# 75g Convict tank.



## ZeroSystem (Sep 4, 2005)

Hello again! I am still trying to decide what to do with my 75. I was thinking of doing an all convict tank plus dithers. I was curious if it would be possible to have one male convict with multiple females in a 75, and if so how many females would work out best?


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## Nwright36 (Jul 27, 2011)

are you dead set on convicts?


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## ZeroSystem (Sep 4, 2005)

I'm somewhat torn between the look of female convicts and male Jack Dempseys, however I don't want to have the two cross-breed. I'm looking for alternatives, and yes right now I am only asking about convicts in the 75, no other types of cichlid.


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## ivanmike (Jun 15, 2003)

Convicts are not harem polygamists. As such, one male will not breed with several females at once. You can also look into related fish such as sajica, septemfacsiatum, etc which may be more sell-able when they are fry.


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## conoholic (Nov 12, 2005)

why not get 2 male convicts ( 1 stripe male 1 pink male ) 1 male jack D and a few dithers?


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## ZeroSystem (Sep 4, 2005)

conoholic said:


> why not get 2 male convicts ( 1 stripe male 1 pink male ) 1 male jack D and a few dithers?


That's not a bad idea.. I was really hoping to somehow get female convicts in there, but that just seems like it's not going to work out, at least not in the way I was hoping for. Male convicts are nice, I just don't often see much of the cool colors in their fins like I've seen in the females.. still I like your idea, especially since my wife _really_ likes the Jack.


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## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Then get Honduran Red Points. The males are really nice.










and/or male Nicaraguensis










....Bill


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

ivanmike said:


> Convicts are not harem polygamists. As such, one male will not breed with several females at once.


Not true at all. All one really needs are sex ratios that have more females then males, and a pretty good chance one will witness some polygamous activity, eventually. Convicts certainly do have a tendancy to be poygamous, probably more so then most CA/SA cichlids (though their are numerous examples of polygamous behavoir occuring in all kinds of CA/SA cichlids that are often called "mogamous pair bonding"). What is very un true is the notion of "monogamous" pair bonding.....it's just one of many breeding strategies a species may have.

Generally a pairing is for the duration of a spawn.....after the fry are gone, it's good bye, and "get lost". In 30 some years of keeping convicts i have yet to have a male or female that did not breed with more then one partner in their life time. All the fish really needs are some alternate choices.....then there is nothing monogamous about a convict cichlid :lol: For example, when I kept a larger group in my 180 gallon, I had a couple females that had bred with all 6 males that I had at one point; all males had bred with more then one female, most with 3-4, though males did seem a little more "fussy" in who they chose while many of the females would settle for who ever they could get.
I have had male convicts pair up with up to 3 females at the very same time. Have had males pair up with more then one female at the very same time quite frequently and on a few occasions I have had males breed with more then one female at the very same time and devide their time between the two. Nothing unusual.....many other people have witnessed the same thing. Like I said, generally all one really needs are sex ratios that favour it.
One male, and a group of 5 or so females, i think is an option. As long as the group of females is large enough that aggression can be some what spread amongst a group. IME, 2 male convicts probably won't work out in a 75 gal. over a long period of time.


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## ZeroSystem (Sep 4, 2005)

So from what I understand Bernie is that it actually is possible to have multiple females in a 75g with a single male convict? From your last sentence or so it sounds like a group of five females and a single male may be a possibility. That would be great! Would catfish like BN pleco's be capable of survive in such an aquarium? I already have 2, one albino and one regular both females I believe. I'd hate to lose them.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

ZeroSystem said:


> So from what I understand Bernie is that it actually is possible to have multiple females in a 75g with a single male convict? From your last sentence or so it sounds like a group of five females and a single male may be a possibility. That would be great! Would catfish like BN pleco's be capable of survive in such an aquarium? I already have 2, one albino and one regular both females I believe. I'd hate to lose them.


Yes, it's certainly possible to keep a single male convict with multiple females in a 75 gal. Of course, like anything with aggressive cichlids nothing is gauranteed...there's lots of variables. You certainly need lot's of caves and hiding spots. Personally, I would be inclined to start with 7-8 females and remove any that might get excessively picked on. Bear in mind, as well, that very young immature males sometimes sport yellow belly spots as well, so you may end up with more males then you actually intended to keep and may have to remove them, at least eventually.

IME, a BN pleco can co-exist with breeding cons, though a common plec is definately much sturdier yet.

You definately need to have some plan as to what to do with the fry. Generally you can't count on the parents eating them, as usually quite a few will survive. Just for example, I have a young pair in a 15 gal. and aprox. 20 fry have survived from their 1st small spawn. The fry are about 2 months old and about 3/4" and certainly will not be consumed now. This is a bare bottom tank with nothing more then algae covered plastic plants and a flat rock on the bottom....so not even much decor in this small space for the young to hide. The pair of cons have bred at least twice since their innitial spawn, though i don't beleive anything has made it past the wriggler stage with all the young cons present. A raphael cat is virtually industructable and might help with fry control......though i would still expect you would have to find some other way to dispose of fry---use as feeders for a large predator and/or cull.


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## ZeroSystem (Sep 4, 2005)

Yes I do have some plans for fry control. I already do have a spotted raphael cat in the 75g now, although I rarely see him which I understand is typical. Also I have an adult female Red Devil in a 55g that could munch on some of the fry now and then. I have a few friends that also have cichlid tanks, and I was hoping I could give some of the fry to them as feeders as well possibly. And last is that I do work at one of the big box chain stores and could easily bring fish in with me to work if needed... though I don't want to over run the place completely with convicts of course!

I did not know that young males could also have yellow/orange markings on their sides as well. In general the convicts I see available locally are about an inch to an inch and a half in size; would this be mature enough to make a fairly good guess as to which is which? Conversely is it possible for females to 'pretend' to be males as well by hiding their orange/yellow markings in a similar fashion? Or is it still safe to assume that any convict that does _not_ have yellow/orange on their sides is certainly a male?

I am surprised to hear that a BN pleco is second in sturdiness to the common pleco when kept with convict cichlids! I was under the impression that BN's, although smaller in size, have more of a defense against cichlids with their spines that they wield on the sides of their heads when threatened.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

ZeroSystem said:


> I did not know that young males could also have yellow/orange markings on their sides as well. In general the convicts I see available locally are about an inch to an inch and a half in size; would this be mature enough to make a fairly good guess as to which is which? Conversely is it possible for females to 'pretend' to be males as well by hiding their orange/yellow markings in a similar fashion?


Generally the cons for sale at an LFS are large enough to make a good guess based on yellow belly spots..... but just saying it's not 100%, at a very young age. You may end up with a few more males that you originally thought to be females. I used to get entire batches of convict fry that developed the yellow belly spots at around 2 months of age, and the males didn't loose the spots until much larger, 4-6 months of age. Certainly by 1 yr. old, usually much sooner, males seldom have any spots. A female that lacks belly spots is usually a much larger, older and developed fish.


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