# Wild Costa Rican Convicts!



## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

Finally got the wild _Amatitlania siquia _Rio Tempisque settled in enough to take some pictures. Female was from first shipment, lost two of those 4 and had two replacements shipped. Second shipment was late, Male was a frostbite survivor, no thanks to FedEx. He's settled in just fine, but they haven't spawned yet. I mean, they are convicts and it's been five days already! They are quite colorful, you can see that they are closely related to the HRP. These two are as unagressive as HRP, but the other female from the first shipment isn't. She's mental, without a doubt.

Here's the new male, note the yellow body and reddish fins. Very pretty.









Here's the female. It's surprising how all that color can be subdued when they aren't happy. that's how I got three females on the first shipment instead of two pair.









I've always wanted some wild cons so that I could be certain of their purity. These are a nice looking strain, I hope they don't take too long to reproduce.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Nice looking fish. Great find.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

So I'm pretty sure I found where you got these fish from. What size did you go with?


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

I ordered two pairs, first shipment was a male and three females. Two fish died from unknown reasons (one was the male, of course), got two replacement males shipped with some other fish. Almost froze to death because FedEx was two hours late, and then the driver didn't knock on the door, just left the box sitting in the garage. Had I not seen the truck pulling away, I might not have gotten to the box until it was frozen solid, which I think was the driver's intention. The _siquia_ came around pretty quickly, the other fish (_Caquetaia spectabile_) I lost one of four.


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

Well, turns out I was fooled by the pair. Went to move around some flowerpots, thought she might want a lower ceiling to spawn (many con types prefer to dig under something and keep it low). Put a half dish in, moved a larger flowerpot to spread them better - and saw something moving. Got the flashlight (tank is dimly lit on purpose), and found a pile of wigglers!!! They had already spawned and eggs hatched, so obviously I was mistaken when I said they hadn't spawned yet. Male arrived Wednesday afternoon, eggs had to be laid no later than Saturday! Surprise was that the female did not stay with the eggs or wigglers, she was out every time I went downstairs. Normally cons are very attentive to eggs in particular, so I was caught off guard.

Yep, they're convicts all right! :lol:


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Congrats!

Had the same thing happen with FedEx being late. Dropped the box and ran. Luckily the dog barking let me know someone had been at the door.


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

Second pair of siquia has spawned, this is the better looking pair. I put the male with the psycho female a few days ago, this time she was a bit more tolerant. I believe she was getting lonely.

You can still see the breeding tube on the female.









Note the orange scales on the male's flanks, I was unsure of him (if the eggs don't hatch, I might still be!) but everything else is male in appearance.









Here's the eggs. They had to spawn where I could see them, no hidey holes in this tank.


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## Notrevo (May 2, 2005)

Good luck with the offspring!


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

Well, I'll give you a quick update. The first spawn is over 6 weeks old and I just took that pair and sold them in a local auction to keep from tying up too much space. The second pair, which I felt was better colored, is still guarding fry. Some of those eggs must have been twins, because I could swear there are way more fry than there were eggs. Psycho Beatch is extremely protective, the pretty boy male is not so much. However, he does guard duty while she's running back and forth trying to attack the tank next door.

Since these are all wild caught from the same area, I can line breed young from both pairs and see what happens with some outcrosses between them. This will not require large numbers, but fortunately _Caquetaia spectabile_ are excellent predators. I'm also looking for certain other types of predatory fish, such as _Polycentrus schomburgki_ and dwarf Pikes, which will certainly help eliminate excess convicts. Even if they are F1 from wild and relatively colorful, not a lot of people want Convicts.


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