Topic: I think these are Zebra Cichlids!

[Phill]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all the info, it made for some interesting reading.
I do however have some bad/puzzling news. This morning the first thing I did was check the tank to find that the leaf is clean, no sign of an egg anywhere.  The two convicts are still circling the area where the eggs were, albeit the circumference of their patrol is significantly larger and they don’t appear to be so aggressive to other tank mates. I can’t believe that another fish was able to eat them all as last night, all of them seemed to be keeping a wide distance from the eggs for fear of upsetting the parents and getting a kicking. Today I will be heading down to the shops to purchase something that resembles a cave structure in order to give them a more comfortable environment to try again next month. I will also be tracking down other convicts on show in an attempt to learn male and female identification.
Once again, thanks for all the advice and comments.
Phill.

[Maddy mad man]

It isnt unusual for cichlid parents to eat their first 2 or 3 batches of eggsd whilst they learn to be good parents.  Dont be dismayed they will lay again soon.

Cave structure - an old intact or otherwise terracotta pot - you'll be surprised how good they can be made to look in an aquarium.

[Adam]

Phill,
Typically convicts are extremely easy to sex.  The females have that orange blush to their stomachs, and the males do not.  They generally start showing these signs as early as around 1/2-3/4 of an inch and are usually sexually mature enough to breed by the time they hit 1".

As I said earlier though, breeding practices have made this sexing tool more difficult in recent years.

Also you eggs may have hatched, they usually take around 3-5 days to mature and hatch at which point the wrigglers will usually wriggle themselves into the substrate for another 3-5 days at which point you will have free swimming fry.

[stilllearnin]

Dont be so quick there guys.  The fish that are coming out of China, Hong Kong, and Singapore are all being so selectively inbred that even males are displaying colored stomachs.

I have personally seen a male with a bright orange stomach.  And those eggs definately look fertilized, so my guess is that one of those is a male.

I wasn't looking at just the coloring , look at the whole picture  fins also say female ,the dirty leaves around the eggs say they're not to worried about the nest and I don't see any fertile eggs,none fertile enough to hatch in a day - no spotting or black marks yet.

Time will tell and I agree breeding has made it harder to sex some fish,but my votes still on that being 2 females,nice looking,great colored females but still females  .

[Silven]

I think you presume to know our thoughts Adam, when in truth they just looked like females to me for a host of reasons. Not pink bellies = females. I had a breeding pair of Cons before and those two fish just looked like females. Stillearnin put it in a very succinct manner though, he has probably forgotten more about fish than I'll ever know.

[Gerry]

Looks like 2 females, yet the one to the left seems to have long fin extensions and the eggs do look fertilized, guess time will tell