Matchmaker matchmaker make me a match

[Shadowisper]

So I have these two convicts; a male and a female. I put them in my tank, the one was constantly harrassing the other. I understand the basic nature of the fish. two fish, one has to be the dominant. They are the only fish in the tank. I end up putting a divider up. All is well. Today I decided to let them have another go at each other. To my amazement they both LIT UP! They starting rubbing up against each other there colors and stripes EXPLODED! I figured that they are mating? They are showing the signs of a couple of fish pairing up. Great! 10 min later, the magic has worn off and the dominant fish gets back to its ussual terrorizing. The divider is back up. What happened? Did the female decide that the male wasn't good enough? Is there now no chance for this pair? This would truly be an upset!

[Gemini]

Convicts breed like rabbits. The male will always chase the female - if she isn't ready to breed they can be fatal in their chase. What size tank are they in? Have you got any plants/caves/hidey spots?

[Shadowisper]

its the female chasing the male! and I am currently setting up a 50g waiting for the cycling and such so they are currently waiting in a 10g. I know this is definitly contributing to the hostility but its just a waiting room. There are a couple of caves for hiding.

[Gemini]

Yah the small size would be contributing. I would get the bigger tank going as soon as possible. Maybe she wants to breed and he won't! Hopefully someone who's had convicts will chime in soon.

[Scruffeh]

In my professional opinion I'd say that your male convict has committment problems. I reccomend therapy sessions twice aweek until he wises up. Jk friend! I hope your problem fixes itself up, it'd be really swell if you had some babies running around! You should capture a video of the female chasing the male sometime, I'd enjoy seeing that. :) Good luck again!

[terrapin24h]

play the "sex and the city" movie for them :) I think the male prob doesn't want to breed due to your tank size and a lack of security on his part. Are your water parameters ok?

--chris

[Northernguy]

The small tank is the problem!
Play some Barry White and set up two glasses of wine for them.
It works for me!

[Jellygirl]

lol you guys do make me laugh :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:
they are fish for crying out loud:hmm3grin2orange:

[Lady Hobbs]

They may not be ready yet but 5 gallons each is adding to their stress. They need places to hide from each other. I would not even attempt to let them breed until you have plenty of room for babies.

[btate617]

Like everyone else said tank size is your biggest issue. It's not that the male doesn't feel like breeding, he is always ready. In such a tight space they have no room to get away from eachother. How big are they, and are you sure you have a male and a female? In a 10 gal without a divider you are going to end up with one fish though.

Brian

[Shadowisper]

The water perametres are very reasonable. I'm 99% sure its a male and a female. One has some yellow coloration behind the fins and has for the last few weeks. We got them at the same time so I figure that the other one, if a female, would have developed the colors as well. They are both about 2.25 inches long and the male is a little bit smaller. I've brought down the tank divider again and they seem to be getting along OK..ish. They are fighting less, perhaps the music helped lol!

[Ellen4God]

How far along are you in the cycle? Almost there? Just started? Hopefully they'll be so excited about the big space that you'll have babies in no time!

[Shadowisper]

Just started unfortunately. should I be using water from my current tank to help the cycling? I think I saw that you just finished a tank on another thread? I seem to remember some plants. Any tips for a rookie? I'll post pictures when its done!

[jono]

Cut some of your original filter media from the cycled tank and put that into the new tanks filter unit. Instant cycle. Oh and of course replace the missing bit of media with new stuff.

[Lady Hobbs]

Just started unfortunately. should I be using water from my current tank to help the cycling? I think I saw that you just finished a tank on another thread? I seem to remember some plants. Any tips for a rookie? I'll post pictures when its done!

Old water will not help and no point in moving it. Bacteria is in the filter media almost exclusively with a bit in the gravel.

[btate617]

You don't have to cut your old media up, although you could, here's how I do it.
Take your old media and put it in a small bucket of tank water. Give it 4 or 5 good squeezes in your bucket. Now you can put that media back where it goes. Take your new media put it in the bucket and give it 4 or 5 good squeezes. There you go put it in your new filter and you should be good. Thats how i seed all my new sponge filters and I have never had a problem.

Brian

[Shadowisper]

Great advice everyone! That should help a lot.

[Lynn Conroy]

In my professional opinion I'd say that your male convict has committment problems. I reccomend therapy sessions twice aweek until he wises up. Jk friend! I hope your problem fixes itself up, it'd be really swell if you had some babies running around! You should capture a video of the female chasing the male sometime, I'd enjoy seeing that. :) Good luck again!

I liked this answer the best! LOL