# of convicts for 30 gal long

[SteelToeBlue]

I just finished cycling my 30 gal tank and want to stock it with convicts. I would like to have both male and female. I've heard that "crowding" them reduces their aggressive tendencies. Obviously only so many can safely fit. Less males than females? Only one male? Only one breeding pair? I think I will only be stocking convicts, maybe with a pleco if possible. A little help?

[openbook]

People tend to crowd african cichlids. With ca cichlids 3-4 would be okay. Maybe if you get a mated pair just keep those 2. Watch them raise some fry.

I think your tank might get a little small for full grown convicts. You might need to rehome them if they get too big or upgrade to a 55 gallon. Honestly though a standard 55 is only 12 inches wide. You might like a 75 gallon better, they are 18" wide. Much more room for the fish. You could have a killer group of fish with one!

[fishguy66]

1 pair. But you will need to figure out what you're going to do w/ all the fry, as they will breed.

[SteelToeBlue]

Yea, still working on getting my 100 gallon setup. It's turning into almost six months instead of the month I thought it would be. I also have several ten gallon quarantine tanks I could move them into in between.

[D21right]

In a 30 Gal I would suggest starting with 4-6 Juveniles preferably and then wait for them to pair off and you can then have a breeding pair and honestly people make it such a big deal about getting ride of the babies, with my pair I let most of them grow out and after a few get to a decent size I feed them to my African Cichlids and if they look nice I save some just in case I want to keep my Males bloodline going, call it corny but its not hard at all to get rid of the Babies its just a matter of what you have planned for them. Good Luck

[icefreeze57]

yeah you should do a pair and watch them raise their fry, once teh fry grow you can sell them to a LFS or use them as feeders if you really wanted to lol