Swordtails With Convicts

[~T~]

Do the Cons breed easy or no?? if they breed easy then i will get rid of the swords and rams, but if they are not easy to breed then i will not get any cons but will stick with the rams and swords

Convicts are probably the easiest fish to breed even over guppies.

 

[hotdogoramer]

I heard that many times but people say kribs are even better. I m going to pick up some convicts. Is there any colorful fish i can keep with convicts??

 

[~T~]

I heard that many times but people say kribs are even better. I m going to pick up some convicts. Is there any colorful fish i can keep with convicts??

See thats the problem, almost any other fish is at the very least going to be harrased by a pair of convicts. If breeding them is what you want to do then tankmates IMO and IME are not advised.

 

[Davo86]

tbh I can't see why anyone would want to breed convicts?

All that happens is they get overun with convicts which they can't shift, which then become inbred.

not to mention breeding cons is as easy as adding water to a fishtank

 

[yvez9]

i bred convicts to feed my oscar a few years ago. it was a 20 gallon high species tank

Went to the shop, saw i tank full of 1 inch convicts labelled at 4$ each. offerred the guy 3$ for six and he agreed since i told him someone probably just dumped them at the store and he didn't pay for them, plus he'd probably be stuck with them forever...

a pair formed up after a week so i kept only those 2. a week after that they had fry, probably 50 or so that they ended up eating.
i did nothing at all to encourage spawning. they'd lay eggs about every month. the male ended up killing the female after 3 or 4 spawns.

unless you have plans for the fry, do not breed them and for the sake of all living creatures, have only a mating pair in the breeding tank. keep a larger tank to raise the fry to however big they must be.

 

[~T~]

I sort of disagree. I do find them facinating and probably wouldnt be without one (I still have one old male). Breeding them is great fun to watch and is a great introduction to breeding cichlids. However all the lfs's where I live will take unwanted con fry and even give you some store credit. If you have homes for the fry or someone who wants live food then yes by all means breed them but make sure you dont end up in a situation where you have too many and with nowhere to for them to go. Breeding them however really does requite a species tank. Kribs on the other hand are alsmost as easy to breed and find homes for and may even accept tankmates when breeding (if chosen very carefully).

 

[hotdogoramer]

Which one do you guys think are better, kribs or cons? I am still with cons though so... And if my convicts breed out of control i have an oscar that will enjoy a little snack now and then lol. I only want to breed convicts as my begginers fish for breeding something new since i am done with livebearers. I like cichlids a lot i have kept them before so they were my logical choice.

 

[~T~]

Which one do you guys think are better, kribs or cons? I am still with cons though so... And if my convicts breed out of control i have an oscar that will enjoy a little snack now and then lol. I only want to breed convicts as my begginers fish for breeding something new since i am done with livebearers. I like cichlids a lot i have kept them before so they were my logical choice.

If it was me I would breed the convicts though I would do it species tank only. If you really want to have tankmates then I would say you would probably be better off with the kribs.

 

[hotdogoramer]

What if i put jewel cichlids in as tankmates?? or some other aggresive cichlids??

 

[Wills]

3 foot tank can only handle 1 pair of medium sized cichlids if you went with the kribs you would have more choice for tank mates - if you can find them are a few strains of the pelmachromis family which is the family kribs belong to but the common krib is not as bright as some of its relatives so maybe somthing to look for?

 

[Davo86]

3 foot tank can only handle 1 pair of medium sized cichlids if you went with the kribs you would have more choice for tank mates - if you can find them are a few strains of the pelmachromis family which is the family kribs belong to but the common krib is not as bright as some of its relatives so maybe somthing to look for?

Agreed with above, if you can find Honduran Red Points as an alternative to convicts
or Pelvicachromis subocellatus or Pelvicachromis taeniatus as an alternative to your common krib - Pelvicachromis pulcher.
then you would be able to keep the swords And be able to easily shift the fry if you were to get overun

 

[Wills]

I can recommend Honduran Red Points (suprised I havent actually) - shame your not in UK I'm selling HRP fry atm

 

[hotdogoramer]

3 foot tank can only handle 1 pair of medium sized cichlids if you went with the kribs you would have more choice for tank mates - if you can find them are a few strains of the pelmachromis family which is the family kribs belong to but the common krib is not as bright as some of its relatives so maybe somthing to look for?

3 foot tank can only handle 1 pair of medium sized cichlids if you went with the kribs you would have more choice for tank mates - if you can find them are a few strains of the pelmachromis family which is the family kribs belong to but the common krib is not as bright as some of its relatives so maybe somthing to look for?

Agreed with above, if you can find Honduran Red Points as an alternative to convicts
or Pelvicachromis subocellatus or Pelvicachromis taeniatus as an alternative to your common krib - Pelvicachromis pulcher.
then you would be able to keep the swords And be able to easily shift the fry if you were to get overun

I can recommend Honduran Red Points (suprised I havent actually) - shame your not in UK I'm selling HRP fry atm

Aren't Honduran Red Points a type of convict?? are they easy to breed/keep? So i can't keep convicts at all with any tank mates?? If i get the Honduran Red Points what can i keep as tank mates??

 

[Davo86]

Aren't Honduran Red Points a type of convict?? are they easy to breed/keep? So i can't keep convicts at all with any tank mates?? If i get the Honduran Red Points what can i keep as tank mates??

Yes they are closely related but aren't as big or aggressive, however they are just as easy to breed and are worth more.
Swordtails, larger tetras, barbs etc can usually be kept with HRPs safely

 

[hotdogoramer]

Aren't Honduran Red Points a type of convict?? are they easy to breed/keep? So i can't keep convicts at all with any tank mates?? If i get the Honduran Red Points what can i keep as tank mates??

Yes they are closely related but aren't as big or aggressive, however they are just as easy to breed and are worth more.
Swordtails, larger tetras, barbs etc can usually be kept with HRPs safely

Can i keep rams with the Honduran Red Points??
The problem is where can i find some, because my LFS said that i would have to wait until their name came up on the availability list. Also the problem is the price, i am a student and don't have too much money to spare on my fish keeping hobby.