (my loves blood worms) 
although they are kinda cold temp. water fish turn it up to 80 and if you have black water extract put it there. 
Put there caves and hiding spaces , and most important put there flower pot, they love it !!!!!!!!!!
here are pics of mine 









































and this is my male (sissy)









pics are darker cause i have light dimmed


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## Vince302

I don't really want to change tank, so yours are still in the 10 gallon? do you keep them for breeding or just for fun ??

also at what size they are ready to breed ???, mines are like 2" and I see one much bigger at fishstore like 3"+

thanks again for the help!


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## wizardslovak

Vince302 said:


> I don't really want to change tank, so yours are still in the 10 gallon? do you keep them for breeding or just for fun ??
> 
> also at what size they are ready to breed ???, mines are like 2" and I see one much bigger at fishstore like 3"+
> 
> thanks again for the help!


well vince
they start breed since they are 1" i believe
mine are in 10gall but hopefully ill change them into larger. give them time high protein foods, this might help ;p;ponce they start , they will spawn every couple weeks


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## Vince302

Ok thanks for the info wizardslovak !

I try to feed them the same pellets I used to feed my RBP's and they seem to love it!

How many of you had succes breeding this fish in a 10gal?


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## dschoter05

Vince302 said:


> Ok thanks for the info wizardslovak !
> 
> I try to feed them the same pellets I used to feed my RBP's and they seem to love it!
> 
> How many of you had succes breeding this fish in a 10gal?


 seeing this i wish i still had mine. give them time to get used to the tank then they will breed. if you are having trouble getting them to breed try lowering you temp by a 3 degrees or so for a couple days then back up to where it was (to simulate a season change). this always worked for me. post if ya got anymore questions.


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## Vince302

Ok thanks man I will try it !


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## SeedlessOne

I find a 10g to small to do this in. Ive tried it a few times in a 10g. The female just ends up beating the sh*t out of the male. Its kinda cruel....I would get a 20L atleast. They are only like 25bones.


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## dschoter05

SeedlessOne said:


> I find a 10g to small to do this in. Ive tried it a few times in a 10g. The female just ends up beating the sh*t out of the male. Its kinda cruel....I would get a 20L atleast. They are only like 25bones.


yea a 20 is almost a must because of their temperment.


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## Jonny_dw

Nice fish









Convicts grow to around 6-7" so you might want to upgrade when they start to grow. 20g minimum and ideally 30G really.


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## wizardslovak

SeedlessOne said:


> I find a 10g to small to do this in. Ive tried it a few times in a 10g. The female just ends up beating the sh*t out of the male. Its kinda cruel....I would get a 20L atleast. They are only like 25bones.


thats what i am having !!!! male is getting beat up lol
i decided to convert 10gall for w/d and use 30 gall for convicts, and change p to 55gall


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## Jonny_dw

wizardslovak said:


> I find a 10g to small to do this in. Ive tried it a few times in a 10g. The female just ends up beating the sh*t out of the male. Its kinda cruel....I would get a 20L atleast. They are only like 25bones.


thats what i am having !!!! male is getting beat up lol
i decided to convert 10gall for w/d and use 30 gall for convicts, and change p to 55gall
[/quote]

Good move









Just add a plantpot and water and you'll soon have tons of little convicts, they breed like mad!


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## Vince302

SeedlessOne said:


> I find a 10g to small to do this in. Ive tried it a few times in a 10g. The female just ends up beating the sh*t out of the male. Its kinda cruel....I would get a 20L atleast. They are only like 25bones.


That not sound good for me









I will leave it go for now and see what happen ..I don't have money to put in this right now...

by 25bones ... do you means dollar?







Here a 20 gallon is like 125+$!!


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## SeedlessOne

Yeah 25 dollars. Man for under $125 you could build a 20l. That is crazy expensive for a 20l. Where are you going to put the fry? And how are you going to seperate the male from the female between breedings. The male also tends to try to breed with the female constanly which isnt good for her. Either way a 10g is just to small IMO. Learn from my mistakes and try to get a bigger tank.


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## Vince302

That a lot cheaper than here !!! I got my 10 gal 40$ use from a friend!! and I don't really want to built my own.

For now I don't do anything , leave it in the 10 gal , maybe later I will buy a 30 gal .


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## SeedlessOne

LOL I threw my 3 10g in the trash....that just crazy


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## momo18

for anyone here that says a 10gal is too small I have some pics for you. And some new convict knowledge. This really belongs on the cichlid board but whatever.








I have 2 10gallon tanks with 2 breeding pairs side by side. I can take a full tank shot tonight. Convicts will breed in a puddle if it is done right. Also my convict parents have been with their fry for over a month and have eaten none.


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## Vince302

Hey that's good to ear man!!

It would be cool if you can put a full tank shot of your setup to give me some ideas.

thanks!


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## wizardslovak

Vince302 said:


> That a lot cheaper than here !!! I got my 10 gal 40$ use from a friend!! and I don't really want to built my own.
> 
> For now I don't do anything , leave it in the 10 gal , maybe later I will buy a 30 gal .


i got 2 for $10 on craigslist , brand new, 
but one got broken when i short braked on way home


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## momo18

alright ill get a full tank shot for ya vince...i took the few decorations i had in there before they bred out because I wanted to see the fish. All I had was a small piece of driftwood and 2 fake plastic plants along with a tera cota pot from home depot for 98cents. The fish do the rest...What I did was leave the temp at abut 73-75 wherever you want for the first week or 2, then do a 30% water change and spike the temperature 2-3 degrees. Works everytime for me


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## Vince302

I just add a flower pot angled at 45 degree and lower my temp to 74 ( it was at 80) I did a water change and the female litterally stop chasing the little male , they are now chilling and female like to stay in the lower pot , look like its work great .


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## Jonny_dw

momo18 said:


> for anyone here that says a 10gal is too small I have some pics for you. And some new convict knowledge. This really belongs on the cichlid board but whatever.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have 2 10gallon tanks with 2 breeding pairs side by side. I can take a full tank shot tonight. Convicts will breed in a puddle if it is done right. Also my convict parents have been with their fry for over a month and have eaten none.


Not to sound funny but all because you have convicts breeding in a 10g (and they would breed anywhere) doesnt mean that a 10g is ideal conditions. They grow to 6-7" if not stunted by small tanks, you wouldnt consider keeping a sanchezi for instance in a 10g tank when its fully grown would you?Infact its like keeping 2 fully grown sanchezis in a 10g tank, isnt right imo


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## momo18

Not to sound funny but all because you have convicts breeding in a 10g (and they would breed anywhere) doesnt mean that a 10g is ideal conditions. They grow to 6-7" if not stunted by small tanks, you wouldnt consider keeping a sanchezi for instance in a 10g tank when its fully grown would you?Infact its like keeping 2 fully grown sanchezis in a 10g tank, isnt right imo








[/quote]

Haha you're gonna say me having 2 convicts [email protected] 2-2.5" and the other at 3-3.5" in a 10g inhumane? You're retarded.


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## SeedlessOne

Dont insult people for having a difference of opinion it makes you look like the retarded one. And yes a 10g is too small....plain and simple. Just b/c you are doing does not make it the right choice b/c its not.

If you want to keep convicts and especially if you want to breed them you need atleast a 20g.


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## momo18

I don't normally keep them there i put them there breed them and then put them back in there tank. However everyone always saying 1 week tops as keeping them with there fry seemed untested. So i tested it...1.5 months no eating of their fry. It's no longer an opinion when you enter a smart ass comment like the sanchezi... Also please explain the plain and simple of it being too small.

Edit: On a side note I feel this argument is dumb and I'm ending my side of it here if it's my fault meh sorry...The OP is very concerned about stunting convicts hes breeding for food


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## Vince302

Little update,

I see some eggs this morning, but they are not on the ground , they are stick on the upper side of the flower pot, is this normal???


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## ju5tin95

yea i just got a breeding pair a few days ago, and mannn the male is getting punked left and right, ive got a flower pot in there now, but its shaped like a cylinder is that ok?

the male is stuck up in the right corner behind the filter intake tube... poor guy


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## Vince302

I think it's normal ,mine did the same thing the first 2 weeks, but after I added the flower pot and my water param. was good , they stopped fighting.

as for the eggs upside down is it normal??


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## ju5tin95

well i also have mine in a 10 gallon, the guy at the LFS said it was fine.... but i also have 2 , 6 in oscars in a 55, should i just use a tank divider and throw the convicts in there?


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## Vince302

Not shure for the divider maybe someone else could tell you, but I think you should try a couples weeks and good chance they breed.


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## momo18

anywhere in the pot is normal. Sometimes one of the parents will not allow the other to help parenting, just how it goes.


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## Vince302

Well I don't know what's wrong with my setup









That's the 3rd times they breed now in like 1-2 month and the eggs turn white the second day and disappeared the 3rd day .

The female guard the eggs and fight the male when he comes too close

I don't know if its the male the problem, but I don't think its normal that the eggs turn white.

what do you think?!?!


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## Dee178

Vince302 said:


> I buy 2 convicts today after reading a bit about breeding this species , I figure I could try it. So I start the same 10 gal we use for piranhas fry couples weeks ago , I have 7 red and blue "neon" feeders for cycle, and its almost done with minime nitrites reading and no ammonia...
> 
> Now my question is , should I remove the neon or leave it there with the convicts?
> 
> aslo what should a feed to the convicts?
> 
> I try to take one with some red color on the belly and a darker one but i'm not shure if its a male and female, I will post a pic later so maybe you could tell me...


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## Dee178

my convicts layed eggs..and some of wiggles are under the gravel filter.should itry to remove them or let them raise out on their own?looks like the male is trying to suck them up and put them in coffee cup ,eggs were layed in a large skull .


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## James Bond

Dude I just had all my convict eggs hatch and they are going nuts in the tank I have moved the little guys to their own tank and got about 30 fry out of the deal soon to be food for my Ps


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## Dee178

well the fry swim up today out of filter and it looks like about 200+.sweet


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## dschoter05

Dee178 said:


> Dude I just had all my convict eggs hatch and they are going nuts in the tank I have moved the little guys to their own tank and got about 30 fry out of the deal soon to be food for my Ps


I never took the parents or the fry out of the tank. they grew up to about half and inch then i feed them to my juvi RBP. I wouldnt be surprised if they breed again in the tank you moved them to.


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## Vince302

Vince302 said:


> Well I don't know what's wrong with my setup
> 
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> 
> That's the 3rd times they breed now in like 1-2 month and the eggs turn white the second day and disappeared the 3rd day .
> 
> Same things just happened today , female is turn black , 50+ eggs in the pot and the female is eating the eggs slowly , they are 30% of the eggs are orange and the rest is turning white....
> 
> My patience is becoming short and I think I'm gonna put the convict in the 55 with the piranhas to get rid of them , plus my aquarium had real plant and I have a big algua problem I have to clean window and plant every week
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> I read the post in the plant section but don't really understand what I need to get rid of the algua ...
> 
> that 10 gallons setup is everything but succes


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## Dee178

moved fry into 20g today 3 did not make it .the net killed them .i left about 30-40 with the pair now she has them right hidden .super aggresive right now male attacked my hand while cleaning lmao


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