friends for convicts??

[CdnRednek]

I started with a 20 g tank, and have 1 convict, 1 electric blue, 2 yellow labs, 1 marmalade cat, and 1 jewel cichlid.  My convict is becoming a real bully though.  We've tried to change the tank around to confuse him.  That sort of works.   We've decided to upgrade though to make it easier.  I get a 33 g tank this weekend.  The other 5 will go in there, and the convict will stay in the 20 g for now.  What type of fish will do well with the convict, without the two of them fighting too much.  He doesn't bother the algae eater, so he'll stay in the 20 g, and I'll get a new one for the 33g.  I just don't want to have a tank with only 1 fish.  He needs some friends.

[pegasus]

Let him play with the jewel and no more.

[TR]

Hi CdnRednek.

I agree with pegasus.  Even with a 33g, it's still not a HUGE amount of space too accommodate all of those fish (the electric blue, the yellow labs, the jewel cichlid, a convict).  It would be overstocked as is, and you are risking a potential war zone because of the size an Electric Blue gets, the aggressiveness of a Jewel, a convict cichlid's aggressiveness, and the labs being fairly docile for a cichlid.

                             TR

[BigDaddy]

Get him a female, and then feed the fry to your africans.

Cheap live food.

[pegasus]

Get him a female, and then feed the fry to your africans.
Cheap live food.

More than he'll need, so maybe he could start feeding mine.

BTW BigDaddy is kidding. Don't get him a female, he could easely kill it in a 20 gal tank. Not true for every individual but mine barely made it together in a 55 gal.... Ok they were 5-6" bulls after 2 years of beefheart and steroids.

[CdnRednek]

I would like the ideas, except it's the jewel cichlid that he bullies the most.  The other 5 all get along.  They'll get the 33g, the convict will get the 20.  Could something like a green terror be ok?  Would they avoid each other, or kill one another??  And thus far, they are all small.  THe convict being the largest at about 2".  The larger tanks will continue as we become more addicted, and once we move into a proper house, not a rental.

[pegasus]

For now leave the convict alone in the 20 gal. When the jewel get to be closer to maturity, it should be able to hold the convict that by that time be to slow for the jewel.

Or leave the jewel in the tank with the convict but with more obstacles, caves and hidding spaces.

[blueturq]

CdnRednek: What are you doing with JD?! :shock:

[Aiglos]

Selling it to me once it is mature and showing some nice breeding colors ;-)  


Congrats on your new tank ! I'm sure the kids would LOVE it if you got a mate for your convict, they breed VERY easy.

[nickie]

I think your male convic is looking for a mate to breed....
    I bought thre small convic early this year, I got the home, and had a ten gallon tank ready,..two weeks later, one feemale at one end had layed eggs in a PVC elbo connection pipe,.... and a week later the other end of the tank, the other feemale laid a bunch of eggs also in a PVC pipe...     I really don`t know if the male did all that work, or I bought it already in a family way !!!.....
     The feemales both raised their young in that 10 gal tank, for 5 weeks... Then I sold them all to our local pet store .......Take care John P..

[CdnRednek]

So I should be able to get a female and make it work in a 20g??  I already have a fry tank.  It's the sin bin for the convict when he gets to rough.  If so, how to I tell the sexes of the convicts??  Because I think I'm about to have baby yellow labs.  Not confirmed, but hopeful.

[nickie]

Hello !... The feemale convic has red behind the front side gills ....
It might look as if he`s beating up on her, but they seem to me to be rough in their coutship !!....  Don`t worry , from what I could see in my tank,...the feemale can take care of her self !!....John P

[blueturq]

Female Convicts have a reddish/orange belly, whereas Male Convicts don't.  Male Convicts also grow a little larger too.

Maybe if the convict pair was small, then it could work in a 20 gallon.... but a full grown pair in a 20 gallon sounds a little cramped, and could lead to problems. :?

[nickie]

Your 100% right about mature convics,... the ones I had and bred were not even 2 inches.. so, the ten gallon was`nt that bad, except,...when I had sixty baby convics at one end.....and only 10
at the other end from that feemale... .... then the liitle ones started to stray to the other end., and parents did`nt like that ,... thats when I sold the lot !!...........                                  John P