my convicts spawing??

Question

first question is spawning?? im slightly confused on this one. is spawning when they go about looking for holes and digging them ect like nesting??? secondly what age can they lay eggs from or what size?? third is how long does it take to lay eggs from the time she meets her man to the egg laying?? i have 6 convicts 2 of them one boy one girl have been swimming together and chasing all others away,also digging lots of holes and she lays on the sand and kinda shakes her body.whats going on hear?? she has a red belly so does all the other famales,she about 2inc long the boy is about 3 half inches ,any info will be great,thanks

Answer 1

WHat you are describing is indeed pre spawning behavior. Generally speaking, once two of them pair off, it's only a matter of days until they lay eggs. They can pair off as small as about 1.5 -2", so your's a just the right age/size to get started.

The shaking and moving above the sand it her way of fanning off the area to clean it, totally normal. Here's a website with some additional information on breeding convicts.

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile58.html

Hope that helps

MM

Answer 2

Two of your convicts appear to have paired up,you will probably have to remove the others unless you have an extremely large tank as the two that have fry will become very aggressive as they try to protect the young.Convicts are very good parents who will raise the young and defend them against other fish.Here is web site with more information on breeding convicts.
http://www.cichlidresearch.com/simpleaquarium.html