disgustipated Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 i love convicts. have always kept them. they get a bad wrap being so prolific and cheap, but many don't realise they are one of the most fun, interesting, intelligent and pretty fresh water fish you can get here. so i felt like doing a thread where people can talk about, or better, show off their convicts, breeding setups, whatever, anything to do with convict cichlids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted February 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 i'll start, this is my ~6 month old female convict named "missus duncan" - got her as a baby with a bunch of other convicts for live food for my jag, she was the only one that managed to escape being eaten and now is big enough to hold her own against the jag. they make good tankmates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Yeah they're great little fish, so often bagged for all the wrong reasons! I'd love to get some of the different wild strains (here I go again) available elsewhere, I'd love to have a little CA biotyope with a pair, or perhaps an all-male colony. I think this was one of the first fish my wife showed a real interest in, little "pinkles"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wee2 Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 love my convicts, I hav had mine for over last 3 years. two males turned out big strong stunning looking with popped up forehead. and they neva have any issues with bigger cichlids. they can simply stand out and fight back which shows great character. Unfortunity, both died a few month ago.. but still have the female. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 WOw, maybe if they all looked like yours, disgustipated, they'd have a better reputation. But all I've ever seen are hordes of pretty blah looking likely over inbred ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 yeah i know what you mean. i have seen some pretty rough looking convict x hybrids too. my old male was stocky but no colour. i think i got pretty lucky with this girl, especially considering she was bought as a feeder. got her from hollywood in albany for $3. fed massivore, shrimp, ox heart, squid, and i've seen her picking bits off of mutilated feeder fish carcasses which my jag has spat out... good food and variety helps bring out the colour. i reckon she'll try breed with my male dempsey soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 Has she ever been bred? How big is she? I've often wondered about the effects of breeding on them as the ones I've seen that haven't been bred (like pinkles and another big striped male I had, which incidentally also started life as an uneaten feeder) often seem to end up growing big and impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if breeding repeatedly at a small size had an adverse effect on their potential size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 nah she hasn't been bred. she is only around 4 months old, 2cm when i got her, now at least 6cm. she has grown quite fast. i have seen some interesting behaviour between her and the male JD, but nothing much more as yet. i think convict is still too young to breed. i think you are right, spawning, i imagine, would take a lot out of a female fish and could stunt their growth due to nutrients being used to make eggs rather than to make the fish bigger. i had a 5cm female JD lay eggs couple weeks ago. way earlier than i ever thought they could breed. but then i don't know its history, maybe the lady JD is stunted and a lot older than she looks. any eggs get eaten by the plecs pretty quickly anyway, once the lady fish realise spawning is futile then maybe she will stop producing eggs and focus more on growing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 just sold a little girl out of one of my tanks, approximately 6-7cm, never noticed her before, she had as much red on her than that but not quite as much blue/green could have been the light, but a real stunner anyways. (never noticed her before, normally only the smaller girls show themselves off in that tank) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 it might have been the one i was perving at when i was down there. i wanted to pick it up on the way home, but... but.. i can't remember what happened now. i have heard people say that their female convict lost most of its orange/blue colours as it matured. hope not. but males do seem to get a lot darker when they get full size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 I was given a breeding pair of convicts a few months ago and after trying to move them on grew quite attached to the female, she has nice colours even though she's previously been bred from. I have her large boyfriend in another tank and am still looking for a home for him so if anyone wants a male let me know haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 it might have been the one i was perving at when i was down there. i wanted to pick it up on the way home, but... but.. i can't remember what happened now. i have heard people say that their female convict lost most of its orange/blue colours as it matured. hope not. but males do seem to get a lot darker when they get full size. funny, this girl was the biggest and the best coloured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 pics please of your girl please CC! and yes i could be interested in your male convict, but not just yet... ima let my girl grow out a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 out of interest, here are pics of some wild caught convict cichlids the last two are males - quite different to the tank bred / inbred fish we get here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Ooooh puuurrdy!! :spop: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Those last pictures are either a variant or natural hybrid they are not simply convict's. There is a documentary called Nicaragua by Ad Konings and Willem Heijns that illustrates the wild convict cichlid along with numerous other central americans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 i'll take your word for it. that post is only as credible as the website i got the pics from i'm definitely gonna find that movie, thanks mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarletmonuka Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 So tempting of turning my 215 litre for just convicts aewsome creatures indeed :dnc1: katie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruju Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Mahns convict is a beauty, I'd have to agree with Ira though, most convicts around are rubbish with poor genetics, but some are absolute stunners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted May 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 damn it's hard to take good pics of fish. especially when you have a shoddy camera. oh well. new pics of my lady convict. ready to breed soon, been looking around for a top quality male. these pics don't do her justice at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aer0 Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 I wonder how mine compare bloodline/quality wise. I bought them as my first ever Cichlids... as a pair male and female... they had one lot then the female has gone to another tank, the fry are in my growout tank at the moment and are looking good. The male is in my new enclosure im building up as a nice display tank 400l bowlfront, its going to be a mixed tank i dont know how well its going to work, i hope to build it as natural as i can, lots of caves/hiding spots both small and large and will be stocking it with my male convict, a bunch of electric yellows, blue's and demisoni's maybe a couple of JD's and potentially... depending on how it behaves one Albino Tiger Oscar... i picked this fish up last week because it was so beatuiful! currently living solo in a 150l tank and im not too sure if it will mix well with my other fish... what are your thoughts? also thinking of adding a couple of nice plecos but not sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinox Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 That female is beautiful! :cophot: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aer0 Posted May 7, 2013 Report Share Posted May 7, 2013 Everyone meet Fred: He is my first ever Cichlid, a male convict.. around 4 years old according to the guy I bought him from I know its not the best photo and it is in his old tank.. but any thoughts on him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted May 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 he looks beefy! such a good first cichlid. wanna pimp him out? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aer0 Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 he looks beefy! such a good first cichlid. wanna pimp him out? lol I would but not keen to ship him really... well.... i dunno we could do some kinda trade if you have some fry maybe? He is pretty well fed, a nice selection of pallets, flakes and blood-worms every second day. He is currently almost alone in a 400litre tank im building... its just him and my Albino oscar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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