Topic: Convict tankmates?

[anoone]

Greetings and salutations.

I currently have two 3-4" female convicts (no breeding, thank you) in a normal 20 gallon tank with a hang on filter.  I basically have the floor of the tank divided into three sections; two flower pots on either end, a rock formation in the middle, with fake plants creating a boundary between the rocks and the flower pots.  Are there any other fish I can throw in (and survive), be it dither (or target), bottom feeders, or other cichlids?  While I realize a larger tank would be ideal, I don't have the room in my place.  My hope is that with the 3-4 different territories I created, I will be able to add a mate or two.

According to Petsmart, you can have 2 cons, 2 firemouths, and a pleco in a 20 gallon.    I kid you not.  If you go to one of their stores, they have charts that give their suggestion on tank startups based on gallon size and fish type (community, cichlid, etc.).  I guess they want you to keep buying firemouths as they keep getting offed by the cons. 

That aside, any logical suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks.

[ezdave]

cories or a bristlenose

[JC]

IMO Not for a 20 gallon. If the three females are doing alright on their own and staying out of each other's faces, I wouldnt' add mating to the mix cause I'm pretty sure you'd end up with either fish flooricide, or major aggression problems. Have the females been together in there long? If it works for you and has for some time I'd say don't fix what isn't broken. Perhaps try a handful of tiger barbs for colour if your'e just looking for more action and that would be maxed with a big M .

-edit-
Or what Dave just said

[anoone]

I believe the two convicts (which are 3 or 4 inches, I should have clarified), are actually sisters.   And like human sisters, they have their moments of tranquility and outright aggression.  They fight and fuss (particularly when spawning), but will huddle together when threatened by the big bad gravel siphon or glass scrubing pad.  They were given to me, so they've been together for a while. 

Unfortunately, I can't find any bristlenose in the stores.  Would a rubber lip pleco work as well?  They only grow to 5 inches.  If not, maybe I'll try the barbs or even zebra danios.   But yes, I'm looking for a little more action in the tank.

Thanks for the tips.

[JC]

I was thinking on that a few minutes ago and I thought I"d share that I had some  not so good experiences with bottom feeders in small convict or firemouth tanks. Seems like cons are more mid and bottom dwellers/feeders than anything else. With what's been my experience with them, they took less offense at the barbs and danios invading their space than they did my corries. Those poor buggers took a royal beating  They never hurt the pleco though not for lack of trying

[ezdave]

Good to know about the cories. I've never actually tried them with cons any bigger than an inch.
 I just use them to help in the fry tanks.
  Yeah, I think the rubber lip plec would be just as good. Not  much difference other htan appearance

[fnesr]

i used to keep corys with cons and didn't have any problems, i had a peace of driftwood in the tank for them to hide in that the cons never really went into though. unfortunately i lost all my corys in a heat wave last summer, they were the first to go so i think they must not be very tolerant to high temps.

btw. welcome to the site anoone.

[ConVicT-ed]

jewel work really well with cons but if u wanna add any other fish get a bigger tank

[timwdv]

i agree with fnesr

[Sacklerman]

id have to say a jack dempsey but make sure its bigger if you have 2 cons. mine are doing great!

[xrcisto]

I wouldn't suggest trying a rubberlip (aka bulldog) pleco as they are actually not as well armored as a regular pleco.  Have seen them slaughtered pretty quickly.  IME cichlids don't seem to ignore them as much as they do common plecos (which even if not ignored are very well armored).  You could give 'em a shot as we all know temperaments vary greatly among cichlids, but I have had better luck with clown plecos if you're wantin' something smaller!  Good luck though!!

 

[ConVicT-ed]

jewels work fine with cons

[Dan]

I wouldn't suggest adding a JD or Jewel in a 20 gallon with 2 cons. That's asking for trouble.

a Pleco  or like JC said, Tigerbarbs sounds better.

[euroyankee]

My Convicts assasinated a pleco in less than 2 hours.  The one who is still alive with them has been with them for years. He is, however all chewed up from getting too close to the nests of babies. I thought that another pleco in a 200 liter tank would be OK, but there was blood on the terraces that night. Too bad because he was pretty. I took him out of a small neon tank because he was killing neons every night. I guess he got his in the end too. I wouldn't try anything else, but I have seen fast cat fish do pretty well with cons.

[Dan]

Basically, your risking anything with a pair of Cons,  Try a Pleco or Pictus Cat taht is 2x's the size.

It may not work anyway, because Cons back down to nobody, but it's worth a shot, because thes 2 species fight back.   Good luck with whatever you decide to do.