Breeding Convicts

[hotdogoramer]

I bought a pair of convicts and i intend to breed them, but the male is slightly smaller than the female. does the male have to be bigger? or will this combo work?

 

[ChilliPepper]

I think ideally they'd be the same size, but whatever I don't think you'll have any problems getting them to breed. They are not known to be challenging

 

[fishnovice]

I think ideally they'd be the same size, but whatever I don't think you'll have any problems getting them to breed. They are not known to be challenging

I had a breeding pair of cons. When the female died, the male went into a deep depression for weeks didn't eat and would hardly move. A few months later when he was eaing again I got him 2 adult female cons to cheer him up and moved them all to a 4ft tank but he never bred with either of them.

 

[kaivalagi]

I just put my 2 Honduran Red Points (close relative of Convicts) together again and it looks like the magic is still there....They even went back to the same place to get all cosy

You should be fine, if they want to breed they'll find a way. I assume both are 3" or bigger? They need to be adult obviously

 

[hotdogoramer]

I just put my 2 Honduran Red Points (close relative of Convicts) together again and it looks like the magic is still there....They even went back to the same place to get all cosy

You should be fine, if they want to breed they'll find a way. I assume both are 3" or bigger? They need to be adult obviously

They are both around 2 inches, but people say they will breed once they hit 1 inch, but i dont really know, i have more experience with German blue rams and kribensis.

 

[shroob]

If you have a male and female then I wouldn't worry too much about getting them to breed. People have had them spawn in buckets when doing water changes.

I'd be more concerned over what to do with the fry.

 

[hotdogoramer]

If you have a male and female then I wouldn't worry too much about getting them to breed. People have had them spawn in buckets when doing water changes.

I'd be more concerned over what to do with the fry.

i have exodons who will eat them, but not necessary because my lfs wants them

 

[zaman]

i had 2 con also and the male was slightly smaller.. a had them a week ago and they have already spawned but the first few days it was hard on the male to keep up.. keep an eye on them maybe yours will 2 eventually they are cons

 

[hotdogoramer]

i had 2 con also and the male was slightly smaller.. a had them a week ago and they have already spawned but the first few days it was hard on the male to keep up.. keep an eye on them maybe yours will 2 eventually they are cons

I hope so, the female is beating up the male alot

 

[hotdogoramer]

i had 2 con also and the male was slightly smaller.. a had them a week ago and they have already spawned but the first few days it was hard on the male to keep up.. keep an eye on them maybe yours will 2 eventually they are cons

I hope so, the female is beating up the male alot

 

[Athena]

Were they sold as a "mated" pair? You can tell if they are a true pair because they will hang out together and the female follows the male around and vice versa, in a peaceful manner.

Not every male and female convict will pair off, though, and if you notice extreme bullying and aggressiveness you should separate them otherwise one or other could be bullied to death. You will notice if the female has had enough as she will often try to find somewhere to hide - and squeeze herself into the tiniest of gaps and "disappear" for days in order to get away from the male's advances!

Other times the male could turn on the female becaues he doesn't want to pair with her and sees her as an enemy in his territory.

Once they pair off they usually stay together for life - although don't be surprised if they sometimes have separation periods, usually when the female has been busy tending to new fry and the male wants to get straight on and spawn again and you will see the female becoming increasingly tired of it all to the point she abandons the fry in order to hide away from the male.

Oh yes - they are very interesting to watch - better than the weekly soaps on TV LOL

Regards - Athena

 

[hotdogoramer]

Thanks for the info, i gave the male back to the lfs, he was getting shredded by the female. they were not sold as a mated pair. people always talk about their success with convicts, well i guess i have a failure story. i am looking for a male still to try it again

 

[Athena]

Oh that's good - glad you made that decision as some would have just left them to it and ended up with a dead fish.

Just one thing, are you 100% sure that your remaining convict is the female? Only asking because sometimes people do get them mixed up and the fish they thought was a female turns out to be a male and vice versa. Would hate for you to buy another male if you've already got a male LOL

The males are nearly always larger than the females, with longer finnage extensions. (Obviously a mature female will be larger than a juvie male, which could be the scenario you had). During spawing the female will get an orangey/pinkish tint to her tummy.

It can be quite difficult in a situation like yours because you already have one convict and it's going to be pot-luck as to whether it will pair off with the next one you put in. Would your LFS not take this one back and let you then swap for a mated pair?

Regards, Athena

 

[hotdogoramer]

Oh that's good - glad you made that decision as some would have just left them to it and ended up with a dead fish.

Just one thing, are you 100% sure that your remaining convict is the female? Only asking because sometimes people do get them mixed up and the fish they thought was a female turns out to be a male and vice versa. Would hate for you to buy another male if you've already got a male LOL

The males are nearly always larger than the females, with longer finnage extensions. (Obviously a mature female will be larger than a juvie male, which could be the scenario you had). During spawing the female will get an orangey/pinkish tint to her tummy.

It can be quite difficult in a situation like yours because you already have one convict and it's going to be pot-luck as to whether it will pair off with the next one you put in. Would your LFS not take this one back and let you then swap for a mated pair?

Regards, Athena

The problem for me is, none of the lfs sell convicts, but when some do happen to show up, they are usually fry someone got tired of. im my case there happened to be 2 and one had an orange tummy and was rounder than the other so i bought them. but if i do come across a mated pair, i will deff buy them.
i just bought another "male" slightly bigger than the female and more elongated with longer fins. but she is still chasing him into hiding, now the other fish are making a target out of him, so he hides in the plants all day. maybe this female needs a male that is at least 2x her size if not bigger. i seriously dont know why they are like this.
what if i gave you pics, would you be able to confirm it?

 

[Athena]

Hi - sorry I've only just noticed your reply. If your convict was showing an orange tummy then, yes, it's a female at spawning stage. They do become extra aggressive at this time and trying to pair her up with a male is probably not a good idea right now.

It's likely that she was originally paired up with a male in another tank and whoever gave her to the LFS might not have realised which of their fish was her mate - or it could be that she was in a tank at the LFS with several other convicts and staff may have sold her mate to someone else. I guess it must be like going on honeymoon with someone you love, only for the hotel management to insist that you have to share a room with a total stranger instead of your partner! LOL

Adding a male to her tank now will only upset her as she will see him as a threat.

Do you have another tank you can put the male in for now? Or a tank divider? That might be a good idea because that way they can't hurt each other (or rather she can't bully him) but she will get used to seeing him around and once she's out of the spawning phase she might calm down and come round to the idea of another convict husband! Trouble is they are so loyal to their partners it does take time to get them re-partnered up again. You sometimes have the same problem if one of a pair dies.

How are they doing now, anyway? It's been a few days since you posted so maybe they've settled down already?

Regards, Athena