Convict Cichlid

[tootie123]

I have a friend who has a convict in a 10 gallon rectangular tank. He does regular water changes every 3-4 days. He has a filter rated for a 15 gallon tank on the 10 gallon. The cichlid is very heathy and the tank looks good. He doesn't have anything else in the 10 gallon besides the convict. He has lots of rocks in the tank and a few plastic plants. He keeps his heater at 80F, is that an ok temperature?

Is it true they are hardy cichlids?

He's planning on getting a 15 gallon tank pretty soon. I heard someone say one could live in a 15 gallon.

[shockshockshad]

I would say you need a pair in a 30 gallon. An the temp should be 75-78.

[Nautilus291]

A 10g is way too small. It will end up stunting the fishes growth. I have a pair in a 29g tank and thats pushing it. I would say 30g min.

[tootie123]

I'll make sure to tell him that. He has the 1 convict cichlid in a 10g, but he now wants to get it a 20 gallon long.

[shockshockshad]

Still, 30 gallon is the minimum, but you should really have 40 gallon or more. A 20 gallon is a LITTLE better, but not much.

[tootie123]

I heard a 20 gallon long is a great amount of room for just one convict.

[shockshockshad]

That size is "okay" but really you should have a 30 gallon or bigger for optimum health.

[tootie123]

Ok. But a 20 gallon long would do for a better setup right?

[shockshockshad]

Its better yes, but if you can convince your friend just to upgrad only 10 gallons, the convict will be happy.

[tootie123]

OK. He probably will.

[AquaBANG]

hi guys,

I am setting up a 30G tank for a pair of convicts. I visited a couple of LFS and its about 3$ for a pair of may be 1.5'' convicts (normal stripped variety)
Every body here refers to them as Zebra Cichlids anyways.

I asked the LFS about a breeding pair and he tells me that breeding in an aquarium is not possible. I know that once a breeding pair is established then there is no stopping the convicts, and the LFS guy is trying to bullshit me.

My question is how do I establish a breeding pair?

[jbeining75]

4 gallons of water per 1 inch of agressive cichlid minimum.

[AquaBANG]

4 gallons of water per 1 inch of agressive cichlid minimum.
No I am planning my 30G just for a couple of convicts. I was told for a couple this is an ideal size.

[jbeining75]

You cant just put a pair in their. Male zebra cichlid are polygamous (more than 1 mate), try three of four females and a male, temperature about 82, ph about 8.4, hardness maybe 12-16. Female mouth broods the eggs for 20-25 days after fertilization.

[AquaBANG]

You cant just put a pair in their. Male zebra cichlid are polygamous (more than 1 mate), try three of four females and a male, temperature about 82, ph about 8.4, hardness maybe 12-16. Female mouth broods the eggs for 20-25 days after fertilization.

Are you sure convict cichlids mouth brood? And also Ph of 8.4 isn't that too high for a central american cichlid?

[jbeining75]

hmmm. I was looking at zebra cichlids for some reason, sorry

[jbeining75]

lets try again

[jbeining75]

try ph 7.4 hardness around 6 and temp around 76

[AquaBANG]

Any suggestions on how to establish a breeding pair?

[jbeining75]

I'm trying to look around on aquiacentral and some other sights. Most I'm reading just had male and female at those parameters. Most eggs were laid on top or inside clay or ceramic pots

[jbeining75]

Communicated by E. Goncalves
Abstract Convict cichlids (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus) form pair bonds, are serially monogamous, and give biparental care to their offspring. Males and females may individually establish a breeding site before courtship, or they may form a pair and then obtain a breeding site together. Such sites are important resources for convict cichlids, and their availability often limits reproduction. Here, we examined if variation in breeding-site availability affected pair bonding between males and females and aggressive behaviors between bonded pairs. Groups of three males and three females were placed in large aquaria and randomly assigned to the following treatments: (1) the fish were provided with two breeding sites; (2) the fish were provided with two breeding sites throughout the experiment, one of which was later removed; (3) the fish were provided with one breeding site initially, and a second was later added; (4) the fish were provided with no breeding sites throughout the experiment. We found that pair bonds rarely formed when no breeding sites were provided; however, pair-bond formation was not limited by breeding-site number when at least one breeding site was available. In addition, there were no differences in aggression by paired individuals after breeding site manipulation, perhaps indicating that changes in the subsequent availability of breeding sites after pair formation did not influence a pair’s aggression.
Keywords Convict cichlid - Pair bond - Limited resources - Breeding site

[jbeining75]

Jennifer M. Gumm1 http://www.springerlink.com/images/contact.gif (http://www.springerlink.com/content/j18ju137g7601281/#ContactOfAuthor1) and Murray Itzkowitz1
(1) Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, 111 Research Drive, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USAReceived: 28 June 2006 Revised: 14 January 2007 Accepted: 1 February 2007 Published online: 22 February 2007


here so im not copyright infringing anyone

[AquaBANG]

thanks. thats a lot of info.

[jbeining75]

2. If your Convict Cichlids do not Spawn.
Here are three things you can do to encourage them.
(1) Change 20% of the water in their aquarium each day. Click here (http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/warm_water_aquariums.htm#4) for more about changing water in aquariums.
(2) Increase the temperature of the water by 2 degrees F. So for example, if the temperature is 78, increase it to 80 degrees. This requires only a very slight turn of the dial on the aquarium heater. Do not increase the temperature above 82 degrees F. Click here (http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/warm_water_aquariums.htm#2) for more information about adjusting aquarium heaters.
(3) Feed more good food to your adult Pink Convicts. Feed them floating flake food and freeze dried blood worms. If you can obtain live or frozen brine shrimp, feed a few of them each day to your Convicts. If you can get Live Black Worms, feed each of of your Convict Cichlids about 3 worms each day. Click here (http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/feeding_fish.htm#top2) for more about feeding fish.