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CONVICTS: TIps on breeding convicts.


henward

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Ok, i knwo some cichlids you can only have 1 male 1 female to have a family.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Pets-animals/Fish/Fish/auction-384566544.htm

these are convicts on TM, 2 fems 1 male.

if i keep them in a 1200 litre tank, will they breed in temps of 22 ish?

also, will the male breed with the other female at the same time?

or will it be better to get just 1m 1f?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Pets-animals/Fish/Fish/auction-384566543.htm

i assume these are albino or white convicts?

Or shall i get some kribensis?

will kribensis breed in a colony type set up?

where i have a couple makes or 1 male and multiple fems and they just keep on breeding?

i basically want to mass product life fish as fast as possible, as efficiently as possible in one tank. no separating.

basically im looking at having these, to breed, i dont want to separate the babies too, can i just leave the babies in the same tank?

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Both Convicts and Kribs will pair "for life" and will not breed with other males / females readily.

The longer you leave the fry with the parents the longer between breeding cycles.

Go for Guppies or Mollies.. as Josh said they are more suited to that temp and fry will grow fairly quick. Don't use beautiful cichlids :(

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no ones buying the tank yet, so im just listing, im in no hurry to remove them untill i move out:D

so for now, i can use it to breed.

mollies sounds like a good idea.

i was hoping something that gets bigger, but i would have to put numerous convict pairs in there.

with mollies, i can just pile them in right?

so with mollies ic an just put in a few fems, maybe 20% the amount of fems in males?

or just a few males?

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are all of them equal in speed of growth and care?

cooler waters they will still breeD?

basically i dont need to separate them? i ca just have a giant bunch in my 1200litre and they will breed right ?

how bout fry, will they eat it or is there enough space for everyone to get along?

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22 degrees would be at the lower end of what they are considered to live in

http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Swordtail.htm

swordtails will tend to eat the babies unless they have somewhere to hide, from what i hear guppies don't, not sure about mollies or platies though. also I have seen some large guppies that were the same size as mollies, and swordtails etc.

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yeah colder though?

22 degrees?

basically, unheated tank, will convicts breed.

i like the ideas of kribs and convicts as they are bigger and easier to bulk up.

but the cold water may be an issue

I think convicts/kribs would be ok at 22, but you wont get very good growth rates and they wont breed as often as they would at 26..

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i basically want to mass product life fish as fast as possible, as efficiently as possible in one tank. no separating.

basically im looking at having these, to breed, i dont want to separate the babies too, can i just leave the babies in the same tank?

Neolamprologus brichardi fits what you are looking for. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n_brichardi.php

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It is the only known fish in Africa that utilizes a collective nursery. This means that adults, subadults, and even half-grown fry all participate in a multi-generational rearing of the fry. N. brichardi individuals not only care for their own fry but the fry of those who spawn around them as well as keep vigil over other adults when actively spawning.
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Unfortunatly if you want to have fast growing fast breeding fish, tempreture can be the key!

Convicts are the true rabbit of the aqaurium hobby without a doubt! and they will do fine at 22c and can be left to there own devices, provide plenty of hidey holes, some plant and heaps of live or frozen food and you will have a terribly good success rate with these fish, they do come in the white and albino colour morph as well which is quite pretty when in breeding colours.

I have a feeling your kribs would be a bit slugish and unhappy in that temp tho

However platys/swordtails/guppys will cope in these conditions fine aslong as the tank never gets colder than 20c you'll have happy fish.

Mollies are a bit more tempremental, i wouldn't advise keeping them in unheated conditions. And if you where to colonies these fish i would deffinatly suggest salting. The last thing you need is for velvet to rip through your breeders

If you want feeder fish faster, convicts would be the way to go, but if you planted the tank out or just had heaps of floating water sprite then you could leave the livbearers to there devices, however it will take some time to start a colony, you will need many stater mature fish.

ALL livebearers will eat there fry just so you know, however you keep your fish well fed and provide plenty of plant in your tank and they will hold little interest in the fry, the fry are also quite zippy, fed on BBS regularly and you should have semi adult/breedable fish at around 2 months. Livefood will increase the amount of fry females drop!

Livebearers thrive in a tank that has plenty of water changes, this will also increase there growth rate and the growth rate of any other fish.

Wish i had a 1200l! makes my new 800 seem small :(

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Although I feel breeding cichlids entirely for food is perverse... :wink:

How about G. Steindachneri...

Mouthbrooding Eartheater

Easy to breed

Keep at 24-26°

One male to many females (polygamous)

Can reach 10cm fairly quickly on good diet/large tank

Avaliable in shop now!

And best of all you will always have lots of stock for others that want to keep this lovely fish :thup:

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brichardi needs warm waters doesnt it? doesnt say in that article.

but i want the least expense when it comes to heating my water.

if convicts are the most efficient, they i would be tempted to heat it up to 22c.

though right now, my gold fish tub in my garage at ambient temp is 20c.

i would expect in summer, that would increase 3 to 4 degrees.

but right now is 20c.

convicts breed in 20c?

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if you want fast live food then guppies or live bearers is way to go and you can on sell them as well

If you want to breed at around 20 then you may need to look for mozzie fish or wcmm something like that

no fish will breed in sub optimal conditions but you might be able to fluke it

Youwont need 1200 to breed wcmm just an old bath tub & feed heaps

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mossy fish are illegal to keep and breed im pretty sure, your only aloud to have them if your going to kill them straight away.

Leapord fish would do well but dont breed in big numbers

WCMM could do, im not sure they are a good feeder fish but you can also get the golden variety, they require no heating or filtration if left outside. Takes time to establish a breeding colony though.

IMO get 2 cheap 300w heaters of TM for $20-30ea and start breeding huge amounts of livebearers!

Why not just the standard comet gold fish? They can lay HEAPS of eggs, little gold fish are good feeders. Slow growing though

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