Convict Cichlid Breeding

It's been awhile since I've written, and a lot has changed here at Mike's aquarium. I currently have 3 tanks, 2 - 20 gallon and 1 - 10 gallon set up. I added a second 20 gallon tank to house a pair of Cichlids. I wasnt certain what I wanted to keep, as many cichlids grow larger than a 20 gallon would handle. It was a tossup between a pair of Convict's or a pair of Jack Dempsey's. I ended up choosing the Convicts as they are touted as being a "beginner's fish", and that they breed readily. Since I am interested in breeding fish, but still somewhat of a newcomer to the hobby, I felt that this was the logical choice.

So, off to the pet store I went. I bought a pair of fish, and brought them home. Turns out after researching online, I had a pair of female fish. So back I went, and located a male, and purchased it. Upon releasing the new male to the aquarium, he and the smaller female fought, locking lips and pushing her around the tank. Eventually, he let her be, and soon thereafter, fell for the other, larger female. The next week or so, she dug out an area under and behind the rock wall, and the 2 fish disappeared for a great deal of time, coming out occasionally for a bite to eat and to chase the small female from time to time.

There was a point where the pair began attacking the odd female more agressively, so I removed her from the tank. I placed her in the community aquarium, but that didnt work out very well, as she seemed to nip the fins of the angelfish. So she eventually got placed in a 10 gallon along with a couple platy's to keep her company. She doesn't seem to bother the platy's.

One day about a week later, I turned on the light, and inside a cave that I had made with the rocks, a bunch of babies were laying on the cave floor. I estimated well over 100 fry, perhaps 150. They were quite tiny, about the same size as the newborn Corydoras fry I had a couple months before. A few of them were swimming, but most were "wigglers" on the cave floor. The next day I found most were swimming freely. At this point, mom has been primarily taking care of the fry, bringing them out in her mouth, and putting them back in the nest in the evening. Dad was the protector, circling the tank, watching for preditors, and sometimes trying to attack fish in the community aquarium, which sits right next to the Cichlid tank.

The next 4 days, I had gone camping. Now I had a problem, as to how to feed these little buggers. The day before I noticed the fry, I had bought some automatic feeders, but surely this would not work with the fry food I would feed them. I therefore hired a neighbor girl to come by and feed my fish twice a day. After showing her how, I then went on my vacation.

When I got back, the fry were thriving. They follow mom wherever she goes. The fry were about double their size when I got back, which is still pretty small. All of course were free swimming. The male keeps the area where the fry are hanging out clean, stirring up debris with his fins, and moving a pebble here and there. The fish like to eat off of the tops of the rocks, you will see them congregate on the surface of the rocks. They never go to the surface to get their food, so they eat after it falls.

Speaking of food, I have been feeding all my fry, the Convicts and the corydoras both Hikari "First Bites". Most breeders prefer live food, but the fish seem to thrive on this, and it is a whole lot easier and inexpensive. I have kept the water at around 72 degrees, however today I warmed the water to 76. The filter that I'm using is one of my own ideas, and it seems to work well. I have a sponge filter fitted to the intake of a 10 - 15 gallon power head tetra filter. Seems to work out quite well. The surface area is such that it doesnt affect the fry swimming near the filter, but it has enough suction to keep the water crystal clear.

I have also noticed that since the babies were present, the parents arent eating as much as they were. They were very hungry fish before the breeding. The female eats less than the male, and the male eats very little. Could it be that they ate like pigs before the breeding to prepare for the breeding process?

As I'm writing this, the fry are about 3/8 inch long. If you look closely to one of the fry, you can see they have their stripes already, but I noticed that almost right after birth. Even at this young age, the fry are pretty independent. Some fry school around mom, some will be on the rocks eating. Some will even go back to the nest on their own, or they at least disappear somewhere. For awhile I thought the fish were eating the fry, as for much of the day, only about half or less of the fry were out. This morning however, I was greeted by the entire brood.

If you have any interest in trying your hand at breeding egglaying fish, I would definately suggest this species. Yes, you need a seperate aquarium, but you need a seperate tank anyway if you breed any kind of fish. I recommend these fish because like all cichlids, they care for their young, and as the saying goes... "To breed Convicts, just add water"!