Do My Convict Fish Need to Be Separated From the Babies
Convict Cichlid Stats
Minimum Tank Size: 20 Gallons (29 Gallons recommended)
Intendance Level: Like shooting fish in a barrel
H2o Conditions: PH 6-viii and Soft to Neutral
Temperature: 68-80 F (20-27 C)
Maximum Size: six inches (15.2 cm) for males, and 4 for females (x.2 cm)
The captive cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) is found throughout Key America, inhabiting a wide assortment of habitats. It is commonly found in streams and rivers, but it is also known to live in ponds and lakes with thick plant cover. With that beingness said, it tends to prefers moving h2o, and is often found sheltering in submerged branches and rock formations.
The male captive cichlid grows upwards to half-dozen inches (15.2 cm) in length, while the female person grows to an average length of 4 inches (10.2cm). When the females reach convenance maturity, the belly of the fish will take on red hue, making sexing quite easy in mature convict cichlid fish.
Housing
Convict cichlids tin can be a messy fish, and should mostly be housed in a spacious, species only tank. The minimum tank size for a non-breeding pair should exist a 20 gallon (75 litre) tank , though the ideal size is closer to 29 gallons (100 litres).
If a person is planning to breed convict cichlids, or hopes (and I stress the word hopes) to keep them in a community tank, then they should exist kept in at least a 55 gallon (208 litre) fish tank. A pair of breeding convicts will terrorize any tank that they are housed in, and will viciously assault anything that comes well-nigh their nest. It's not unusual to see a convenance pair of cichlids take on a much larger fish, and some accept been known to attack fish nearly twice their size.
Since convict cichlids constantly dig and rearrange their tank, their aquarium should be over-filtered with a stiff HOB (hang-on-back) filter, or in ideal circumstances, a canister filter. For extra biological filtration, a second filter or a sponge filter tin be added to the tank, which helps keep the water sparkling clean. This is especially useful if a person is planning to breed convict cichlids, as the fry need pristine water quality.
If choosing an HOB filter, I would strongly recommend choosing an Aquaclear Ability Filter
Feeding
In the wild, convict cichlids primarily feed on small-scale insects, worms, plant matter and algae. In the home aquarium, they will greedily eat nearly anything offered to them. Only a healthy diet should exist fabricated upwards of a loftier quality fish food, with occasional frozen foods added for treats. I prefer to feed my convicts Hikari Cichlid Gilded Floating Pellets and have had great success with this loftier quality food.
When it comes to frozen foods, their favorites are blood worms, daphnia and brine shrimp. They volition especially appreciate any live food that can cultured or defenseless – with musquito larvae and live black worms being detail favorites.
Breeding
Convict cichlids are amongst the easiest tropical aquarium fish to brood. Unlike many other cichlids, they don't selectively pair off, and any male person and female in placed in an aquarium will usually breed within a matter of weeks.
Since convict cichlids prefer to lay eggs on rocky overhangs in the wild, the easiest mode to simulate their natural habitat in the home aquarium is to provide them with overturned clay pots. Stacks of rocks will likewise work, and they have also been known to lay eggs in PVC pipe "caves", but nothing seems to beat the simple dirt pots.
In one case an egg laying surface has been provided, the male and female person volition begin immigration the area around their breeding site. Whatever plants will be removed and the substrate will likely exist excavated and moved around to their liking.
During this time, the convict cichlid breed pair will viciously attack whatsoever other fish in their tank, and few fish – even the armored pleco, can take this corruption for long. Needless to say, whatsoever convenance convicts should exist kept in a tank without any other fish nowadays.
Once their territory has been staked out, the female volition deposit her eggs on a clay pot, and the male person will fertilize them. The parents volition diligently guard the eggs, with the male chasing away anything that comes shut to the nest, while the female stays close to the eggs.
The fry will begin to hatch in a few days, and later on about a week, the convict cichlid parents will begin to herd the tiny fry effectually the tank. At this bespeak infusoria, and baby brine shrimp should exist fed to the fry 3 times a day. If someone doesn't want to go to the trouble of hatching brine shrimp or culturing infusoria, and so in that location are a few commercial products available for feeding fry.
One of the most interesting aspects of owning convict cichlids is watching the level of parental care that they requite to their offspring. While guppies and many other fish volition make a quick snack of their offspring, convict cichlids are extremely caring parents. They volition dig paths through plants for their fry, stir up the substrate to uncover food, and quickly get the fry to safety anytime they feel threatened. Even in a tank with equal sized predator fish, information technology's exceedingly rare to even lose fifty-fifty one convict cichlid fry.
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Source: https://aquariumtidings.com/convict-cichlid/
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