# Getting a new tank, looking to breed convicts



## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

My friend tells me he will sell me his 10 gallon long aquarium for $20. I plan on taking my small convict out of my 55 and placing him in this longer tank. Eventually, when I can tell the sex, I will get the opposite sex to house with it and hope for the best!


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## duds (Apr 16, 2010)

Ten gallons isn't a lot of room for convicts to breed in, but you should be able to pull it off if the housing is temporary and you move at least one of the cons back to the 55. Once the cons are bigger the ten might be too small to even pull off a temporary thing. When you say 10 gal. long, what dimensions are you talking about?
Good luck with the breeding! I hope you have an outlet for the fry! :thumb:


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

duds said:


> Ten gallons isn't a lot of room for convicts to breed in, but you should be able to pull it off if the housing is temporary and you move at least one of the cons back to the 55. Once the cons are bigger the ten might be too small to even pull off a temporary thing. When you say 10 gal. long, what dimensions are you talking about?
> Good luck with the breeding! I hope you have an outlet for the fry! :thumb:


I can't say as I haven't even seen the tank. I've never seen a 10 gallon long, so I'm taking what my friend said with a heaping grain of salt.

Right now, my con is really small, so I figure 10 gallons should be fine, and plus he won't have to deal with that pesky socolofi always chasing him. :wink: But when will I be able to tell if it is a male of female? I know females have orange bellies, but when do they show up?


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## sjwrx (Apr 15, 2009)

10g is fine temp but like duds mentioned earlier there isnt a lot of room for the cons to breed in.
another possibility is either the male or female would kill each other.

Female cons tend to show the orange coloring on their bellies as early as 1-1.5".


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Well I already set it up. It's certainly NOT 10 gallons, actually I think he said he got it at Pet co, so it's probably that bookshelf aquarium set up. When I stressed my disaproval, he threw in the heater. All that for 20 bucks! It has a large footprint, it's about 2 feet long by 8 inches high. I think it'll do as a temporary home for a convict.

I filled it up with water from my already established aquarium, and put in a cichlid stone from it. All that I had to do was buy 1 bag of gravel! Ohh,and I purchased 2 live plants.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

A regular 10 gallons measurements are 20x10x12. So the footprint is 24x?x8 ? Never seen a tank like that.


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## duds (Apr 16, 2010)

There's a 10 gal that has a 24x8.5 footprint (and 12.5" high), could be the one you have. You said 8" high, but did you mean 8" deep? If that's your tank, it's good dimensions for a 10... still small, but good for a 10.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

duds said:


> There's a 10 gal that has a 24x8.5 footprint (and 12.5" high), could be the one you have. You said 8" high, but did you mean 8" deep? If that's your tank, it's good dimensions for a 10... still small, but good for a 10.


Yeah that sounds right. :thumb:


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

I've been looking online. It seems to be the same one this guy has:


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

Yeah, the petco bookshelf aquarium...

I've actually thought about picking this up if they have a big sale, nice dimensions


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Yeah I might pick one of those up myself. Is it only 6.6 gallons? It looks a lot bigger in the video.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

Yeah, the width is why it's such a small volume, I believe it's only 8 inches wide, and only 8.5 inches tall, so the extreme length makes it look really big


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Would be a nice set up for some neons or a Guppy tank. Might do this for a shrimp tank as well so I can feed my jds.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

Yeah I've thought about it for a shrimp or shelly tank too


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> Yeah I might pick one of those up myself. Is it only 6.6 gallons? It looks a lot bigger in the video.


My friend told me it was 10 gallons, but he's no expert on the subject. I filled it with water from my 55. The fact that it's so long makes it seem like it's a bigger tank. I think my juvenile cichlid will love it. I place 2 live plants and a large cichlid stone in there, and there's still alot of room! I also put a layer of 5% window tint on the back!

The filter he gave me is really loud. I'm going to replace it with one of those cheap China-made ones from Walmart.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Nice I need to get some stones too. Can we see some pics? opcorn:


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)




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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

For a 6.6 gallon tank it looks huge. Nice job by the way.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> For a 6.6 gallon tank it looks huge. Nice job by the way.


Thanks. The tint job is really shabby, but to my credit, part of that was glare.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

Definitely, makes me really want to splurge on one with money I don't have :lol:


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Well I got rid of that POS filter that was noisy and replaced it with an aqua-tech walmart one. This one is tons quieter and the water pours out of it in more volume; it is more then enough surface agitation. When do you think I can add my convict?


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

You need to put established media in that filter and test. The water from your tank doesn't have enough bb to sustain a bio load. I would take some of your media from an established tank and put it in your new filter and do a Fishless cycle.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

What do you mean by media? They are different types of filters.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

If you have Hang on back filters Like the Walmart one take the filter floss and carbon insert out and put it in the new filter.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> If you have Hang on back filters Like the Walmart one take the filter floss and carbon insert out and put it in the new filter.


o, ok. thanks.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> If you have Hang on back filters Like the Walmart one take the filter floss and carbon insert out and put it in the new filter.


They are different size filters. The carbon in the 55 is bigger then the entire filter for the 6.6! So what's the filter floss?


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

You are gonna have replace the one on the 55 and cut the other one to fit in the new one. The filter floss is the blue or white padding around the cartridge. I recommend cutting open the new filter floss across the top and pouring out the insides. Then fill it with the old stuff from your established filter (media).


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## jason_nj (Feb 24, 2010)

I wouldn't worry too much about cycling the tank. Since it's only 6.6 gallon, I would tell you to change the water at least every other day since the water volume is so low, the water can foul pretty easily.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Done. I also have the cichlid stone from the established tank in there.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

jason_nj said:


> I wouldn't worry too much about cycling the tank. Since it's only 6.6 gallon, I would tell you to change the water at least every other day since the water volume is so low, the water can foul pretty easily.


Yea from my experiences, cichlids are very hardy fish.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

This is true but you wouldn't put your self inside a room filled with gas that would eventually air out. Its kinda the same thing but with your fish.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> This is true but you wouldn't put your self inside a room filled with gas that would eventually air out. It kinda the same thing buy with your fish.


Very true. My convict is the only fish that's left that survived my last tank epidemic. I think the cause was putting in an ornament that isn't meant for aquariums.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Well I just tested my water parameters and the ph is 7.5, the alkalinity is 240 ppm, the hardness is above 425 ppm, 0 nitrites, and 20 ppm of nitrates. I plan on purchasing "Tetra Safe Start" tonight and adding it to the tank (as a friend told me he had a good experience with the product) then testing. If all is well I plan on adding my con then.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Those readings sound good. You should be good to go. You might be able to ad him now. Like you said wait a day and test and see where its at.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> Those readings sound good. You should be good to go. You might be able to ad him now. Like you said wait a day and test and see where its at.


Well I have to go off to work shortly. But after that I'll stop at the LFS and buy _Safe Start_ and add it. I'll then wait an hour or so after and test again. Probably be adding my con tonight!


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

I stress after you add your con to the tank test your water daily. Since it is a small tank frequent water changes can take place of frequent test. But do test untill the filter can handle the bio load of what you put in the tank .


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> I stress after you add your con to the tank test your water daily. Since it is a small tank frequent water changes can take place of frequent test. But do test untill the filter can handle the bio load of what you put in the tank .


Well the LFS was out of safe start, so I tested the water again, and placed the convict in. It seems to love having the swim of the entire lenght! It seems there is a small patch of orange/bright red in front of the pectoral fin, but I won't sex it yet, but do you think it could be from the stress of going in a new tank? I'll try to get some pics tomorrow night.

Thanks for all your help Flippercon!

When I was removing it from my established tank, all the other 2 fish swam and hid from the net, the convict gave a little chase, but then when I was still (playing dead!), he swam right n the net!


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Can you put a pic up of the con? Might be a female. Just make sure you test your water daily and do water changes if need be.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

HereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s some pics of my convict:

































IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m thinking itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a female, but itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s still very young, so I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t know.

HereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s my metriaclima zebra and my socolofi:


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Very nice :thumb:


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> Very nice :thumb:


Thanks Flippercon, and good luck on the Dempsey fry! BTW, do you think my con is a female, or is it too early to tell?


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

The only way I can tell convicted apart is when they are in breeding dress. The female cons get an orange spot on their stomach. Add another con the same size and see what happens. You can usually determine sex this way by behavior.


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## jason_nj (Feb 24, 2010)

Females cons will have an orange spot on the belly so your look male. I could be wrong but it almost looks like a HRP\Con mix to me. Maybe someone with more experience with cons would be able to tell better.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Just got back from the LFS. I changed my mind, I decided not to force my convict to breed; I think that is wrong; kinda like an arranged marriage. I think I should probably, when I eat a bigger tank, get a handful of convicts and let them pair off on their own volition; not mine.

Anyway, I didn't want my convict to be all alone in that 6.6 gal long aquarium, so I bought 5 zebra danios and a Chinese algae eater. It's fun watching my convict chase the zebras! He just states at the CAE, as it's significantly larger then him/her.

I fully expect that once the convict matures, he will eat the other fish. But it's the rule of nature; survival of the fittest.

But do you think the tropical fish will eat cichlid pellets, flakes, or sticks? Or do I have to buy separate food?


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Yeah fish eat just about anything . Just crush it up for them to eat it.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Well it seems that my convict already began cleaning house. 1 of the danios had all his fins chewed off by the con, and is stuck to the filter inlet tube. I'm kind of surprised because my convict is so small. He even chases the algae eater around now, and the algae eater is bigger!


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## brodes7 (Apr 10, 2011)

that's what convicts are like . My cons don't mess with my peacock cichlid or the perch(separate tank) :lol:


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

A brand new pet store opened by my house, and they actually had a few cons! Being impulsive like I am, and I've been wanting to find a mate for my con, I purchased a female. There were 2 cons in a tank with Dempsey's.

I introduced her and observed their actions. My CAE was trying to throw a scare in her, but Elijah jumped into her rescue, and violently chased the CAE away! :thumb: That's a real man; sticking up for his woman!

For the first few hours, she was swimming away from Elijah. But when I turned the lights off, those 2 seemed inseparable. I hope it works out for the best.

I had Elijah a month, but he's growing like a weed. He's probably over an inch, and she's bigger then a half inch with a bright orange belly.


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## AAUSbob (Mar 5, 2011)

good luck. i picked up 3 pinks 2 weeks ago and within 3 days 2 paired and laid eggs. now i have about 100 fry swimming around in a slightly over stocked 110g tank. its funny watching the army of fry spread and slowly tank over the tank. the parents are so protective.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Thanks. But it seems that when I have full lights on in the tank, that my male con chases the female. Not aggressively, but chases like he wants nothing to do with her. When I put only the blue LEDS on, or shut off the lights completely, those 2 swim together, and the male even lets the female into his cave!


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

When I got home from work tonight, my convicts were inseparable. Elijah usually attacks the glass and swims around relentlessly until I feed him, instead he was busy digging. I came home and a few plants were uprooted. Anyways, I snapped a few pics:

Elijah and his girlfriend:

















ElijahÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s girl:


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## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Very nice. They look bigger than you say though.

....Bill


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

MonteSS said:


> Very nice. They look bigger than you say though.
> 
> ....Bill


Thanks Bill. The female is probably a hair under an inch, while Elijah has grown like a weed. He eats Hikari pellets like a crack fiend.  Today, they bodybagged 2 zebra danios. I'm waiting for them to put the CAE away.

Elijah during the first week I had him:

















A few weeks later:









And now:









I got him in the first week of April. He actually was the only fish who survived my tank being cycled. I basically feed him Hikari pellets, frozen brine shrimp only about once a week, flakes, NLS pellets, and Tetra Cichlid sticks.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Interesting developments to report. I firmly believe that my female (I have yet to name her) con has laid eggs. To be precise, she laid them inside the flowerpot that I purchased at my LFS.










If you can see, my male con stacked all the gravel in 1 huge pile at the front entrance? I looked inside to see if I could see some eggs, and Elijah has dug all the way to the glass!









IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve heard on this board that cons are extremely aggressive when spawning, but I didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t think it would be this bad. SheÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Dempsey-like aggressive! If only she was big enough to do some damage. My female wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t let ANYONE near her flowerpot; not even Elijah! She chases him and the CAE away violently whenver they get close. I hand fed Elijah a cichlid stick earlier, and the female went up and stole it, took it into her cave, and Elijah was too scared to go in!









Is it normal for a female con to not even allow the male to get close to her eggs?


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## AmishDude (Apr 5, 2011)

Not sure about the whole "cave" thing.
When my two laid eggs it was a couple defense thing. I would walk into the room only the father would come up and eat first; after he was done, he went to the divit and it was a shift change. Momma would eat. Then if I hung around too long, they both would start tail slapping/darting at the glass to where I was standing.
You should find out in about a week if there are fry in the mix (watch for a black pulsating blob).


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

[No message]


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Either way they have begun spawning. Just watch the aggression. You should consider some dithers. Maybe some zebra danios or something a little bigger. Buenos Aires tertras are a good choice too.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

AmishDude said:


> Not sure about the whole "cave" thing.
> When my two laid eggs it was a couple defense thing. I would walk into the room only the father would come up and eat first; after he was done, he went to the divit and it was a shift change. Momma would eat. Then if I hung around too long, they both would start tail slapping/darting at the glass to where I was standing.
> You should find out in about a week if there are fry in the mix (watch for a black pulsating blob).


Before they were always together, and my male chased the female. Now, it is totally the oppositte. She is the boss, even though she's probably a little over half of his size. She only comes out of her flowerpot to grab a couple bites to chew on, then goes back in. My male con takes a pellet, and swims with it to the flowerpot on the other side of the tank.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> Either way they have begun spawning. Just watch the aggression. You should consider some dithers. Maybe some zebra danios or something a little bigger. Buenos Aires tertras are a good choice too.


I originally bought 8 Zebra danios as dithers/target fish. It took awhile, but their are only 4 Zebras left. I really don't want to buy any other fish. My other 20 gallon, I think I'll wait until the fry are big enough to go in and make it a species only tank.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Dithers are very important in the bond process. When spawning it help the pair form a stronger bond and spreads the agression.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> Dithers are very important in the bond process. When spawning it help the pair form a stronger bond and spreads the agression.


Ok, maybe I'll buy some more zebra danios, since they are like 99cents at petco.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Very, very entertaining watching the activity in my aquarium! Yosi (I finally named my female con) is doing a fantastic job watching over her eggs. She basically stays inside her flowerpot all day, she only comes out to chase other fish away or grab a bite to eat. Lately, she has allowed Elijah (my male con) to accompany her. But the CAE has gotten more brazen. Yosi is super aggressive, but lately the CAE has taken the fight to her. He chased her all the way to her flowerpot. But when they were really close to her eggs, Elijah jumped in and had quite a scuffle with the CAE! In round 2 they both teamed up on the CAE; they must really view him as a threat! IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d be surprised if he survives through this spawn.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

This is the bonding behavior I was talking about. They both are working toward the same thing and tolerating each other(bonding). This is why dithers are important. The cae is the dither in this case. You should get a few more dithers the same size as the cae. The strong bond is what you are looking for so you can enjoy watching the brood and the parents guarding them.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

I have 3 zebra danios in with them, and about every week, they murder 1. What other fish do you recommend?


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Buenos Aires tetras or Columbian tetras . Even tiger barbs will work. Something cheap but fast. The danios in my opinion are a lot smaller and are easily eaten. The tetras are a bit bigger in size and are still fast. If you get at least three they will school and the cons will take longer to pick em off.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> Buenos Aires tetras or Columbian tetras . Even tiger barbs will work. Something cheap but fast. The danios in my opinion are a lot smaller and are easily eaten. The tetras are a bit bigger in size and are still fast. If you get at least three they will school and the cons will take longer to pick em off.


I really don't want to put too much pressure on the young parents. It seems they have to pull all of their resources together just to fight off the CAE.

Buenos Aires tetras and Columbian ones are pretty difficult to come by in my area, but tiger barbs are everywhere. How many tb do you think I should buy?


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Well the tiger barbs will swim mid to upper level.3 would be fine. But they school better with more. Like I said just make sure they have dithers. The barbs will just last longer then the danios. When you start to run out of danios get some barbs . The pressure on them is just the beginning of the learning process. They have to and will defend the spawn. The more they do it the better they will be at spawning.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Ok, thanks Flippercon. So I should wait to purchase tiger barbs until I run out of danios?


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

That's up to you. Just don't run out of them. Any fast schooling community fish will work. There are a ton of different kinds.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Alright. When I'm down to 1 zebra danio, then I'll go out and buy 3 tiger barbs.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

AmishDude said:


> Not sure about the whole "cave" thing.
> When my two laid eggs it was a couple defense thing. I would walk into the room only the father would come up and eat first; after he was done, he went to the divit and it was a shift change. Momma would eat. Then if I hung around too long, they both would start tail slapping/darting at the glass to where I was standing.
> You should find out in about a week if there are fry in the mix (watch for a black pulsating blob).


They do take turns now; its very interesting to watch how intelligent these fish are! But how long does it take the eggs to hatch? I can't even see them because I think the parents dug into the gravel and made sure I can't see them!


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

You should see wigglers anywhere from 3-10 days. Free swimmers is about a week to two weeks.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Ok. I was getting worried because its been a few days.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Whenever I turn the lights on in the morning, BOTH of my cons are behind plants. My question is, since they seem to be in the middle of the tank, nobody is guarding the eggs, could the algae eater come into the flowerpot during the night when noone is paying attention?


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## AmishDude (Apr 5, 2011)

Hmmm, I would say its possible. BUT if the cons did find the pleco in the pot, the pleco would be no more. Assuming you give the pleco algae wafers or some type of veggie, I doubt he woulda picked the eggs.

Id be curious to know whats in there, got a penlight handy? Look for "peppering" if you see black/brown specs you have fertilized eggs; white specs they b dead eggs. (I could have them reversed.) Id say give it about a week, if you dont see any TINY moving spots in the gravel ;re-arrange the tank, including moving the pot and vac. Might even want to yank the fish out, do a 50% WC & rearrange maybe even bring in a PVC cave.
I was concerned as well with my cons, but at least you know you have male/female. I thought till the day I noticed a blob in the bottom of the tank that I had two males....weird!


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

AmishDude said:


> Hmmm, I would say its possible. BUT if the cons did find the pleco in the pot, the pleco would be no more. Assuming you give the pleco algae wafers or some type of veggie, I doubt he woulda picked the eggs.


I gave the fish algae wafers last night, but my cons seem to like them alot more then my CAE. There's a bit more aggression towards the algae eater now, not that there wasn't before. But it seems like the CAE doesn't learn, he always comes back for more. He gets close to their nest, but never goes inside it.



> Id be curious to know whats in there, got a penlight handy? Look for "peppering" if you see black/brown specs you have fertilized eggs; white specs they b dead eggs. (I could have them reversed.) Id say give it about a week, if you dont see any TINY moving spots in the gravel ;re-arrange the tank, including moving the pot and vac. Might even want to yank the fish out, do a 50% WC & rearrange maybe even bring in a PVC cave.
> I was concerned as well with my cons, but at least you know you have male/female. I thought till the day I noticed a blob in the bottom of the tank that I had two males....weird!


I tried the penlight, and I couldn't see anything. I got a good glimpse of the female con though. She was alerted by the light suddenly shining on her; she came out and began looking around.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

I came home from work today and I noticed my 2 cons outside their flowerpot. They dug a huge pit right outside their flowerpot. The algae eater was on the other side of the tank. I looked closely, and I saw a bunch of brown specs. I went upstairs to eat dinner, when I came back down the specs were gone. I think my cons moved the eggs into the flowerpot, as they were paranoid because I kept looking.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

Yeah they must be wigglers don't worry they will be swimming around soon. Give them thier privacy and keep the tank maintained and all should be well.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> Yeah they must be wigglers don't worry they will be swimming around soon. Give them thier privacy and keep the tank maintained and all should be well.


I bought a prefilter sponge so the fry won't get sucked up. When do you think I should install it?


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

If you have it, use it.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

When I got home today, I seen my cons hovering over a bunch of teeny, tiny free swimmers! Elijah and Yoshi are finally young parents! Today I bought some _Hikari First Bites_ meant to feed fry. When should I begin feeding them?


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

You should feed them small amounts many times a day as you can without over feeding . Start now . Oh Congrats. =D> :fish:


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> You should feed them small amounts many times a day as you can without over feeding . Start now . Oh Congrats. =D> :fish:


Thanks Flippercon, and for all your help and guidance!


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

That's what we are here for.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

It's funny, when my male goes to investigate the flowerpot on the other side of the aquarium, and stays there too long, my female rushes over and gives him a peck on his kisser, to send the signal to get over and guard the fry!


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## Chubbs the Jellybean (Jun 16, 2009)

Elijah said:


> It's funny, when my male goes to investigate the flowerpot on the other side of the aquarium, and stays there too long, my female rushes over and gives him a peck on his kisser, to send the signal to get over and guard the fry!


Funny, mine does the same thing haha


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## AmishDude (Apr 5, 2011)

Congrats!
You'll see quite a few funny things that the parents do. My male seems to be the "cool" parent he just kinda floats around and only gets his act together when momma gets on his case.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

AmishDude said:


> Congrats!
> You'll see quite a few funny things that the parents do. My male seems to be the "cool" parent he just kinda floats around and only gets his act together when momma gets on his case.


That's every male I have owned. :lol:


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

AmishDude said:


> Congrats!
> You'll see quite a few funny things that the parents do. My male seems to be the "cool" parent he just kinda floats around and only gets his act together when momma gets on his case.


Yea that's so the case with my con couple. Elijah's kinda the laid back daddy, but it seems like Yoshi is Zena the warrior princess!


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Chubbs the Jellybean said:


> Elijah said:
> 
> 
> > It's funny, when my male goes to investigate the flowerpot on the other side of the aquarium, and stays there too long, my female rushes over and gives him a peck on his kisser, to send the signal to get over and guard the fry!
> ...


Yea Chubbs, convicts have great personality. But I'm kinda surprised that they didn't take out my algae eater as of yet. Granted, the cons have claimed probably 3/4 of the tank, and the CAE is relegated to basically just the corner of the tank! My female even aggressively darts at the zebra danios, even though they don't pose a threat.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

I snapped a pic of Elijah and Yoshi guarding their fry. I really didn't want to disturb them, so it's kind of a crappy pic:


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Even though I'm trying to give the young parents their privacy, I was watching their breeding behavior and the fry are big enough to count fairly well. I counted about 20 fry. I'm certain that no fry got sucked up by the filter, since I have the sponge on it. The parents could've ate a few fry that were deformed, but is it normal for a convict to only have 20 fry? Maybe because she was so very young?

And I assume since the fry are with their parents, it's not necessary to feed them 4 times a day like the Hikari first bites package says, since my male plunges himself into the gravel and stirs up all kinds of uneaten food particles, and I assume they can eat from the gravel?

To feed them I fill a small cup up with tank water and pour some food in. I wait about a minute for it to sink, then I grab my baster that I bought from walmart, and suck it up and deposit it directly on top of them. It's funny, a few times Elijah has bitten the end of the baster!


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

It could be because its the first spawn from both. The parents will perfect this and get better as they get more chances to spawn. Usually the smaller the female the smaller the batch.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

O, ok, that's what I was thinking as well.


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

It looks as if my female con has lost a lot of her color since she had fry:

























Is it normal? She will color back up?

HereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s that CAE I have:









Elijah and Yoshi really put him through the ringer at times, but he still is hanging in there.


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## Flippercon (Mar 5, 2011)

The color you see now is its normal color. The colors you have been seeing is the breeding dress. Most fish will color up a lot when breeding or turn really dark . She will get that color back when she is ready to spawn again .


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

Flippercon said:


> The color you see now is its normal color. The colors you have been seeing is the breeding dress. Most fish will color up a lot when breeding or turn really dark . She will get that color back when she is ready to spawn again .


Alright, thanks. And why is it that you think that they haven't put away the CAE yet? Maybe because they are so small?


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