# Why did my convict cichlid murder its mate?



## aquam4n

i have a pair of convict cichlid (had sorry) what had fry two times in the last 8 months.....but the other day i noticed that my male convict chased the smaller female arround and the female kept on hiding.....
yesterday i found my female floating with alot of injuries....i seperated it immediatley but it was too late....it died overnight....

i dont know if this is normal for convicts but my male is one of the most aggresive fish *** ever seen.....everytime i clean the tank, even without any fry it nips me, if i go next to the glass it headbuts the glass and its only 4 inch....the female convict was the only fish i could keep with it....

anyway why did it all of a sudden kill the female.....?

and this has all got me thinking....in your opinion what is the most aggressive cichlid there is? because i think my convict is definatley in the top 5....lol :x


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## Fogelhund

Breeding convicts can indeed be quite aggressive, but there are many aggressive cichlids.

What are the dimensions of this aquarium? What about hiding spots?


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## dright21

I keep Cons as well there are numbers of things that could have happen for the Male to want to kill the female. The number one reason is the Mall could have wanted to start spawning again so he will try to pressure her into doing it and since the fry are in the tank she will decline him, like most men in the world they do not take rejection well so they kill the female. Another reason could be he may have felt like she was a threat too the fry and killed her for that. The best advice I can give is when you end up having Cons spawn, you should remove the babies when they are free swimmers to another tank. That way the fish continue to produce offspring and most likely there will not be much fatality, Although I have heard if 2 Cons defend their offspring together often the bond between them becomes Stronger. In my Opinion Cons are very aggressive fish, Top 5 I do agree but most Cichlids are only aggressive during breeding which makes me question the actual Most Aggressive fish all the time.


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## tim_s

Hi,

What is the ratio male : female?

The process of determining the female appropriate for breeding can be a rough one, with 1 female to 1 male as soon as the pair is broken the male will begin the process again. This is too much for 1 female to bare for a long span of time.


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## smitty

Well first we must remember that aquariums are closed systems. So when that bond breaks they can be just two fish trying to claim territory until one win out. In the wild she would have left the area to keep from being killed. It is something that happens in fish keeping.


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## heaya

if you plan on having another pair, try to find a female that is already full grown and has enough attitude for him. my male is on the wimpier side, occasionally he becomes a little punk, but most of the time his mate is the super aggro one, does exactly what your male does. if you weren't in england, i'd send you her


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## tim_s

I really think you need a ratio of 3:1 female:male - male convicts are tough on the females and you need to spread the aggression. Convicts in the wild are in huge numbers essentially spreading the aggression across a large number of fish rather than being concentrated on a small number.


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## heaya

does anyone on the forum have this current setup? 3 female convicts to 1 male? i haven't really heard/personally haven't seen them kept like that. i've seen tanks with more than 1 pairs, but usually they are in pairs.

just curious. i can't imagine my female allowing other adult females to coexist with her and her mate. typically she's the one out and about in the tank, scanning to see any other movement. my male comes out time to time, but some of those times are due to her pushing him out of his cave.


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## MonteSS

Depends on tank size. Two pairs are fine in a 48" tank and possibly in a 36". One pair at each side. with a sitebreak in the middle.

...Bill


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## tim_s

heaya said:


> does anyone on the forum have this current setup? 3 female convicts to 1 male? i haven't really heard/personally haven't seen them kept like that. i've seen tanks with more than 1 pairs, but usually they are in pairs.
> 
> just curious. i can't imagine my female allowing other adult females to coexist with her and her mate. typically she's the one out and about in the tank, scanning to see any other movement. my male comes out time to time, but some of those times are due to her pushing him out of his cave.


Hi Heaya,

Really!? - As odd as it sounds, I have not seen anyone "not" doing this.

I maybe wrong - trust me I make mistakes but the last time I had Convicts this is the arrangement I had within a 55G.

The male during the pairing process would chase and harass females until pairing was initiated (Damage was occurring during this process). Breeding occurs and then the pairing is broken and the male begins to chase females again, leaving the ratio 1:1 means the continual harassment of 1 female - I have not seen in my tank ,which by no-means is depicting it is not possible, females attacking females. It has always been the male aggressor.

I believe according to the person I sold the 55G too - the Convicts have over-run the tank.


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## heaya

I guess I've only read and seen convicts in pairs, honestly have not seen them with more unless it's in a juvenile store setting. 
Only have seen a few people house 3 pairs, but they had 125+ gallon tank.
My pair have a really tight bond, female is definitely the one whom bothers the males, but they still as a pair defend their babies (nearly 8 weeks old).

I could only surmise the reason people might not keep several females would be the abundance of fry that would come! Oh gosh I can't imagine having 4 spawns.


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## dright21

I kept 1 Male too 3 Females and now I'm down to 2 females and 1 Male, Female that spawned with my Male is no longer with us. She broke the bond and started eating her babies, then I removed her thinking if I move her back into the tank another time she will just be a regular fish and not the mother and she tried to assume the mother roll again but that was endangering the Males babies as he seen it and also invading his territory so he started attacking her and then after he would chase her out of the territory she would swim to the top where my other 2 Females would chase her back into the Males territory so she is gone and now I have just the 3. I heard it is safer to do just a pair and if the bond breaks rearrange the tank and reintroduce the same fish to another atmosphere without the babies. I've also heard of having to many females and a Male Con getting fought over, it goes both ways 2 many females or 2 many males can cause chaos. I personally think that 2 females to one Male in Cons is perfect, but also if there is water they will spawn so its kind of like making it a guarantee by adding the extra female.


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## tim_s

Hi,

I think this thread is building a lot of good advice that perhaps even I can learn from. Perhaps based off the recommendations that the 3:1 ratio is more of an invention for me and the locals I have also witnessed following the same ideals


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