Convict Cichlids
Contents:
- [F, Cichlid] Convict/Oscar/Managuese Info Responses
by lisag2112-at-aol.com (LisaG2112) (1 Apr 1995)
- BABY CONVICTS
by voneltz/matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Bob Eltze) (14 Apr 1992)
by lisag2112-at-aol.com (LisaG2112)
Date: 1 Apr 1995
Newsgroup: alt.aquaria
This is a compilation of responses to some questions I posed on Convicts
and C. Managuese. Again, thank you all for your help. I find this to be
one of the best, interesting, and professional news groups on the net. I
did not include the authors names as I received over twenty E-mails on
these questions, and several persons provided the same information.
Convict Question: I asked if anybody had noticed two different strands of
Convicts floating around. I currently have eight of them, and four are
significantly larger than the other four. The larger four have darker
tones on both black and white stripes. I had a friend who has a similar
situation with his Convicts. We jokingly refer to the larger strand as
Mutant Ninja Convicts because of the size difference and most of the fish
stores seem to only have the smaller strand.
Convict Responses: Two persons responded that they also noticed a size
difference in their Convicts. Several people responded that we probably
had 'Albino Convicts', but I am familiar with them and they are not. One
response indicated that the Convicts probably are the same strand but that
certain tank conditions can cause certain fish to give off a chemical to
inhibit their growth.
Convict/Oscar Clarification: I received several responses to a re-post on
my opinion on mixing Oscars and Convicts. I responded that I did not feel
this was a good ideal because if they are same size at the time the Oscars
would probably be ripped apart by the Convicts, and that overall Oscars
are pretty passive compared to Convicts. A lot of folks seemed to take
this as if I was saying Oscars are wimps. I apologize if I offended any
Oscar owners. I posted this because of my own stupidity when I mixed
Tiger Oscars and Convicts in a 120 gallon tank. The Oscars were slightly
larger than the Convicts, but were attacked continuously by them. Net
result, one Tiger dead and one returned to the pet shop. I was trying to
pass on a lesson learned, and I am by no means a Oscar expert. Sorry if
I gave out bad advice.
Managuese Questions: I asked several questions on Managuese including
where they come from, and some help on why the eggs aren't hatching. The
responses came from several individuals:
Managuese Answers:
Name and Location:
>Cichlasoma managuensa is their scientific name.
>They come from Central America, and are named after the city of >Managua
in Nicaragua.
On why the eggs are not hatching:
>Unusual. The male could be infertile, a condition that can be created by
>certain fish medications. Alternatively..you could have two females.
>Have you observed the spawning? Is the same one (and only one) fish
>laying the eggs?
Authors Observation: I would guess they are a male and female. Just
prior to laying eggs they tend to fight and clutch each others mouths for
hours on end. After laying eggs both are protective of them. I don't
know how to tell a male and female apart just on appearance, so I am
guessing here. Haven't needed any medication in the tank, but who knows
what the fish store did to them.
Additional Info:
>As far as why the eggs don't hatch--Turn it up! My severum eggs hatched
>between 80-85 degrees. Yes, five degrees does make a difference.
I'll give it a try!
Last Info:
Several responses indicated that I should read or purchase; Wayne S.
Leibel's "The Fishkeeper's Guide to Central American cichlids. They say
this is a excellent source for information.
Anybody with additional responses or info can send me E-mail or repost. I
always enjoy hearing from you. Again thank you all for your help in
these subjects.
V/R,
Lisa (LisaG2112-at-aol.com)
by voneltz/matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Bob Eltze)
Date: 14 Apr 1992
Newsgroup: alt.aquaria
jjz34245-at-uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Wendell Gee) writes:
>lso-at-gnv.ifas.ufl.edu writes:
>>How do I take care of baby Convicts?
>>I have both eggs and very young fry from different parents in a 45 gal
>>community tank.
>I'm not sure how it will work out with more than one pair of parents though...
I once had two pairs of parents in a 20L. Each pair kept a swarm of young on
their end of the tank. At night the fry would scatter about the bottom of the
tank. In the morning the parents would go around and pick up the fry to put
them back into a school. The funny thing was that the size of the schools
would vary every day. One day the school on the left would be large and the
school on the right would be small or vice versa.
I wouldn't have thought that fish as aggressive as convicts would tolerate fry
that weren't their own but these parents would protect whatever fry were on
their side of the tank in the morning and whatever fry they could grab out of
the disputed region in the middle.
The four adults and the fry were the only fish in the tank and all the fry
were about the same age (they all hatched within a period of a week).
--
Robert Eltze
voneltz-at-matt.ksu.ksu.edu
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