Convicts - Anything With Them?

[corbypete]

I have an empty 30uk gallon, just going through my options

Can you keep anything with convicts?

The shop had them with a elephant nose and someting else (i forget now, think it was a knife fish?)

If not, i'll look at something else for the 30 cos i sold the piranahs because the tanks looked bare

 

[vancouver]

I don't think you'd get away with anything else in a 30g tank. I'm not sure if 30uk gallons is larger/smaller then 30us gallons..

If you were to get a female convict, you could try a jewel cichlid or rainbow cichlid. I've kept both of those with convicts in a 3ft tank and they stay away from each other most of the time.

 

[corbypete]

our 30 gal work out as 36us gallons, 4 foot 1 foot wide

 

[vancouver]

Oh.. if you don't go with a pair of convicts you could probably keep a few other cichlids in there.

 

[Dwarfs]

No, nothing can be kept with a pair of cons, especially other cichlids. If you do not have a pair of cons, they can be kept with other medium sized, robust cichlids

 

[corbypete]

ah ok

but then again in a 30 i wouldnt get much in there anyway


filled the 40 gal (49 us gal) with lots of colourful malawi cichlids and a couple of firemouths, maybe turn the 30 into a turle tank??

 

[Suriliel]

I have a pair of Convicts in with a bunch of other stuff. It's a 55 gallon tank so bigger than yours, but there's a lot in there and the Convicts don't bug anything, they just keep to themselves. I have an oscar in there, a lobster, even some goldfish and nobody's been bugged.

 

[vancouver]

^^ I can tell ya that aint gonna last long.

 

[lucky62]

^^ I can tell ya that aint gonna last long.

I'll second that , assuming it's a mating pair , and not just 2 of the same sex .


Most breeding cichlid pairs will not tolerate other fish in their territory [ which can usually be the entire aquarium ] convicts are on the highly aggressive end of the scale , making it very difficult to keep any other tank mates long term .

 

[Suriliel]

I dunno, they've been digging a hole in the corner recently which probably means someone's about to get some action.. and still no bugging of other fish. The rainbow shark even hangs out by their hole checking out what they're doing and they don't seem to care. If they do start bugging the other fishes I'll move them.. but for now everyone looks happy

 

[vancouver]

Well the oscar will eat whatever it can fit into its mouth.. and even things that cant.. but when those convicts breed, I guarantee you they will rip apart your other fish.. I've had it happen before, I'm not just guessing what's going to happen.. I've been through it a few times, and it's not fun figuring out what you're going to do with a bunch of fish.

 

[Suriliel]

My local fish store has a pair of convicts (full size) a pair of parrot cichlids, 2 irridescent sharks and a jack dempsey in a 60 gallon tank, and they've all been there for over a year and they haven't had any losses.. a couple mildly torn fins on occasion but nothing even close to major. I'm not saying that happens all the time, but what you're saying obviously isn't guaranteed to happen either. All I'm saying is they're all content in the tank right now so there's no reason to panic.. it's definitely possible to have a pair in a tank with other things.

 

[Dwarfs]

No one said it was impossible, it's just a very, very bad idea

I've had my fair share of experiences with breeding cichlids. I never kept my pair of jewels with any other fish, but with my rainbow cichlids I did, and it was a very regrettable decision

 

[Dragonscales]

In my experience with convicts I've learnt the following:

1. They shouldn't be kept with shy, easily targeted fish like elephant noses, etc.

2. When you have one female they are "usually" fine with other robust cichlids.

3. If you have a lone male they are "occassionally" fine with other robust cichlids (depends on if he decides to start nesting on the offchance a female may just happen by ).

4. If you have a pair then "most likely" everything and anything else kept in the tank is gunna get it's butt kicked sooner or later or harrassed to the point of death by stress. It doesn't help when the male and female will often gang up on the offending tankmate and proceed to tagteam it into submission.

5. If you ask an lfs if they will take the fry (trust me, if you have a breeding pair you are gunna get fry and a hell of alot of them very, very soon. They are best mates with storks it seems...) then they are almost guarenteed to tell you to bugger off.

6. This is the most important thing I have learnt - a breeding pair of convicts in a tank means you should expect to never, ever do any work in or even near the tank ever again while they are residing there. They seem to have a blatant, uncanny disregard to the fact that fish need water to live. This behaviour is often exhibited whenever you pull your hand well out of the tank after being latched onto only to realise that the damn fish is still there or when innocently walking by, you are suddenly assulted by an overzealous fish who thinks that walking within two feet of the tank constitutes the opening of hunting season and you are more than fair game.

In short, they are a nice, interesting fish that can turn into a right mongrel when they want to (and in 99% of cases they will)

 

[diademhill]

ah ok

but then again in a 30 i wouldnt get much in there anyway


filled the 40 gal (49 us gal) with lots of colourful malawi cichlids and a couple of firemouths, maybe turn the 30 into a turle tank??

Get the firemouths out from the Africans & put them in the 30g?