Cypher - 2010-12-03 I recently purchased 4 convicts from my local pet store and brought them home and put them in my tank with my Jack Dempsey, Green Terror, Tiger Oscars, Bala Sharks, Pleco, Dinofish, and eels and after a few weeks I noticed a cloud around a pair of the convicts. Upon closer inspection I noticed a lot of small fry. Now the parents claimed the middle of the tank as their territory and they have driven everything out around that area. Which is funny to me since the Convicts are the smallest fish in the tank.
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Community Disorganizer - 2011-05-13 Yea, convicts have an excellent sense of parenting skills. They will fight any fish to the death if they get near their nest. I've seen a pair hold off a few piranhas already!
Samuel - 2011-07-08 Be carefull, because they could kill your other fish if they where smaller. So if the Convicts grow they could or more likey would kill your other fish to protect their young.
joel - 2012-04-22 Convicts are of the more aggressive cichlids despite size, breeding or not, and they will breed often. Watch that they don't pick on slower less aggressive like the oscar for example.
Edward - 2012-05-07 I bought a pair of convicts too and separated them into two tanks. The adult male happily co-exists with clown loaches and mollies. Maybe I have a really tame convict but splitting them up turns them docile.
tom - 2012-05-12 i have bout 15 cichlids in my 5 foot tank and I had a 8 inch silver shark the silver shark lasted 4 hours b4 he was nearly dead so I had to put him in my 3 foot tank with my baby cichlids till I can rehome him but the only fish that is ok with mine is a large pleco bout 11 inches long
DTemp - 2012-01-07 I have 7 cichlids in a 20 gallon tank. I got them as babies, but they are now about 2-3 inches long. The tank is not staying clean for more than a week and they are eating all their food within minutes. Do I need to upgrade them to a larger tank? Also, they hide a lot and are mainly at the bottom of the tank... I am new with this breed of fish... Is this typical? Thanks. Any input will help :)
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Jeremy Roche - 2012-02-14 You will find with that many fish at 2-3 inches you will want to go up to a 55 gallon long tank. Once you add the ground cover and decorations you end up with much less then 20 gallons. Try to stay with the inch a fish a gallon rule. How long has the tank been established?
Collecting Clownfish - 2012-02-14 Breeding fish can be fun and satisfying, so I can see your desire to do so! lol Convict Cichlids, like most larger cichlids live in harems. With these fish, you can get away with one or two females per male, which may be okay in a 20 gallon if you cannot afford another tank. The other thing is, cichlids rule of thumb is 1 per 10 gallons, so again, find a male and female and take the others to the pet store, and see if they will take them or give you store credit for fish food or something.
Cloudy water tells me your bacteria level cannot keep up with your 7 fish in a 20 gallon. Getting lace rock, where lots of bacteria can adhere to and multiply will help tremendously with the cloudy water. Feeding live foods, which you didn't mention if you did, is not the best idea with cichlids as it makes them more aggressive and polluted the water.... sort of a side point. If you want to keep more than 2 or 3, I would buy a 55 gallon.... get one on craigslist, they are pretty cheap, and make two areas (one on each end) that defines space, and then you may keep 2 males and 2 to 3 females. Getting a good canister filter will also help with water quality. ENJOY!!!!
mat everill - 2012-02-20 Hey the guy saying 1 per ten gallon must be rich or some thing. 1 per 1 gallon is right and the cloudy water - some options plant light for the algae to grow so the bacteira will grow or a 10% water change. Increase or feed your fish a little less or take out uneaten food or a better filter. Have any small fountains? Take out the motor. Not hard at all. Put mesh over it - stick in tank. That works good cleaning filter works good or put mesh in the filter. Hope I helped
Anonymous - 2012-03-14 Convicts when mating are tough against other fish in the tank.
Janne - 2012-05-08 Those 3 gallon tanks are suicide for most fish except the Betta. Your angelfish is either dying, cramped, or will need a new home soon. May I recommend 20 gal extra high? Once you get your new tank I would reccomend Discus. Was this answer helpful?
Tristan - 2012-02-12 I bought 2 convict cichlids 2 weeks ago and I don't know how to tell male and female but they are not fighting. They are with 2 green terros and a pair of rainbow cichlids in a 3ft tank which have been living in that tank for 2 years. Would my convict cichlids cause any problems in the tank?
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Tristan - 2012-02-16 But they are not aggresive to each other. Both the convivts are being aggresive to the other tank occupants.
Tristan - 2012-02-15 But I am having difficulty sexing them because they both are quite big and both seem to have pointed tips. But both have no yellow or orange colour on their bellys.
Jeremy Roche - 2012-02-15 Tristan- How old are the Convicts? Normally it takes 5 to 6 months for the orange to show up on the belly. If they are yet that old maybe wait a month or two to see if the color shows up. If it does not I would get two females. In the meantime if they start getting aggressive it helps to rearrange to rearrange their tank often to keep them busy building their territory.
Alex Burleson - 2012-02-13 Convicts, if they become a mated pair, could pose issues to the aquarium. However, in my personal experience, I have kept Rainbow Cichlids with Convict Cichlids even as a breeding pair, and I find that as long as the Convict Cichlids have ample room, then everything will be balanced.
Jeremy Roche - 2012-02-14 Normally the females will have a fatter belly with some orange to the belly.
joel - 2012-04-22 Male convicts also begin to have a bigger bulky forehead, with not as 'bright' coloring. Hope that helps.
Tiara - 2012-04-15 I'm interested in breeding a pair of covicts. I have a 6-inch male,1.5-inch male and 1.5-inch female. My female is read to breed and she keeps following the 6-inch male ,would the big male convict kill her and how long will it take for them to pair?
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Jeremy Roche - 2012-04-15 The two should be fine. How old is the female? May not be sexually matured yet.
Tiara - 2012-04-15 The female is about 8 months and is sexaully mature
Kristy - 2012-04-04 I am looking for a source of several hundred cichlids. They will be research animals, not pets. I am doing a study looking at male mate choice and fecundity based on selection of female in relation to the size of her orange 'patch'. The animals will not be required all at once (actually it is preferable that they are not all at once) but we will need about 50 at a time. We need fish which are greater than 1 inch in length and about twice the number of females to males. If anyone has any suggestions!
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Jeremy Roche - 2012-04-05 Local pet store a great source and they can order as needed. May even be willing to sponser if you can make it worth their wild!
thefishkeeper556 - 2012-01-29 i am looking for ANY exotic fresh water fish that anyonr is selling .. call me at 270 734 0247 . thank you to all who reply
fish_are_awesome - 2011-10-16 I am interested in breeding a pair of convicts. How big of a tank would I need and can I house any other fish with them? Thanks.
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David Brough - 2011-10-16 I've seen them breed in 20 gal or more aquariums. They are very territorial when they are mating. They are a good community cichlid but will defend a territory when breeding so a larger aquarium would help.
fish_are_awesome - 2011-10-17 Thanks! So no other fish with them then?
Shelby Lynne R - 2011-09-27 Hello I have had a lot of fish in my day. I love them but my cichlid is awesome but very aggresive. I want to get a fire eel again. I'm wondering if that would be a bad idea with my cichlid being so aggresive it seems like I can't put any other fish with it because its so mean. I dont want to get rid of it its beautiful but I really want an eel again in a 75 gallon fish tank do you think they would do ok?
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Charlie Roche - 2011-09-28 From what I gather, you have a convict cichlid CONVICT CICHLID and they are pretty agressive and territorial. The Animal World infor says you should be fine with other somewhat agressive fish that can hold their own but they should be about the same size. If one can fit in the others mouth then they do. Read the article attached though. OK?
Charlie Roche - 2011-09-28 I was thinking and I got to wondering why you just wouldn't get another cichlid? My human had cichlids and she loved them. They were interesting. They built tunnels and cubbies out of the gravel and then she would re arange the tank and they would start again. They would come to surface and chase her finger or come when she tapped the side of the tank. Why not another cichlids. Humble opinion of my human - as eels just don't have the same persaonlaity. Try another cichlid - same kind and that would be a gorgeous tank. Get the opposite sex or even if you have a male - get two females. Make sure about the same size - back to the mouth thing. Then the cichlid has a friend - someone like itself - and you have a more interesting tank. Just a thought from my human.
Shelby Lynne R - 2011-10-06 I would like another convict cichlid but I'm really into eels do you think a fire eel would be ok with my convict cichlid?
fish_are_awesome - 2011-10-15 The fire eel is peaceful while the convict cichlid is aggresive, a 75 gallon tank is a good size. If the fire eel is considerably larger than the cichlid than the combo might be OK. :)
john - 2011-09-25 Hi, I was wondering if I should get a convict cichlid and a peacock eel would it be a good idea? I was thinking about putting them in a 20 gallon with an aerator. Please respond. Oh yeah, I have never owned a cichlid or an eel, but I hear that these two species are good for starters. The fish I have raised are, bettas, guppies, goldfish, and a loach.
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Jasmine Brough Hinesley - 2011-09-25 In general, convict cichlids, Archocentrus nigrofasciatus, are very aggressive fish. They generally should be kept only with fish that have similar temperaments and that are the same size or larger than themselves. You probably would not want to keep a convict cichlid with a peacock eel, Macrognathus siamensis, because peacock eels are notoriously peaceful fish.
However, if you wish to try keeping them together, I would make sure you provide them with a large aquarium with lots of hiding places for the eel. Convict cichlids reach a maximum size of 6" and peacock eels reach a maximum size of 12", so because of how much larger the eel gets, they may do OK together. You are also much more likely to have success with juvenile convict cichlids than with full-grown ones. You should keep an eye on them, and if there is any sign of the convict terrorizing the eel, be prepared to separate them into different aquariums.
jose - 2011-07-11 I have 6 pink convict cichlids and I want to breed them. They're about 1 inch and a half. How long does it take so they can spawn? I have had them for a month.
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Charlie Roche - 2011-07-11 Convict cichlids are supposed to be very easy (most state the easiest) to breed. They also breed at a young age - They start looking for a mate before a year old - so look for pairing and will usually breed before they are two --- usually about 2 inches.
This is a link on U-Tube which shows convict cichlids actually spawning. There are other videos on U-Tube whih show the egg laying, hatching and fry.
samiran roy,india - 2011-09-01 you need about a medium sized tank with no other other fish in it except the pair. you also need a flat rock and a cave or two. the eggs hatch in about 3 days. after they are free swimming,give them newly hatches brine shrimp. after they are about half an inch give them crushed flake food. Good Luck.
One of the most popular cichlids, the Convict Cichlid has great coloring and is cheap too!
I recently purchased 4 convicts from my local pet store and brought them home and put them in my tank with my Jack Dempsey, Green Terror, Tiger Oscars, Bala Sharks, Pleco, Dinofish, and eels and after a few weeks I noticed a cloud around a pair of the convicts. Upon closer inspection I noticed a lot of small fry. Now the parents claimed the middle of the tank as their territory and they have driven everything out around that area. Which is funny to me since the Convicts are the smallest fish in the tank.
Yea, convicts have an excellent sense of parenting skills. They will fight any fish to the death if they get near their nest. I've seen a pair hold off a few piranhas already!
Be carefull, because they could kill your other fish if they where smaller. So if the Convicts grow they could or more likey would kill your other fish to protect their young.
Convicts are of the more aggressive cichlids despite size, breeding or not, and they will breed often. Watch that they don't pick on slower less aggressive like the oscar for example.
I bought a pair of convicts too and separated them into two tanks. The adult male happily co-exists with clown loaches and mollies. Maybe I have a really tame convict but splitting them up turns them docile.
i have bout 15 cichlids in my 5 foot tank and I had a 8 inch silver shark the silver shark lasted 4 hours b4 he was nearly dead so I had to put him in my 3 foot tank with my baby cichlids till I can rehome him but the only fish that is ok with mine is a large pleco bout 11 inches long
I have 7 cichlids in a 20 gallon tank. I got them as babies, but they are now about 2-3 inches long. The tank is not staying clean for more than a week and they are eating all their food within minutes. Do I need to upgrade them to a larger tank? Also, they hide a lot and are mainly at the bottom of the tank... I am new with this breed of fish... Is this typical? Thanks. Any input will help :)
You will find with that many fish at 2-3 inches you will want to go up to a 55 gallon long tank. Once you add the ground cover and decorations you end up with much less then 20 gallons. Try to stay with the inch a fish a gallon rule. How long has the tank been established?
Breeding fish can be fun and satisfying, so I can see your desire to do so! lol Convict Cichlids, like most larger cichlids live in harems. With these fish, you can get away with one or two females per male, which may be okay in a 20 gallon if you cannot afford another tank. The other thing is, cichlids rule of thumb is 1 per 10 gallons, so again, find a male and female and take the others to the pet store, and see if they will take them or give you store credit for fish food or something.
Cloudy water tells me your bacteria level cannot keep up with your 7 fish in a 20 gallon. Getting lace rock, where lots of bacteria can adhere to and multiply will help tremendously with the cloudy water. Feeding live foods, which you didn't mention if you did, is not the best idea with cichlids as it makes them more aggressive and polluted the water.... sort of a side point. If you want to keep more than 2 or 3, I would buy a 55 gallon.... get one on craigslist, they are pretty cheap, and make two areas (one on each end) that defines space, and then you may keep 2 males and 2 to 3 females. Getting a good canister filter will also help with water quality. ENJOY!!!!
Hey the guy saying 1 per ten gallon must be rich or some thing. 1 per 1 gallon is right and the cloudy water - some options plant light for the algae to grow so the bacteira will grow or a 10% water change. Increase or feed your fish a little less or take out uneaten food or a better filter. Have any small fountains? Take out the motor. Not hard at all. Put mesh over it - stick in tank. That works good cleaning filter works good or put mesh in the filter. Hope I helped
Convicts when mating are tough against other fish in the tank.
Those 3 gallon tanks are suicide for most fish except the Betta. Your angelfish is either dying, cramped, or will need a new home soon. May I recommend 20 gal extra high? Once you get your new tank I would reccomend Discus. Was this answer helpful?
I bought 2 convict cichlids 2 weeks ago and I don't know how to tell male and female but they are not fighting. They are with 2 green terros and a pair of rainbow cichlids in a 3ft tank which have been living in that tank for 2 years. Would my convict cichlids cause any problems in the tank?
But they are not aggresive to each other. Both the convivts are being aggresive to the other tank occupants.
But I am having difficulty sexing them because they both are quite big and both seem to have pointed tips. But both have no yellow or orange colour on their bellys.
Tristan- How old are the Convicts? Normally it takes 5 to 6 months for the orange to show up on the belly. If they are yet that old maybe wait a month or two to see if the color shows up. If it does not I would get two females. In the meantime if they start getting aggressive it helps to rearrange to rearrange their tank often to keep them busy building their territory.
Convicts, if they become a mated pair, could pose issues to the aquarium. However, in my personal experience, I have kept Rainbow Cichlids with Convict Cichlids even as a breeding pair, and I find that as long as the Convict Cichlids have ample room, then everything will be balanced.
Normally the females will have a fatter belly with some orange to the belly.
Male convicts also begin to have a bigger bulky forehead, with not as 'bright' coloring. Hope that helps.
I'm interested in breeding a pair of covicts. I have a 6-inch male,1.5-inch male and 1.5-inch female. My female is read to breed and she keeps following the 6-inch male ,would the big male convict kill her and how long will it take for them to pair?
The two should be fine. How old is the female? May not be sexually matured yet.
The female is about 8 months and is sexaully mature
I am looking for a source of several hundred cichlids. They will be research animals, not pets. I am doing a study looking at male mate choice and fecundity based on selection of female in relation to the size of her orange 'patch'. The animals will not be required all at once (actually it is preferable that they are not all at once) but we will need about 50 at a time. We need fish which are greater than 1 inch in length and about twice the number of females to males.
If anyone has any suggestions!
Local pet store a great source and they can order as needed. May even be willing to sponser if you can make it worth their wild!
i am looking for ANY exotic fresh water fish that anyonr is selling .. call me at 270 734 0247 . thank you to all who reply
I am interested in breeding a pair of convicts. How big of a tank would I need and can I house any other fish with them? Thanks.
I've seen them breed in 20 gal or more aquariums. They are very territorial when they are mating. They are a good community cichlid but will defend a territory when breeding so a larger aquarium would help.
Thanks! So no other fish with them then?
Hello I have had a lot of fish in my day. I love them but my cichlid is awesome but very aggresive. I want to get a fire eel again. I'm wondering if that would be a bad idea with my cichlid being so aggresive it seems like I can't put any other fish with it because its so mean. I dont want to get rid of it its beautiful but I really want an eel again in a 75 gallon fish tank do you think they would do ok?
From what I gather, you have a convict cichlid CONVICT CICHLID and they are pretty agressive and territorial. The Animal World infor says you should be fine with other somewhat agressive fish that can hold their own but they should be about the same size. If one can fit in the others mouth then they do. Read the article attached though. OK?
I was thinking and I got to wondering why you just wouldn't get another cichlid? My human had cichlids and she loved them. They were interesting. They built tunnels and cubbies out of the gravel and then she would re arange the tank and they would start again. They would come to surface and chase her finger or come when she tapped the side of the tank. Why not another cichlids. Humble opinion of my human - as eels just don't have the same persaonlaity. Try another cichlid - same kind and that would be a gorgeous tank. Get the opposite sex or even if you have a male - get two females. Make sure about the same size - back to the mouth thing. Then the cichlid has a friend - someone like itself - and you have a more interesting tank. Just a thought from my human.
I would like another convict cichlid but I'm really into eels do you think a fire eel would be ok with my convict cichlid?
The fire eel is peaceful while the convict cichlid is aggresive, a 75 gallon tank is a good size. If the fire eel is considerably larger than the cichlid than the combo might be OK. :)
Hi, I was wondering if I should get a convict cichlid and a peacock eel would it be a good idea? I was thinking about putting them in a 20 gallon with an aerator. Please respond. Oh yeah, I have never owned a cichlid or an eel, but I hear that these two species are good for starters. The fish I have raised are, bettas, guppies, goldfish, and a loach.
In general, convict cichlids, Archocentrus nigrofasciatus, are very aggressive fish. They generally should be kept only with fish that have similar temperaments and that are the same size or larger than themselves. You probably would not want to keep a convict cichlid with a peacock eel, Macrognathus siamensis, because peacock eels are notoriously peaceful fish.
However, if you wish to try keeping them together, I would make sure you provide them with a large aquarium with lots of hiding places for the eel. Convict cichlids reach a maximum size of 6" and peacock eels reach a maximum size of 12", so because of how much larger the eel gets, they may do OK together. You are also much more likely to have success with juvenile convict cichlids than with full-grown ones. You should keep an eye on them, and if there is any sign of the convict terrorizing the eel, be prepared to separate them into different aquariums.
I have 6 pink convict cichlids and I want to breed them. They're about 1 inch and a half.
How long does it take so they can spawn? I have had them for a month.
Convict cichlids are supposed to be very easy (most state the easiest) to breed. They also breed at a young age - They start looking for a mate before a year old - so look for pairing and will usually breed before they are two --- usually about 2 inches.
This is a link on U-Tube which shows convict cichlids actually spawning. There are other videos on U-Tube whih show the egg laying, hatching and fry.
Have fun
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/convict-cichlids-spawn/494ecbd2f62d41e6405a494ecbd2f62d41e6405a-1030627067098?q=convict+cichlids+spawning&FORM=VIRE2
you need about a medium sized tank with no other other fish in it except the pair. you also need a flat rock and a cave or two. the eggs hatch in about 3 days. after they are free swimming,give them newly hatches brine shrimp. after they are about half an inch give them crushed flake food.
Good Luck.