# baby convict for food ?



## Rob1984 (Jan 4, 2012)

so i have a chance to get prolly a fart load of convicts from fry to 4"..... im curious if i could grab some babies would i be able to feed em to my 5" oscar ? or would they be trouble for him as i know there a very tought little fish.... i do plan on keeping a 4" or so sized adult in the tank with the oscar but figured free food for him .... why not eh ? if you think it ok how big of babies should i get that would be "safe" for him to eat without getting hurt...


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## ka2zesmi786 (Feb 14, 2009)

oscars will eat pretty much anything that fits in their mouths. i've fed convict fry to my fish before and there wasnt a problem. but they were still pretty small. if your oscar doesnt end up eating it, it'll end up being a tank mate until he eventually catches him in his mouth.


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## Rob1984 (Jan 4, 2012)

I be sure to get some for my little 5" buddy to eat then


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## Rob1984 (Jan 4, 2012)

ka2zesmi786 said:


> oscars will eat pretty much anything that fits in their mouths. i've fed convict fry to my fish before and there wasnt a problem. but they were still pretty small. if your oscar doesnt end up eating it, it'll end up being a tank mate until he eventually catches him in his mouth.


well i grabbed them and he loves them  lol .... maybe try breeeding them in my small tank and let him feed off them


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## deaver (Apr 23, 2011)

i have convicts for the same reason, but i read lately they have a dorsal fin that can cause trouble with regards to swallowing. I haven't actually fed them to my Blood Parrots for 2 reasons/

1: I really like them, they are so hardy and fed like pigs

2: they are a little big for my blood Parrots mouth. So i figured they will pair of and i'll feed the new fry to my Parrots and angels and what ever i get in the future.


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## Rob1984 (Jan 4, 2012)

deaver said:


> i have convicts for the same reason, but i read lately they have a dorsal fin that can cause trouble with regards to swallowing. I haven't actually fed them to my Blood Parrots for 2 reasons/
> 
> 1: I really like them, they are so hardy and fed like pigs
> 
> 2: they are a little big for my blood Parrots mouth. So i figured they will pair of and i'll feed the new fry to my Parrots and angels and what ever i get in the future.


Well I fed the babie to the oscar and no trouble at all, there so tiny there won't be any type of barb on there I'd think...


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## deaver (Apr 23, 2011)

fancy guppies are also fun to feed and breed. i have those as well.


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## Rob1984 (Jan 4, 2012)

deaver said:


> fancy guppies are also fun to feed and breed. i have those as well.


well we did have mollies but they wouldnt breed fast enough.....and i got these convicts for free 1 adult female, and 5 medium sized males, and females... and about 12-15 babies... and best of all they breed constanltly he said and did i mention free lol


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## deaver (Apr 23, 2011)

i traded 1 red tailed shark (12 bucks) for 22 convicts, i was happy with that, they are easy to get for free but i wanted to get rid of the shark. i traded 2 large pleco's(free when i bought my parrots) for the 26 guppies. its so cool to watch the chase isn't it. I used to feed guppies to my other blood parrots all the time, they loved them.


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## Rob1984 (Jan 4, 2012)

deaver said:


> i traded 1 red tailed shark (12 bucks) for 22 convicts, i was happy with that, they are easy to get for free but i wanted to get rid of the shark. i traded 2 large pleco's(free when i bought my parrots) for the 26 guppies. its so cool to watch the chase isn't it. I used to feed guppies to my other blood parrots all the time, they loved them.


yep, most certainly is cool to watch him chase down his food lol ....


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## gunnerb (Nov 18, 2011)

20+ years ago when I first "discovered" cichlids I had a couple convicts that constantly had babies so I'd use airline tubing, stick it in the cloud of babies and siphon them right into icecube trays and put them right into freezer. Then at feeding time I'd throw a couple cubes into the tank. The other fish loved it when cubes melted. They even attacked the cubes trying to make them melt faster


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## deaver (Apr 23, 2011)

great idea. :dancing:


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## Rob1984 (Jan 4, 2012)

gunnerb said:


> 20+ years ago when I first "discovered" cichlids I had a couple convicts that constantly had babies so I'd use airline tubing, stick it in the cloud of babies and siphon them right into icecube trays and put them right into freezer. Then at feeding time I'd throw a couple cubes into the tank. The other fish loved it when cubes melted. They even attacked the cubes trying to make them melt faster


Haha that's different, eventually my oscar will be able to just eat the entire cuber himself tho hahaha


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## gunnerb (Nov 18, 2011)

wonder if fish can get brain freeze


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## smellipu (Dec 7, 2003)

deaver said:


> i have convicts for the same reason, but i read lately they have a dorsal fin that can cause trouble with regards to swallowing. I haven't actually fed them to my Blood Parrots for 2 reasons/
> 
> 1: I really like them, they are so hardy and fed like pigs
> 
> 2: they are a little big for my blood Parrots mouth. So i figured they will pair of and i'll feed the new fry to my Parrots and angels and what ever i get in the future.


The dorsal fins will kill the fish if the con is too large. My O actually choked on my female con when he swallowed it.


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## Rob1984 (Jan 4, 2012)

smellipu said:


> deaver said:
> 
> 
> > i have convicts for the same reason, but i read lately they have a dorsal fin that can cause trouble with regards to swallowing. I haven't actually fed them to my Blood Parrots for 2 reasons/
> ...


How big is too big for a convict to get ate ?


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