Convict Cichlid Breeding Questions

[Scorpiankh]

Ok, so I was given a bunch of Convict Cichlids by my cousin a few months ago - she didn't realise how aggressive they were to other fish when she got them, and my turtle is always looking for tank companions, so she gave them to me.

I've never had cichlids of any sort before, but after reading up on them and watching them a bit I got quite keen on them, so when I noticed two of them had paired up and excavated a nest and were defending it ferociously I thought I'd try breeding them ... which is about where my plan fell apart ....

Because they were being quite aggressive towards my other fish, and my turtle too, I figured the best idea would be to set up a separate tank and move the pair into that to breed, so I did that ... checked the tank they were in first and found no signs of eggs or fry in or around them or their nest, so I moved them into the new tank hoping I wasn't separating them from eggs or babies.

Within a day of moving them into the new tank the female started losing the orangey colour on her belly, and she started getting paler and paler until her black stripes were barely visible and there was no orange colouring on her belly. The boy convict spent all his time chasing her and she spent all her time hiding from him or running away. My boy Cichlid appears to be thriving and happy as a fish can appear to be, so I don't think it's an issue of tank conditions. Anyways, after about 2 weeks he got a bit overly aggressive and killed her.

I'm not entirely sure what went wrong. I've been looking all over the net for help and all I can find is info saying 'Convict Cichlids are so easy to breed all you need to do is put a male and female in the same tank and they will have babies.'

Obviously that didn't work for me.

Should I not have moved them out of their original tank after they'd made a nest? Is size an issue (He is about 5-6cm long and she was quite a bit smaller, maybe 3-4 cm long)?

Now my boy convict is looking kinda lonely, after he killed her he went and made a nest and now spends most of his time swimming about in search of a girlfriend it seems ... is it ok to just throw another female convict in with him?

Any help or tips?

[WillskE]

it should be fine to put in another female similar size, im not sure about why the male killed the female but i've got a tank of20 convicts they just breed when they feel like it, i think one of the reason why your female lost interest in breeding its cause you moved them? they need time to settle in before they are comfortable with breeding hope that helps?

[newbiesteph]

This sometimes happens with cichlids some of them have rather aggressive relationships, how big was the tank that you put them in? It is always a good idea to stick them into a relatively big tank and put lots of hiding holes (big enough for female too small for male) for her to hide in if things do go pear shaped. It is more common when you just buy a m/f of a species and don't allow them to pair off naturally however it sounds like you had a good group so you should have been ok, are you sure you caught the right m/f?

[Scorpiankh]

Thanks for the replies.

The tank is big enough for them to each have a few little hidey holes, they seemed to establish which ones were their favourites right off the bat.

Pretty sure I got the right 2 fish, they were significantly bigger than all of the other cichlids in the main tank.

I'm thinking the female just wasn't happy with the move maybe, it's the only thing I can think of. The Male is still happy as despite his lack of a mate.

I'll throw another female in with him and see how it goes.

Next question: what other kinds of cichlids can you breed with convicts? I've seen blue and black stripey ones and really like them, if I got a blue female would she be able to breed with my convict male?