male convict

[StarBelliedSneetch]

i have three convicts, two males and one female. a while back the younger male(their son, eh) beat up the older male and i guess do to that the female started to school with the young male. they showed signs of breeding and now they dont. but thats not my concern. ever since the young male and the female "hooked up" the older one hides in corners or sometimes by the heater, i havent seen him eat but to be fair i havent really watched either. he just sits there vertically, sometimes upside down, sorta like he was ready to die. this had been goin on for a few weeks. i feel so bad for this guy and i dont know what to do with him, when i got him from a friend his fins were chewed up and he was (still obviously) missing an eye. any help would be great.
thanks

[Fishguy2727]

Remove the unpaired male.

[StarBelliedSneetch]

yeah they friend of mine that gave him to me informed me that he had an eye infection and whats behind the eye... so he said i should euthanize him which i was afraid of

[Hailey]

you have to take him out or else he'll die

[Demi ^_^]

I just read your profile:

Aquarium 2:
30 gallon with three convict cichlids, one festae, one red terror and a 7 in common pleco

Convicts = 5-6"
Festae Cichlid = 8"
Red Terror Cichlid = 9"
Common Pleco = 10"

= 42" of fish :/ and NO swimming area.

You are overstocked, I suggest you should take out the unpaired male and Common Pleco - If you really want a Pleco, I suggest a Bristlenose, they are smaller :)

HIH! (Hope I helped!)

[NickFish]

Ya every fish you have in there would be cramped even if they were by themselves, except for the convicts. You could keep those in the 30G.

I agree with fishguy, remove the unpaired male....and maybe all the other fish too. You could have just a pair of convicts in there.

[Goshawk]

I just read your profile:

Aquarium 2:
30 gallon with three convict cichlids, one festae, one red terror and a 7 in common pleco

Convicts = 5-6"
Festae Cichlid = 8"
Red Terror Cichlid = 9"
Common Pleco = 10"



Red terror and festae cichlids are the same and they get 14" and common pleco can get 20" plus the convicts will rip all the other fish apart when they breed. so 28"+20"+12"=60" not to mention you can't keep 1 let alone 2 red terrors in a 30 gallon tank.

As for redoing your tank you can keep the 2 convicts but they will rip any fish that you but in there when they breed so your either going to have to just keep the 2 convicts by them selfs or take them all back to your LFS and start your tank over.

Just my 2 cents.

[NickFish]

that 1" per gallon rule doesn't work that well.
you can't keep a 20" fish in a 30gal.
You should really think of returning some of those fish. Even getting a bigger tank wouldn't be good, there would still be a ton of aggression there.
The convicts by themselves would be good, but you'd need to find omewhere for the fry.

[jbeining75]

Right on the more aggressive they are the more room they need two Oscars are around 28 inches you put them in a 30 someones not gonna have a good day. They need triple that. Try to keep aggressives at 3 gallons per inch of fish minimum. Savings the fish from fghting and stressing out.

[NickFish]

Well said.
Even in a 3000 gallon, putting 2 aggressive species together, they will still fight, albeit not as much. I really don't like red terrors, one of my least favourite fish. Some people really like them though, they got some nice colors but are just jerks.

Here's a quote from a good fish profile site-

" Species-Red Terror
-Max. size: 16"
-Min. tank size: 120 gallons
-Possible Tank Mates: Will not tolerate other species
- Temperment: Highly Aggresive"

[Demi ^_^]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Demi ^_^
I just read your profile:

Aquarium 2:
30 gallon with three convict cichlids, one festae, one red terror and a 7 in common pleco

Convicts = 5-6"
Festae Cichlid = 8"
Red Terror Cichlid = 9"
Common Pleco = 10"

----------------------------------

Red terror and festae cichlids are the same and they get 14" and common pleco can get 20" plus the convicts will rip all the other fish apart when they breed. so 28"+20"+12"=60" not to mention you can't keep 1 let alone 2 red terrors in a 30 gallon tank.

As for redoing your tank you can keep the 2 convicts but they will rip any fish that you but in there when they breed so your either going to have to just keep the 2 convicts by them selfs or take them all back to your LFS and start your tank over.

Sorry, my bad :) The site I looked at must of been pretty wrong about the sizes :/

[NickFish]

they probably vary a bit, but I've seen red terrors over a foot, I know they can get pretty big.

[Harls]

that 1" per gallon rule doesn't work that well.
you can't keep a 20" fish in a 30gal.
You should really think of returning some of those fish. Even getting a bigger tank wouldn't be good, there would still be a ton of aggression there.
The convicts by themselves would be good, but you'd need to find omewhere for the fry.
convict can live with there fry u just gotta be careful if they spawn again. i have had my convicts with there fry for 3-4 months now and they are fine!! if u take out the heater and have the temp just lower than their breeding temp u won't get another lot!! hop i helped harls_Aussie thumbs2: thumbs2: thumbs2: thumbs2:

[NickFish]

ya the convicts alone. But not all the others. Way to many problems with that.

[StarBelliedSneetch]

well im just gonna get rid of the male, and since there isnt any aggresion issues in my tank and theres plenty of room, the fish arent that big, im just gonna let them go. i understand every one says my tank is over stocked i understood that with the first statement. so if something happens then i'll do something about it. however right now i dont have the money for a bigger tank and i dont wanna get rid of any of my fish. and even if they do fight so what they are aggressive fish let em fight.

[NickFish]

just because fish are aggressive doesn't mean we should let them fight.
But its your tank and do what you want, we learn from trial and error, my only advice is to keep a tank divider handy at all times....and you may want to reinforce your glass, red terrors have be known to crack it during fights.