# Leave convict fry with parents or separate?



## Chubbs the Jellybean

What is the general consensus on how long to leave convict fry with the parents?

Mine have bred twice and ate the first batch and most of the 2nd batch.


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## TheFishGuy

Let them go this third time. I feed fry pretty well so I have no problem removing half the spawn a couple of days after free swimming...


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## Chubbs the Jellybean

I have a spare 10 gallon that I have an extra filter on the 15 for for this situation... The fry that did survive from the last batch got to be about 1/8 inch? Little bigger I guess, but the parents bullied and were about to eat them when I removed them (only to be fed to the 90 gallon haha)... But I'd like to grow a few of them out and was wondering which would be the best way to do this, since people say cons are good parents


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## Chubbs the Jellybean

Oh - so I was watching the 90 for a few minutes to relax, and noticed two of the fry are still alive from 3 days ago! They're hiding inside the driftwood, I guess they're nabbing food when nobody's looking haha - I thought they'd have been eaten by now since my stock list is what it is

Anyways back to the question lol


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## TheFishGuy

Never ubderestimate the resilience of a convict!


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## Chubbs the Jellybean

Yup!

So I think once the fry go free-swimming I'm going to do what you did TFG - I'm going to remove half the batch and put them in the 10 gallon and leave the other half with mom and dad


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## Quan

Mine are a week old and still with the parents. I haven't even fed them yet. I'm gonna wait another week and then seperate a few of them.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean

They're probably going to lay eggs in the next day or two, so i'm excited


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## adrianf

My convict fry are now 2 weeks old and still with the parents. Although we did start with around 50-60 fry we are now down to around 30. I am getting another tank set up to transfer the fry to, hopefully house move tomorrow.

It looks like the female is coloring up again and starting to get a little wider so maybe they are getting ready to spawn again. Are they usually able to spawn again so soon?

Adrian


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## MonteSS

When Mom and the new free swimmers were in the spawning cave, I removed the entire thing to the 10g including mom. Worked out well and fry are growing out nicely. I removed mom after a couple weeks as I saw no advantage of keeping her thin there. Sadly she did get killed when I reintroduced her to the comunity.

A first fed de-encapsulated brine shrimp egg (TheFishGuy turned me on to those) and now that tey are bigger i still feed that plus crushed flake and Hikari Cichlid Gold that I turned to powder with an old fashioned mortar and pestle. I alternate about 6 times a day.






GL with them....Bill


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## Quan

How big is your male convict Bill? I like your tank setup. That's alot of fry.


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## Chubbs the Jellybean

Do you recommend just using a bare-bottom aquarium for a fry tank?

I have a 10g waiting for them that has gravel in it (not filled with water yet) - Should i take out the gravel and just leave a cichlid stone and a plant?

Just wanna do this right haha, saw that baby convict in the 90 gallon again this afternoon - he's looking pretty good


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## MonteSS

I forgot to say that those are HRP not Cons, but same idea. Male is still young and about 4". Female is mature and about 2 years old and 4". I think the bigger older mature females have bigger spawns. Although my 4.5" 2 year old female Con has very small broods so there goes that idea.

You want to keep a fry tank as clean as possible to keep nitrates down. Bare bottom is easiest to clean, although vacuuming the debris is tough with the little guys swarming.

....Bill


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## Chubbs the Jellybean

Alright, I'm gonna leave the gravel because it's already in there, after the fry are free swimming for a few days I'm gonna bring them over to the 10g and see if I can raise them there, since mom and dad don't seem to be making any plans to stop breeding :lol:


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## adrianf

Well I moved my convicts and fry this morning. Was a bit concerned that eithe mummand dad would reject or eat them but everything seems ok. Moved the fry first and mum
And dad went absolutely ballistic attached everything in site, plants fish snails my hand everything. Took ages to catch mum and dad after and just about had to demolish the tankscaping to get them. But looks like the main tank is now stress free and the fry,mum,dad are busy exploring their new domain.

Adrian


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## Joe420×2

I have multiable convicts couples laying eggs all at what should i do to keep them my tanks is a 120 gal with 16 convict chiclids


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## Joe420×2

1 have about 16 convict chiclids that have paired off to lay eggs all at the same time pretty much should i removed the fry when it hatches or leave them what should i do my tank set up is a 120gal


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## TheFishGuy

I'd leave em. They're great parents and no one wants the fry anyway.


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## andydroid2015

Hello, I have a couple of convicted cyprids, I have made a sunset and everything is perfect, there are all the fry with parents.
I put the parents to them 2 alone in a 60 L fish tank
My question is, when I take out the children?
I'm afraid they'll eat them.


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## SDSherBear

Chubbs the Jellybean said:


> Do you recommend just using a bare-bottom aquarium for a fry tank?
> 
> I have a 10g waiting for them that has gravel in it (not filled with water yet) - Should i take out the gravel and just leave a cichlid stone and a plant?
> 
> Just wanna do this right haha, saw that baby convict in the 90 gallon again this afternoon - he's looking pretty good


I left my fry in the 10 and put mom and dad in the 55 they were doing good now they just have another set of fries and now I’m thinking to take the dad out because the mom is being really bullying on him but all my fries are in the tan gallon and they’re pretty big and the new little babies just started free swimming! She’s extremely mean to him he swim around really fast and just hit really hard like a bullet or some thing just bullying him nonstop but I was wondering if I should take him out and put him with this fry I don’t know he might eat them I’m not sure but I have rock and decorations and a sponge filter in the 10 gallon where I keep the fry I had to give the little ones somewhere to hide and play and have fun!


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## Auballagh

Hello.
And welcome to Cichlid-Forum!
You might have been better off starting a new posting thread for this one, as you are working through a thread that started over 11 years ago. 
But, I can see that you are definitely having some problems with your Convict parents, after they spawned. This info may help to explain the situation,








Why did the female Convict kill the male?


My female Convict Chichlid had about 30 fry. After spawning, she killed the male. Why did she do this?




www.cichlid-forum.com




And yes, Convict violence in an aquarium can become very serious (M or F parent deaths do happen pretty frequently), so you are right to be concerned.


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## Aussieman57

TheFishGuy said:


> I'd leave em. They're great parents and no one wants the fry anyway.


This is good advice. Consider down the road...what are you going to do with all those convicts?


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## masterkleen2

MonteSS said:


> When Mom and the new free swimmers were in the spawning cave, I removed the entire thing to the 10g including mom. Worked out well and fry are growing out nicely. I removed mom after a couple weeks as I saw no advantage of keeping her thin there. Sadly she did get killed when I reintroduced her to the comunity. A first fed de-encapsulated brine shrimp egg (TheFishGuy turned me on to those) and now that tey are bigger i still feed that plus crushed flake and Hikari Cichlid Gold that I turned to powder with an old fashioned mortar and pestle. I alternate about 6 times a day.
> 
> 
> 
> GL with them....Bill


 That’s the most I’ve ever seen,why no gravel?


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