# Convict Growth Rate?



## Ilovecichlids82

How long does it take for a male Convict to hit the 5-6" range? Also, do males ever get bigger than 6"?


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## bernie comeau

There is no set pattern for the growth rate of a fish.

I've had male convicts reach 5 3/4" at 1 1/2 yrs. of age, though probably most male cons are anywhere from 2-5 yrs. old when they reach the 6" size. And very rapid growth at an early age does not mean the fish will end up a larger size.

Some males do exceed 6" in length , though it is not that common. Most males do eventually reach a length of 6" and then continue to gain size slowly with out gaining any length.

Females usually attain a legth of 4- 4 1/2"......I have yet to see a 5" or longer female.


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## Ilovecichlids82

Thanks Bernie! I would love to see some pics of 6"+ male Cons.


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## Elijah

My male con is just over a year old and around 4.5 inches. He grew pretty quickly until he hit around 4 inches, now it seems as though he has hit a plateau.


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## bernie comeau

Over the years I have had quite a few male cons get 6" long. This male 'pink' con measured 6 1/4" at 3 years of age:


















This striped male measured 6" at 3 years of age, but I beleive is larger then the 'pink' con just pictured:










Here he is at 4 years of age, measured again at 6" and weighed at 105 grams:









I have had older cons in the past that I beleieve got even larger, though they were no longer then 6".

Here is a thread you might like to look at. Lot's of big male cons in it.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?71409-Old-Old-convict

A couple very notable cons to look at:
Top of pg. 16, Straitjacketstar posted her big male con beside a tape measure. Looks to be over
6 1/2" (Though I think my 6" male just pictured might weigh more then this one). She then goes on to mention the largest she has ever seen. It was posted a few times on this thread but can be seen on pg.25, 2nd last post from the bottom. That is the biggest male con i have ever seen  I know the girl's hands in the picture are probably small, but still, it looks to be around 8", or close to it, and very 'beefy'.


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## Ilovecichlids82

Wow! Some of those guys were massive. Thanks for the great post and link!


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## Fatal

In my experience the males seem to grow much faster at a earlier age then the females. Iv'e never had a Con past 3.5" though. He was the male where the female was half his size.


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## CrypticLifeStyle

Ilovecichlids82 said:


> How long does it take for a male Convict to hit the 5-6" range? Also, do males ever get bigger than 6"?


I've seen some around the 8" marker at a lfs in my area & they were 6 years old. A healthy diet and good environment tends to get good growth but like us when we're adults growth slows down. Things like stress can slow their growth too from my experience.


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## SVanzella

Males do seem to grow faster than the females. When I recently got my tank about a month ago it had a male and female convict included (previous owner got them and then sold the tank to me shortly after) and the male was about 1/2 the size of the female. He is obviously younger and I was debating finding a male that was larger and maybe a smaller female in order to have 2 breeding pairs. I have noticed that he has been catching up to her in length and her first batch of eggs have gone unfertilized. I think she is just trying to beef him up a bit.


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