CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

i've decided to buy a pair of convicts because i only have a 10 gallon tank. so what i'm asking is how do i care for them? are they easy to care for like oscars? and how do i tell the difference between males and females? and how should i setup up my tank for convicts?

Convicts are pretty hardy so they are easy to look after.

Males have more pointed dorsal fin and develop a slight hump on the head.
Females are smaller with rounded fins and pinkish colour around the belly which is very obvious when they are full of eggs.

Basicly any tropical flake or small pellet foods. They will also eat beef heart.

If they spawn watch the male as he may try and kill the female once they fry are hatched.

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TONY The Proud Aussie
Duboisi.com

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yah, my male killed 2 of his wifes.... bastard! have the tank pretty basic:
-lots of gravel for them to dig
-fake plants, cuz they'll rip apart the reall stuff
-small pieces of driftwood
-a cave: can be easily made by a long PVC pipe( since it plastic and not metal), rocks that form a long or deep cave (glue them together with AQUARIUM SEALENT), a new play flower pot (hit out the back with a hammer and dull the sharp edges..plastic flower pots will float.)
-many hiding places so the female, or male can escape the agressive protector.

my convicts have gotten along great. no problems with aggression towards each other or towards tankmates. the only exception was when i introduced 2 jack dempseys to my 75 gallon tank when the cons were there. the male convict and male dempsey fought for several hours over the rock formation, but the cons eventually won. now, the cons are in a 29 gallon tank, and are actually quite peaceful, but no fish dares go near the babies.