# Can't get rid of convicts



## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Hello all,

I currently have a large pair of convicts in a 125g. I frequently want to switch out the convicts for something else, but I can't get rid of them! I think about the hours of enjoyment I get every 3-4 weeks as they protect their brood, catch stray free swimmers in their mouth, and the female even crushes up pellets and blows the particles out of her gills and mouth to cause a fry feeding frenzy. I have kept this pair in a 55g and even a 29g, but I think I enjoy them a great deal more in the big tank.

My pair is not that bad in the large tank as far as being aggressive. The female will fuss at the male if he allows anybody too close, but in general I would say they keep a 12" perimeter clear of other fish. My tank is somewhat overstocked and I think that helps with aggression. If the male was off chasing another fish there would be more opportunity for other fish to munch on the fry.

I have kept a lot of fish and getting rid of fish is never something I had a problem doing, but I think I am hooked on convicts :thumb:

Just wanted to share my experience and hopefully convicts can a better reputation for being good community candidates in large tanks for EXPERIENCED hobbyist.


----------



## dwl0222 (Mar 6, 2011)

Hi, I am looking into setting up a 75 gallon soon. My favorite fish being the convict, I am a little worried that in a 75 I may not have much space left to stock it with other SA cichlids. You seem like you have experience with cichlids, of I have some options could you help me out? Also, would I be better off getting a single male an other cichlids?


----------



## dwl0222 (Mar 6, 2011)

Sorry, obviously I meant CA cichlids. I was browsing the other forum and got my head switched up :roll:


----------



## aquaponic farmer (Jan 18, 2012)

what do you do with the fry when they grow up? one of my LFS owners said that theres no point in raising they because you can't get rid of your extra fry..... but I feel like she may have been trying to corner me into breeding electric blue rams for her so I don't know


----------



## Elijah (Mar 30, 2011)

I absolutely love convicts! I even got rid of my African cichlids because my convicts wouldn't breed with my crazy kenyi in the tank, constantly harrasing them. Right now I have 1 8 month old convict cichlid male in a 40 breeder with 5 tiger barbs, and I have his parents in my 20 long alone.

Aquaponic farmer, the Petco near my house said they will take the fry off of my hands, when they are a few months old. They probably will not pay me anything, but at least it's a way to have fun raising them and then giving other fish keepers the joy of owning convicts!


----------



## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Personally, I let fry get eaten. If I added in all of the stress and hassle of raising and getting rid of convict fry every three weeks then I would no longer enjoy convicts. I have a lone Crencichla species (think its a sax) in the tank and it picks off the fry once they start to wander.


----------



## aquaponic farmer (Jan 18, 2012)

I enjoy raising fry so I wouldn't mind I just wouldd want to turn them in for trade or cash or sell them online. Is there a market for them?


----------



## friedrice5005 (Jul 16, 2011)

I got rid of my female convict after about 3 spawnings, way too much work for me. My tank calmed down considerably when I did so and is a much more peaceful place now.


----------



## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

NO there is no market for convicts.


----------



## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Hi *ahud*,

Can you describe thier territory? Clay pot? driftwood?

Thank you for sharing; can you post any pictures please.

Thanks,
Matt


----------



## dwl0222 (Mar 6, 2011)

What type of cichlids could I put in a 75 gallon tank with a pair of convicts that would eat any fry that the convicts have?


----------



## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

As far as territory, in the large tank they move around, but she female brings the fry back into a ceramic stone (cichlid stone) at night. You can encourage them to take more or less territory by decor and tank mates. The more fish I have with them, the less they seem to patrol. Line of sight blocks work well too to make them use smaller territory.

In the smaller tank they pretty much staked out the whole tank.

I don't really want to suggest a fish, my pike does well with the convicts because he is tough enough to back into his tunnel and stand his ground, but smart enough to stay clear of the pair until the fry start wandering. It's really fun to watch him once the fry start to scatter, it seems he plans his attacks lol.


----------



## dwl0222 (Mar 6, 2011)

How about a jack dempsey or blood red parrot or both? Thanks though your info did help me out


----------



## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Hard to say man. What you have to worry about is the male, my female stays close to the fry, but she makes sure the male is doing his job to secure the perimeter.

Hopefully the convicts would smell the hybrid on the blood parrot and do us all a favor and take him out :lol: I give the clumsy flashy blood parrot a small chance of doing well, but who knows.

I have never kept JDs, the convicts did not bother my H. Atabapo, but they were quick to let the convicts know they were not going to be pushed around. Not sure how a JD would respond.


----------



## dwl0222 (Mar 6, 2011)

Thanks, yeah I'm not a huge fan of the blood parrot myself. But I want something to help control the population for lack of better words. I only really have petsmarts and petcos near me so for really know any other CA cichlids besides the convicts, jds, blood red, and maybe 1 or 2 of the more common ones. Are the ones you named easily found in most lfs? I might know them by their "common" names. Thanks again for the help


----------



## AmishDude (Apr 5, 2011)

Could have just been a fluke...BUT
When I had 70something fry from one spawn, I was able to unload about 2/3rds of them to the LFS. The remaining third was split in half; craigslist (1$ a piece amazingly) and the other half just stayed in the tank.

Considered over-stocked, yes. They seem to do decent crowd control though.
There have been a total of 7 attempted spawns, and no fry have survived. I currently have 2 spawns going on, the tank is literally split in half (everything hangs out in the middle area).


----------



## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

The Atabapo is a species of Severum, I doubt a chain store would have them. They are a little more feisty than mo

Most of the Crencichla species would work if you stay away from the massive ones. You may can pick up a pike (Crenchichla) off of aquabid.

You could do the convict pair, the crencichla and some type of large schooling fish.


----------



## creendavid (Jan 19, 2012)

what would you do using the fry once they develop up? just one of my LFS masters mentioned that theres no place in raising they merely because you can't remove your additional fry..... but I really feel like she could possibly come going to be wanting to corner me into breeding electric powered blue rams for her so I don't know.


----------



## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

AmishDude,

I'm sure you can get rid of a single spawn or maybe even two in certain areas. But what about the second, third, fourth, fifth...lol. Not to mention the spawns get larger as the fish grow.

I can't help you guys out with this, I guess this is why convicts loose popularity. I have never even tried to unload convicts, just seems crazy to go through the stress. I'm not going to deal with craigslist for $1 either.


----------



## AmishDude (Apr 5, 2011)

True.

I might just have to get a RD and GT in my currently empty 75 for fry disposal. I've heard that pike cichlids are mean mothers...but thats for a different thread.


----------



## VERNON LEWIS (Jan 16, 2012)

I HAVE A PAIR OF BLACK CONVICTS . THE MALE WONT MATE WITH THE FEMALE AND SHE IS BASICLY KICKIN HIS BUT CUZ SHE WONT HIM TO BE BY HER .... AND I NEED SOME POINTERS TO GET STARTED I HAD ALOT OF PAIRS BUT THESE BYE FAR IS THE CARZY PAIR I HAVE . BUT LOVE THEM ANY WAYS TRYING TO START MY FISH FARM FEED BACK WOULD BE GOOD OPEN FOR ALL INFO BOUT FISH ARE ANY ONLINE SITE THAT ARE GOOD ......PLEASE HELP


----------



## SEAN420 (Nov 24, 2011)

VERNON LEWIS said:


> I HAVE A PAIR OF BLACK CONVICTS . THE MALE WONT MATE WITH THE FEMALE AND SHE IS BASICLY KICKIN HIS BUT CUZ SHE WONT HIM TO BE BY HER .... AND I NEED SOME POINTERS TO GET STARTED I HAD ALOT OF PAIRS BUT THESE BYE FAR IS THE CARZY PAIR I HAVE . BUT LOVE THEM ANY WAYS TRYING TO START MY FISH FARM FEED BACK WOULD BE GOOD OPEN FOR ALL INFO BOUT FISH ARE ANY ONLINE SITE THAT ARE GOOD ......PLEASE HELP


try checking your tanks temperature. try to get it up to round 82 F*.. also maybe a basic clay pot.. they like to lay eggs in those.. what size are they as well? how big is the tank? how many other fish do you have as well ...


----------

