Iv had my convicts in a small temp tank and today im going to put them into their own tank. will it be ok to put them in at same time or should i do the female 1st for a day or 2 then put in the male. The female is pretty smaller than the male. there is lots of places for her to hide.
2007-07-19 02:57:03 · 7 answers · asked by Pete 4 in Pets ➔ Fish
Putting them into the new tank at the same time is the way it should always be done with any cichlids, however, convicts are cichlids that typically have no problems with males and females getting along. I am surprised they did not start breeding in the temporary tank. The only problems that would arise would be if you had two males.
Females are usually smaller than the males. I have a pair of pink convicts that just spawned and the male is at least twice as big as the female. They have a batch of fry that are about a week old now and are taking very good care of them. When I feed the fry, the parents attack the turkey baster that I use to squirt the fry food into the general area of the swarm.
I am feeding Hikari "First Bites" for egglayers and frozen baby brine shrimp. Mix with tank water in a small cup and use the turkey baster (a new one) to suck it up and squirt it gently over the fry.
If you do indeed have a male and female (the female has orange on her sides, the male does not), they will start a family shortly. Their breeding behavior is very interesting and they are very good parents. They will guard the eggs and take care of the fry after they hatch. They do not eat their offspring unless and until they spawn again and have another batch of eggs and/or fry to protect. At that point, they will kill or eat the first group believing them to be a danger to the new batch.
2007-07-19 03:46:25 · answer #1 · answered by 8 In the corner 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
introduce them at the same time. if they are both in the temporary holding tank together with no problems then it is unlikely that the male will attach her just because they have gone into a different tank. put them in, let them settle, and they will breed quicker that way rather than having to wait to introduce them to each other again. besides the male will be more interested in exploring this new tank than to attack the female
2007-07-19 03:11:17 · answer #2 · answered by animallovinggirlie 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well with lots of hiding places your convicts will be fine, and and adding them at the same time is no problem, just put them in and i don't think you will have a problem.
Good Luck
2N!$H
2007-07-19 03:16:31 · answer #3 · answered by Tunish305 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Adding them at the same time should be no problem at all. Even if she is a bit smaller, the hiding places will give her time to get a territory as he explores options.
MM
2007-07-19 03:13:30 · answer #4 · answered by magicman116 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would put them in at the same time. if you put one in before the other it might feel like it`s being threatened and bite at the newly added fish.
2007-07-19 03:03:22 · answer #5 · answered by Brenda T 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
they can go in at the same time, just make sure they have an opportunity to adjust to any temp changes
2007-07-20 05:27:51 · answer #6 · answered by Dan the man 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would put them all in at the same time.
If you wait after putting one fish in, they will become more aggressive and territorial.
2007-07-19 06:16:10 · answer #7 · answered by pnoiz1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋