How many convicts???

[Mustang5L5]

i decided not to move him to the 55 instead i bought 6 tiger barbs as tankmates and they are getting along great. He actually seems to be afraid of them.

Ha that's funny because mine were afraid of the barbs as well. I actually used to have a Betta in the tank with both cons. They were afriad of the betta. Only reason i took him out was the barbs liked his fins too much.

The barbs like to try to nip the fins of the cons from time to time. It's funny, they will come up behind the female in a gang of 5 or 6 almost daring one to go for it. ANd eventunaly it will and then the female will rush the barbs and they will scatter. They almost seem amused by this "game"

Of course the eggs hatched today so the game is different now. The barbs keep their distance but the cons keep to themselves. I acttually had to plant some anarcharis yesterday in the tank. Let's just say a 3" convict can bite pretty hard! He got me 3 times!

 

[OscarCichlid]

Well that didnt work out either. the con wasnt afraid of them for long i woke up this morning and 2 were missing. I moved the remaining 4 to my 55 gallon tank where they are hapily schooling with the Clown loach (i guess because they look alike). Now im back to the same problem. A tankmate for my convict. I have a friend with 2 pairs of cons (2 black and 2 pink) they are always havin babys and he has a batch of babys that are about 1.5-2 inches. Could i add one of those or will he kill it because of its size. Also if they breed will they kill the pictus cats??

 

[Mustang5L5]

I have a friend with 2 pairs of cons (2 black and 2 pink) they are always havin babys and he has a batch of babys that are about 1.5-2 inches. Could i add one of those or will he kill it because of its size.

If it's a male, it will definitely be killed, or at least chased around to the point of exhaustion. If it's a female, the male will want to breed with her. If she's not ready, she to will be chased around to exhaustion.



You sure you don't want to try breeding them? It is a pretty cool site to see the parents swim around the tank with 20 or so fry tagging behind like a little cloud. Usually when they grow up, the parents don't pay much attention to them. That's one sure way of having a tank full of cons.

 

[OscarCichlid]

Yea i am going to try to breed them but what should i do with the pictus cats??

 

[Mustang5L5]

What is his attitude towards them now??

 

[OscarCichlid]

When i first put them in he was pretty aggressive twords them but in a couple of days he calmed down and accepted them. Now he pretty much leaves them alone. He occasionaly will chase them but not to bad.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I'm not sure leaving them in would work out. They may be ok now but the fact that he chases them now from time to time will more than likely intensify when they breed. They are a bit bigger than the barbs are and would be down at the same level with the cons when they build their nest so they would be competeing for ground space.

Can't you put the two cats in the 55 with the other one?

 

[OscarCichlid]

Yea i guess so. I thought about it and I was worried about the 55 being overcrowded but i have also been lookin at pics of cons breeding and raising there fry and well i just cant pass it up. Im going to have to move them to the 55.