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Convict cichlids in a C/S American cichlid comunity questions

2K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Fishin Pole 
#1 ·
I picked up two INCREDIBLE convicts yesterday. I would post pictures if I had a camera, but alas, only a phone and that wouldn't do them any justice.

They look very much like a female and male to me, going by fin extensions. They do both have orange on their tummy, though one is much less colorful than the other.

I'm thinking about picking up a few more.

The two have integrated into the community excellently. The entire community are much smaller in size than my jack dempsey. He's about 7 inches and everyone else tops at about 3.

My tanks only about 4 foot, but my tank looks very much under stocked and my filtration and aeration has certainly nowhere near topping out.



To cut a long story short. If I get a big convict, similar sized to my dempsey, is there any way to tell what the outcome might be? Especially assuming the convicts start breeding (which we all know they will..).
 
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#2 ·
Well from looking at your profile and the tank you have (Juwel Rekford 120), your already overstocked with some very aggressive fish......Instead of adding fish, you need to purchase a larger tank or rehome some of your fish.........The Rekford 120 IS NOT 120 gallon tank like stated in your profile, its a 120 liters, which converts to 31 gallons.....Much too small for all those fish
 
#5 ·
Unless you had some fish deaths since you posted your aquarium stats, BOTH your tanks are overstocked........A 7 inch Dempsey, 2 Texas Cichlids and a Firemouth in the 120 Liter is overstocked and with the mix of fish you have, your asking for major aggression issues........The convicts in the 60, now with fry and other fish is gonna end in the deaths of your danios..........Your gonna need another tank, a larger tank.........Convict fry will grow at an alarming rate and push the bio-load thru the roof.........
 
#6 ·
There are no aggression issues, not even slightly and there never have been. It's not over stocked. All the fish are very healthy and have plenty of swimming space. I am aware that I will need a much larger tank down the line. Not far down it either, but it's certainly not an issue at current .

This isn't a stocking question, I have been keeping cichlids for years and years and know the limitations. I was simply asking if there is any inherent hate between jack dempseys and convicts as I have never kept the latter. I took a chance and as it turned out, neither the dempsey or convict gave a crap about one another. The convict selected a mate, then I transferred them to the breeding tank.

I appreciated all of your concerns about stocking and I'm not disregarding your opinions, just respectfully disagreeing.

I think many people on this forum are too obsessed with numbers and rules of thumb. Statistically, I know, both tanks are drastically overstocked. But they just aren't. There's no other way I can put it really..
 
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