# 2 female cons, 1 male ... what will happen?



## shamootie (Dec 27, 2011)

soo i have 2 female convicts and 1 male in a 43 gallon tank, they both laid eggs and the male fertilized both ... he keeps going from one side of the tank to the other ... the first female has been moving her wigglers from the rock she laid them on, to a pit she carved out of the sand ... today is day 1 of the second batch of eggs that was laid by the 2nd female ... my question is ... what will happen when both are swimming? will both groups combine or will they stay separate? will the females fight or work together? anyone with similar stories, i'd love to hear what you have to say.


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## shamootie (Dec 27, 2011)

My tank.
ph 8.0
nh3/nh4 = 0
no2 = 0
no3 =0

1 male convict
2 female convicts
1 5.5in pleco
3 in rainbow shark

45 gallon tank w/ lots of rocky caves & caverns, fake plants and sand bottom

weekly water changes


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

shamootie said:


> will the females fight or work together? anyone with similar stories, i'd love to hear what you have to say.


I've had male cons breed with 2 females at the very same time on a few occasions. I've had male cons pair up with 2 and sometimes even 3 females at the very same time, on many occasions. Generally, over time, when kept in larger groups, males switch females quite regularily.....not once have I ever had monogomous pair bond last the life of a convict, and seldom more then a year before switching or trying out a new partner. This kind of behavoir can be found in many SA/CA cichlids though I beleive convicts tend to have a greater tendancy towards polygamy then most.

Very unlikely the females will work together and yes they could fight. They are competitors. Though it is also quite possible that the male will keep them seperate enough that little conflict will arise btween the two. Also possible, at later stages, that the fry will get mixed up and one of the females will end up taking over the entire brood.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

Just keep an eye on the tank and if it apears that aggression is escalating to an excessive point between the females, siphon all the fry out. Really, it's not that different then having two pairs of cons in the tank.......likely a little less serious since the male is split between the two.

A male does not always devide his time equally. Free swimming fry take priorty over eggs and wrigglers, and sometimes courting another female takes priorty over tending fry! :lol:

When I had male cons breed with 2 females at the very same time, fry did not get mixed up. But I have seen it happen on a couple occasions with 2 pairs of cons breeding at the same time, though in most instances not.


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## shamootie (Dec 27, 2011)

thanks *bernie comeau*!!! i knew you would have great advice on the topic, im really excited as this is my first time enjoying the miracle of life with brooding fish, not to mention 2 at the same time!!!



> Just keep an eye on the tank and if it apears that aggression is escalating to an excessive point between the females, siphon all the fry out.


what do i do with the fry if it does get to that point??


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

shamootie said:


> what do i do with the fry if it does get to that point??


That is a good question. If you have a male and female convict in the same tank, you need to have some idea or plan on what to do with the fry.

To raise larger numbers you need a seperate fry tank. But even left in the aquarium, you really can't count on the parents, or adult convicts eating all of the young fish.....often at least a few will survive and your tank will over populate. Some type of predator in a fairly bare tank....if you don't have one, talk to other aquarists and you might find some one willing to take them. Maybe a few batches can be given to the LFS, but likely you would produce far more and far more often then they would be willing to take, if they would even be willing to take any.

They can be easily culled----clove oil or thrown in the freezer. Fish have a breeding strategy to produce thousands of offspring and have only a few survive to adult hood and breed to carry on the species. Just like the wild, in captivity not all young fish can be kept and raised to adult hood......there is simply not enough tank space, nor can tank space be ever expanding!


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## shamootie (Dec 27, 2011)

i've been looking to add something else to the tank and i was thinking either a white oscar or a jack dempsey .... would they be a predator that you are speaking of??


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

shamootie said:


> i've been looking to add something else to the tank and i was thinking either a white oscar or a jack dempsey .... would they be a predator that you are speaking of??


No you don't have the room in 43 gal. to add these fish with a breeding pair (trio) of cons . Neither are they effecient predators.....never had an oscar catch a small con and very seldom is a JD able to, IME. I've even had cons survive from every single batch with a belly crawler pike in the tank! :lol:

Now that your cons are established, introducing a small predator would not be so easy.......re-arrange and add a lot of decor and add a belly crawler pike and raphael cat is one possible solution, though i am really not recommending it. Cons are not likely to like these predators in their near vicinity, especially a belly crawler pike, nor is there any certainty that they would even get all the fry, if there is lot's of decor. That's why I suggested a predator (a real piscivore, not a JD or oscar) in another, pretty much bare tank .....if you don't have one, maybe you can find someone who does. Of course not too difficult to cull, either.

And if you remove fry shortly after they become free swimming, there are lot's of small fishes that they can be fed too......including young mbuna will make short work of them. Once con fry get 2-3 weeks old, or older, their ability to avoid predation continues to increase dramatically.


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## shamootie (Dec 27, 2011)

thanks ... this info was really helpful!!! you da best *bernie comeau* !!!


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## shamootie (Dec 27, 2011)

ok so fry pod #1 is out and about swimming with mom and dad, fry pod#2 has became wigglers and it looks as though mom#2 has abandoned them after a fight, her eye seems to have been wounded and now i cannot locate fry pod #2 ... my tank is heavily filled with rocks and plants so she could have just put them in a nest somewhere else in the tank, but my question is will her eye be ok and do you think fry pod #2 will emerge in the next few days? the only male i have in the tank seems to be sticking around guarding fry pod #1


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