CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Hello Everyone,
I am new to this BB and as I've been reading I noticed everyone has great info and advise so now I ask for more.
I have a 6" Pink Male Convict in a 55 Gal. with 6-2" Barbs, which he terrorizes everyday 24-7. I would like to breed him. My thoughs are putting him in a 20 Gal. and then getting a 2"-3" female Zebra. What are the chances of her matting and not being killed? Is tank size O.K.? And what do I do with all the fry if they mate?

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Michele

A 20 gal is perfect for 1 male con and 2 females. Cons are easy to breed, theyd do so in a puddle if thats all they had. To help prevent the killing of females I reccomend putting fake floatibg plant decorations in the tank so they can hide. As for what to do with the fry? I feed my con fry to my oscars and angels. You can ask arould to your lfs to see if they would be interested in buying them, but my lfs up here won't pay for cons they only take donations. S if your in it just for the expieience you can give the fry to the lfs. If your in it for a profit your dealing with the wrond fish

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Candice

Hellow. to just give advice hear. i would put them in a 20 gallon tank with no rocks try to keep them in the open so you can see them. i know iknow there kinda jumpy just put them in the open to give them more confidence. so you will see them. if you put tow females in with one male. you are asking for trouble just one pair per tank thats the rule. if you want to put a flat rock with them ok but not to much. make them to use the graval. its worth it. after the fry are bornthe male and female will fight for ownership of the fry if this happens and the female is visable loosing take her out of the tank. if you leave them alone they will take good care of there fry

Originally posted by C4:
A 20 gal is perfect for 1 male con and 2 females. Cons are easy to breed, theyd do so in a puddle if thats all they had. To help prevent the killing of females I reccomend putting fake floatibg plant decorations in the tank so they can hide. As for what to do with the fry? I feed my con fry to my oscars and angels. You can ask arould to your lfs to see if they would be interested in buying them, but my lfs up here won't pay for cons they only take donations. S if your in it just for the expieience you can give the fry to the lfs. If your in it for a profit your dealing with the wrond fish

The great thing with forums is you get to hear everyones opinion.

I don't reccomend bare bottom tanks for convicts because they like to dig out holes before spawning. The gravel needs to be small though as wigglers can get easily trapped under large gravel.

I reccomend 2 females because the male can get pretty mean to the females, having 2 helps offset the harm to the breeding paired female.

Also though you should have plenty of cover for them to hide when it gets rough. I reccomend using fake floating plants that they can easily hide in.

Oh yeah don't forget the secret key to convict spawning: a couple small flower pots placed in the tank helps to simulate the caves they spawn in when in the wild.

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Candice

Thank you both for your advice,
I have not found a lady friend for my male yet. The lfs does not have pink cons all the time and when he gets them they are tiny. I would like to get them at 2". I could alway put them in my 55 gal. until they got a little bigger?
I do have 2 flower pots and several plants. My con loves his pots so I did take one away and he doesn't hide as much.Once we get a lady friend I will put it back. I do by the way have the large gravel which he love to move around. So I will take the gravel from the 55 gal which is small and exchange it with the big gravel.

One more quick question. Once I find a lady friend should I rearrange the tank so the male won't be territorial? Thank you

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Michele

You canrearange the ank, but cons can get nasty no matter what you do.

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Candice

This is good to know, Thank you once again.

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Michele