Topic: Convict Breeding.

[KillDoG]

Could someone or everyone give me their experiances with breeding convicts.. Such as signs? Or how long it takes for the female to lay her eggs when she has eggs. I just noticed that the belly of my female convict is a HOT orange someone told me that was a sign..

I need alot of info ... thanks.

[ConvictKid]

It can anywhere between 1 week to say 1 month 'till you see eggs. Usually though, there is nothing to it, you put a male and a female in and they will breed. Some signs can be, lots of digging activity, the parents not really leaving thier cave/hole/pot/whatever, the parents trying to attack you if you get the close to thier cave/pot/hole/ect ect. When the female has an orange belly it generally means that she is ready to breed, I can't put an exact number on it, but say 2 weeks after her belly is orange you will see babies (2 weeks is to give her time to lay the eggs, then for the eggs to hatch). Hope that helps.

[KillDoG]

wow that helps alot.   that was more information then i expected. And yeah i tried to put another female in there the other day and the female that was already in the tank went NUTS on it chasing it around attacking it so i took it out... So im guessing either she was jealous or its time for eggs.

[KillDoG]

Oh I forgot to mention where I moved that other female convict to. We'll I put her in my 29 gallon tank with my oscars.   Even though she is smaller than an inch i beleive she will survive..  They are fast swimmers and she has already dug a little hidding place for her self underneith a big Arizona rock in my tank I beleive she will do well.. When I fed everyone in the tank she came out and got her food and went back to hiding.

[Ryman]

I had convict fry in my tank (170) for a long time. From when I had a con pair in there, plus from fry which I put in as feeders. They survived for ages, but got picked off one my one. One even reached maturity, and it as big as his father, and still in the tank.
Because the only 2 cons in the tank are 2 males (the survivor and his dad), they dont cause any problems at all. All they worry about is each other.

[EX-AmP]

lol touching story....yeah cons breed real fast or real slow... i guess you should do what i do? get like 6 cons and find 1 strong pair thats consistent or you just like and keep it, dont even think you need a cave to breed them, just space

[siciliano]

I have a problem with my mating male, he beats the female about to death after the fry are out and about swimming, he killed the last female, it's kinda weird! I'm gonna move this one out soon she is already hiding whereever she can at the top of the tank from him!

[Ryman]

Indeed, male cons are notorious wife beaters.
Some will kill their mates, while others wont.

[ConvictKid]

Indeed, one of my males has killed his wife So he lives in a 29gal all by himself with 7 applesnails and a Tiger pleco. I was hoping to turn that tank into a community with a school of neons, but they are $2.50 a PIECE! (anyone that comes into chat knows that is really pissing me off) so that's not gonna happen. It's kinda funny, now it seems the tiger pleco and the male con have become best friends, every time I look in the tank, they are right next to each other, no matter where one of the fish is, the other is right there so I don't think I will break them up.

On a side note, for the first time, plants in my tank are growing like crazy, I started off with 4 Anubius(sp) and 6 Mondo Grass, and now almost the whole bottom of the tank is covered in plants! I am happy about that.

[Tony]

$2.50 usd each for neons  
Sounds rather steep.
You can get 10 for $9 here and thats aussie money so about $6 usd.

[ConvictKid]

$2.50 usd each for neons  
Sounds rather steep.
You can get 10 for $9 here and thats aussie money so about $6 usd.

Yeah, $2.50 US for one damn neon. Not to long ago, they were only $.99 per neon, now it's rediculous! I mean they are neons, little stupid neon tetras and they cost more than plecos, mollies, danios, ect ect.....It makes no sense to me, god it pisses me off.  

[Tony]

Dam wish I could get plecos for those prices  

If I ever get a pleco I will treat it like royalty, it would have its own tank with no other fish picking on it LOL.

[ConvictKid]

LOL, I forgot that plecos over there are like getting a ferrari. How much are they again, like $100  or so just for a normal?

[Tony]

Yeah $100 will get you a baby and I have seen some over $400. Not many shops sell them.

[Ryman]

Cheese and rice, $100 for a plec! Crazy.