# Convict Fry everywhere.. help!



## s9601694 (Apr 14, 2011)

I have a 54 gallon corner tank with 6 Sumatra barbs, 1 JD, 2 Convicts. The JD and the larger convict are about 3.5 inches, the smaller one is about 2.5 and the barbs are all around 1.5.

I recently bought a 90 gallon for the JD and the Convicts so that i can stock the corner with a large school of cardinals and some more barbs.. I just wanted the ciclids out of the corner before they go too big and they started irritating eachother. I havent established the 90g yet, waiting for my 3d background to arrive!

Anyway.. just came home and to my surprize saw about 50 tiny fish swimming around, feircly guarded by the two convicts. Especially the larger one charges the school of barbs (who seem to be fine with dodging him), and the JD is hiding out, looking pretty stressed. Needless to say that a once calm tank is now pretty chaotic.

I am not really looking to become a convict breeder and was hoping i got a pair of the same gender.. Hard to tell when they are little.. but, as it turns out i didnt.

What do i do? if i leave it alone, will the JD end up eating the fry when he gets a chance? will the parents stay so aggressive? Will the JD be ok? What if i take away the mother at this point (the dad is a really nice one)? I cant get a new tank established soon enough to seperate the fry and convicts..

one more thing about my 54 corner tank: lots of drift wood with lots of hiding spots, which has probably saved some lives..

All advice welcome!


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

If you don't want cons to spawn, don't keep two. 

Loss of the fry is no real great loss... There's billions upon billions of convict cichlids EVERYWHERE! LOL

You should easily be able to net one of the parents or possibly both, they will attack the net in an attempt to protect the fry.

They will constantly cause havoc unless you remove them. They will never stop spawning!


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## s9601694 (Apr 14, 2011)

TheFishGuy said:


> If you don't want cons to spawn, don't keep two.
> 
> Loss of the fry is no real great loss... There's billions upon billions of convict cichlids EVERYWHERE! LOL
> 
> ...


I was thinking of exchanging the female for another male.. How would that go over? Would the existing male lose interest or would he keep defending them? would the new male eat the fry (and take my worries away) or would he help in defending them?


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## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

Chances are you'll wake up with one very angry male and one very dead male. Taking away the female won't do very much, cons are VERY devoted parents. IMO just let it be, the barbs should be fast enough that they can avoid the angry parents, and the JD is probably smart enough to know that going near the fry means death.


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## s9601694 (Apr 14, 2011)

BelieveInBlue said:


> Chances are you'll wake up with one very angry male and one very dead male. Taking away the female won't do very much, cons are VERY devoted parents. IMO just let it be, the barbs should be fast enough that they can avoid the angry parents, and the JD is probably smart enough to know that going near the fry means death.


What do i do with the fry though, how many will survive? I assume that the parents will 'kick them out of the house' at one point.. How big will they be? Will the parents continue with laying eggs right away?? If so, i'm definatly getting rid of mom..

Thanks


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## homerl (Jan 6, 2009)

I have a breeding pair with a red devil,flowerhorn,exodons,cae,it seems no matter how many get eaten you will find at least one survivor mths later.1st spawn one survivor,second time 4 survivors and as we speak they have eggs again.The pair continue to be aggressive really all the time.If you have hiding spots,at least it gives a bit of a break to the other fish.
They just can't figure out how to keep the rd and flowehorn away as they are about 5 times bigger than they are.
Forgot to mention there is also about 8 pink convicts in the tank as well.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

If anything... I'd lose the male... The female will grow to be a stunning fish. Before you do that remove both parents and let the fry be eaten to ensure no more future generations. I do not care foe pairs in a community setting... unless you've got a 14' tank....


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## ivanmike (Jun 15, 2003)

I've had convicts spawn in a community 125 where most of the fry consistently got eaten (some when 1/2" long). This is nature at its best IMO. The convicts get the pleasure of spawning and defending the fry, and, as in nature, most get eaten. Makes for an interesting aquarium IMO. (They weren't the only ones spawning either).


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## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

I split up my breeding pair just for this reason alone. I have 3 female cons in a 20 long, and I have a nice size male in a 40 breeder with a Kenyi. (I now that I shouldn't mix cichlids from different locales, but this one was a rescue). They raised 4 spawns, and from my experience, they are only really aggressive towards other cichlids, or especially cichlids that resemble them. (From Central America). They just seemed to chase away other tropical fish, but purposely attack other CA cichlids.

I think if you don't split them up, your JD will be toast pretty soon.


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## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

Pull out the pair and either seperate them or put them in a breeding tank for themselves. The fry will make a nice treat for your other fish, which should completely eliminate all the fry in a matter of hours. You could of course put the fry with the parents in a seperate tank and raise them, then sell to a LFS for a small amount of cash.


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## s9601694 (Apr 14, 2011)

TheFishGuy said:


> If anything... I'd lose the male... The female will grow to be a stunning fish. Before you do that remove both parents and let the fry be eaten to ensure no more future generations. I do not care foe pairs in a community setting... unless you've got a 14' tank....


The male is actually a really nice looking fish already.. So in your opinion the females are nicer looking?


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## s9601694 (Apr 14, 2011)

ivanmike said:


> I've had convicts spawn in a community 125 where most of the fry consistently got eaten (some when 1/2" long). This is nature at its best IMO. The convicts get the pleasure of spawning and defending the fry, and, as in nature, most get eaten. Makes for an interesting aquarium IMO. (They weren't the only ones spawning either).


That could work in my 90G.. I was thinking of this scenario.. I'd probably put an oscar (or similar) or something in the tank with the 2 convices and the JD and then finish the tank off with a pleco..

I'd think the JD and the Oscar should be able to take care of the fry

thanks!


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## homerl (Jan 6, 2009)

You may be underestimating that pair of convicts?I've seen a 6" male con holding a big oscar and mid sized rd in a corner. That was at a big al's location.He took over 3/4 plus of the tank.Just nasty.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Yes, I think female cons are much better looking than males once they're given a chance!


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## s9601694 (Apr 14, 2011)

TheFishGuy said:


> Yes, I think female cons are much better looking than males once they're given a chance!


i'm still new to cichlids so i won't agree or disagree, but will look into that one!

thanks


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## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

I've seen cons stave off midas cichlids and the likes; they're like the bottom rung in the wild, so they can get nasty as their survival sometimes depends on it.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

I was at my nieghbors house yesterday where I had helped them set up a 55 about a year ago... She's got two female cons (from me) one pink one grey. They are stunning!


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## south amarican ciclids (Oct 20, 2011)

hi i am loking for help i have the same problome my 2 convics have fry quite a bit 
*** alredy lost 1green terror and 1 fire mouth  as of now i have 2 convics 
1 firemouth 1green terror the male convict is bigger then the rest 
in a 55gal 
i dont want to give away on of my convics is there somthing i can do like introdocing a bigger fish or messing up territorys right now the firemouth and terror are kind of forced in the corner

thanks


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## Cartem2 (Oct 4, 2011)

south amarican ciclids said:


> in a 55gal...... is there somthing i can do


Get a bigger tank :wink:


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## Melanochromis (Mar 30, 2005)

TheFishGuy said:


> I was at my nieghbors house yesterday where I had helped them set up a 55 about a year ago... She's got two female cons (from me) one pink one grey. They are stunning!


This thread is making me think I should just keep my two females and forget breeding Convicts. I've got my HRPs now so hopefully I can breed them instead.


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## south amarican ciclids (Oct 20, 2011)

i acuky got oferd a free 90 gallon

im 14 so mom seid no :x :x

i could of swam in that


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

south amarican ciclids said:


> i acuky got oferd a free 90 gallon
> 
> im 14 so mom seid no :x :x
> 
> i could of swam in that


Not exactly...


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

My convicts constantly breed in a 80g long (72x18x16ish), I think its so entertaining. Mine seem to guard about half the tank and leave the other half alone. Granted, mine may guard a smaller area because of the amount of fish in the tank, its really overstocked. I tore down my small fish room and the 80g become a hold all.

There are
3 heros atabapo (leftovers from the original 7 in which I got two pairs!)
1 saxatlis pike
3 angels
6 convicts (I know, I know)

I have to say, I watch that tank a lot even if its not the most ideal setup.


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