Convict Food Fights

[Eelzor]

I have two convicts in m current tank and one of them seems to chase away the other when it comes to feeding. I fed them some bloodworm and one came and ate the majority of it! (Pig ) and the other ate some too but not as as much as the other. What can I do so they can both be evenly fed happily?

 

[missyintx_99]

How big are they?
And there really isn't anything you can do to even out the food. They are cichlids and have their pecking order established. The more dominate one will eat first. Nothing you can really do about that. Well, maybe if you let it thaw completely and then put the shrimp or bloodworms in.
In my tank with the Oscar, Jag and Texas I cut the frozen cubes in half and in fourths and then drop a couple of pieces in for the O to swallow whole. Then I'll hold on to one of the bigger chunks in the water swishing it around so it can thaw and split up in the water. THis is the only way I can get some to the Jag and the Texas. The O, once he's finished up his will come to my hand and start biting on it trying to get me to give him what I have! He's a greedy big guy!
Fortunately even tho the O is 8" now, his bites don't really hurt! I think its funny.
If your cons aren't too big, you might try this. I don't know if they get teeth or not.

 

[Eelzor]

My 2 cons are about 1.5 inches each, and yes 1 is slightly bigger, the dominant one. But one thing I realise now, the dominant one is chasing the other one ALL the time now! Like a tiggy round the tank once a minute! Or at least when I see. Whats going on?

 

[smb]

Can you tell if they are the same or dif sex? This matters a lot as to why they are acting like this.

If they are both males (which by the sounds of it they are) then the dominate one is chasing the sub. to declare the fact that he is king. This will probably go on for a couple more days but as long as the other runs for now it will be ok. If he stands to fight back, then it could get nasty but I don't see it that way. Fish aren't like people where you fight and usually know all you'll get is a good butt-whooping at worse. With fish it's a fight to the death unless one backs off in the middle of it. That usually happens so don't worry about that at all.

This also happens when there is a change in power. In the very beginning the new king of the tank will be overly-aggro to make sure his point is known but this is also ok because the fish that just lost knows this and will go to the corner and cower.

If it's a male/female then the male wants to mate really bad and the female doesn't. This is actually the worst scenario as if the chasing is this bad with a male/female (because usually it isn't) then the male might kill the female whether she's submissive or not.

Have you just introduced them and they are establishing territories and what sex are they?

 

[missyintx_99]

With cons, the easiest way to sex them is if there is orange on their tummy, thats a female. If they are new in the tank, then its like smb said, they are establishing the pecking order in the tank and this will play out in a day or two.

I have no experience with breeding cons or any other fish for that matter, so I can't give an opinion on that one way or another. At the size that your cons are, while I wouldn't totally rule out the breeding scenario, I do wonder if they are sexually mature at that size.
I'll leave that thought to those more knowledgable than I on the matter!

 

[Eelzor]

If they are new in the tank, then its like smb said, they are establishing the pecking order in the tank and this will play out in a day or two.

They have been "playing out" for about 2 weeks now. I can't really see if the weaker one is a female. But one is light and one is dark. Thats clear.

 

[smb]

At the size that your cons are, while I wouldn't totally rule out the breeding scenario, I do wonder if they are sexually mature at that size.

Yea, they are sexually mature. Cons can breed at 1".

They have been "playing out" for about 2 weeks now. I can't really see if the weaker one is a female. But one is light and one is dark. Thats clear.

If it's been going on this long, then it's 2 males. Depending on the size tank you have, you should add more males or get rid of one male and add 2-3 females, get a pair and then just keep the 2.

 

[Eelzor]

thanks smb, just recently checked and they're slowly dimming the tags now. Not as much as usual. I'll let you know if something else goes wrong or weird.

 

[smb]

That's good. The dominate will slow down with the harrasment the more sure he is that the sub knows he's the king of the tank. The king will still chase him from time to time to "test" him but if the other swims away I think you'll notice that the length the dom chases the sub will shorten in time.

Unless, there is another powershift then it all starts over again....


Don't you just love cichlids?

Please do keep us updated.

 

[missyintx_99]

Yep, it must be 2 males. With both my female cons, they showed orange on their bellies almost immediately after I bought them and they were both about 1" to 1.5" then. And the orange is there probably 95% of the time.
One time my pink female went totally pink again but it only lasted a couple of days and then she started showing orange again.

When I had the 2 females in the same tank, the pink one, which is bigger than the stripped one, chased the other nearly all the time. At the time, I thought they were argueing over the stripped male I had in there with them. But, the male died for some unknown reason and the 2 females kept at it. They are no longer in the same tank, but it was interesting to watch them.
Let us know how it goes, ok? 8)

 

[Eelzor]

its all good! 8) The superior convict doesn't chse him much at all now. Only the casual, "Hey, remember, I own this tank! " but other than that, they are thriving very well.