Convicts... Electric Yellows..... Stocking?

[fry_forever!]

Arghh! I've posted many topics like this already, but I keep changing my mind! I'm setting up my 57 gallon aquarium this weekend, and I want to put some sort of cichlid in there that will breed fairly readily, (once the tank is cycled, of course...) but I can't decide! I was thinking electric yellows, but then I saw the word "convict", and after googling it, liked what I saw & read.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

-f_f!

 

[fatheadminnow]

Convicts would be easier to breed. IMO, I think Kribensis are one of the easiest Cichlids to breed.

-FHM

 

[fry_forever!]

Thanks, but..... I already have a couple tanks of kribs. (A 17 gallon and a 39 gallon) and I want a cichlid/fish that gets slightly larger.... Hmm.... I am torn.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Convicts

-FHM

 

[fry_forever!]

Sweet, is it because they are easier to care for/breed? Or just your personal opinion?

-f_f!

 

[kribensis12]

Dude, Yellow Labs for sure. Convicts will breed so readily I doubt you'd even need water. But, once you have the fry, no one will buy them off you. You most likely will be giving them out for free, if anyone will even take them for free. Yellow Labs breed pretty readily. Once they start, there is almost nothing stopping them, and their fry are actually worth some cash. I sold pairs of 4 for 9 bucks at a local auction some time ago. I really want to get some labs again, they are gorgeous fish. Pretty peaceful too, unlike convicts. I've seen a breeding pair of convicts DESCALE another convict in less than an hour. It was a black convict, but when I fished him out, he was pink , and still alive. They are very resiliant fish, but he died the next day.

 

[fry_forever!]

Oh my, see, this is why I'm torn. I have a store to give the convicts to if need be, (actually, a couple) but I really don't know if I'll have success breeding labs.... I don't have tons of luck when it comes to breeding fish, so I don't know if I'd have enough luck for Labs.

The tank is going to have play sand as substrate, a couple live plants, and tons of caves.

 

[kribensis12]

Labs need more of rock work than anything. I had convicts at one time, and several stores to take them. They told me at first theyd give me less than a quarter a fish, but then they said they are such a cheap fish that they will only take them for free. I ended up selling packs of 20 for 1 buck at a local auctions. In the end, it just wasn't worth it. Labs are VERY easy to breed. Just give them enough rock work and good food and you'll have babies everywhere. I made probably 50 bucks of the last batch of labs I sold.

 

[fry_forever!]

Awesome, then labs it will be! Can they cross with electric blues? Not that I'm planning to, but I'm just wondering. Thanks.

 

[kribensis12]

Im sure it may be possible, but I wouldn't do it. There is a rarer type of lab out there called Labidochromis "Mbamba" that is black instead of yellow. 5 fish for over 30 dollars at a local auction. Same care as labs, just differen't variant. Make sure you only get 1 male, and the rest females. If not, you will be in trouble.

 

[fry_forever!]

The male electric yellows have the black stripe on their dorsal fin, am I right?

 

[kribensis12]

Nope, females do as well. The males usually have a more porminant stripe. The best way to sex them is by venting them. When you look at their vent, the females will have a large O shapes one, while the males is small.

 

[fry_forever!]

Oh okay, because we have some at where I work right now, and there are a ton in the tank with black dorsal fins, but only one that doesn't have a black dorsal fin. (And she is the same size as the rest of them)

 

[Wills]

How about Yellow Convicts Cryptoheros nanoluteus

 

[Davo86]

how about Sajicas or Honduran red points? or even just marbled convicts