Convicts have Babies!!!

rokbro

Two weeks ago I purchased two black convicts and today I noticed the female acting oddly so I took a closer look. She had laid eggs on the back side of one of the rocks, they had hatched and she was moving them into a cave she had dug out under that rock!!!

I am new to Cichlids so what do I do now? I did run out and purchase some micro pellets for the fry. Also, I am a little worried that the rock she made a home under might fall on her and the fry.

Tank Info: 55 gal, 1/3 sand 2/3 gravel substrate, lots of rocks with caves and some artificial plants. Occupants: Two black Convicts and 1 Pleco. (I decided to switch from a community tank to an aggressive tank)

All suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

By the way...I love Cichlids!

willow

hello and welcome,
how unsure are you of the cave ?
i wold have thought that if you try and move the stone she
will probably move the fry to a different location within the tank.
however i would try and do something if it means the possibility
of a large amount of rock would fall .
you may have to re think your rock work if the base rocks
are not sunk into the substrate now because you will find this happening
often as these fish dig,they will make the rock work
unsteady.

rokbro

Most of the rocks are on the gravel side but I have one stand alone rock on the sand side. I tested the rock and it still has a solid footing so I am going to keep checking it for stability.

Is there anything specail I need to do or provide for the fry?

willow

hmmm,
don't actually know anything about these specific fish,
hopefull someone will pop in who has kept/keeping them
and be able to advise.

rokbro

I hope so too. Thanks!

Gump

Convicts like most centrals are great parents that will do everything for the fry including feeding them the same food that you feed the parents. A lot of people get fry food but i think thats a waste. I have breed many species with much success doing it like this. If your going to keep the fry or grow them out i would keep them with the parents until there at least 1/4 of an inch. Then you can move them to a grow out tank where they should start to grow more quickly and they will eat some of the smaller fish and you should have a 30-50 nice inch long fish to sell or feed. Leaving the fry in the tank too long (over an inch) could cause the parents to fight as the female will try to protect them and the male will try to clear the area for more breeding. Most lfs wont take convicts because of how much they breed.

Have fun with them.

rokbro

Thanks for the info! About how long before the fry become free swimming/grow to 1/4 inch? They hatched Monday afternoon and I haven't seen them since the female moved them into the "nest".

Gump

About 3 days in the pile of fry phase, then they will hop around for another 3 days or so. So after about a week of hatching they should start to attempt to swim and after 10 days they should be forming a little school and putting around with the mother.

Growth really depends on water quality, food availability and quality, and genes but after 3.5-4 weeks they should be around there if not bigger.

rokbro

Great! Thanks again!!!

beaglekjs

you are on your way to alot more fish the same thing happened to me and they had 3 more batches. I just took 48 convicts to the pet store and have more on the way