Convict population control

[Wendell]

My tank (24 gallon) started innocently enough; two electric yellow
juveniles, two blood parrots, two convicts. Flash forward four years,
having bought no fish, I have a blood parrot and about 300 convicts.
(not literally, but... ;) And they _keep breeding_. No fish store
around here wants any more of them; I've pawned off what I could, but
now when they see me coming they flip the sign to say "Closed" and
lock the door. I can't (student $ situation) to expand the tank,
don't have room to set up more tanks, and feel really bad about
flushing them, but it's getting to where it's not fair for the other
fish.

Is there anything I can introduce into the tank that might enable some
population control? A small shark (with or without a frickin' laser
on its head) with an affinity for small convicts? A "Honey, I shrunk
my husband"-sized fish hunter from Arkansas, with a speargun and a
People Eating Tasty Animals t-shirt? (I kid! I kid! I'm from the
Ozarks...)

In years past, the fry population would dwindle more or less
overnight, and coincidentally, the remaining blood parrot would...
grow... (He's about the size of a Mini Cooper S). But lately he/she
seems to be content to just lurk "behind" a rock with a remote
control, a six-pack of fish beer (they drink mostly Kirin), and a bowl
full of blood worms, watching the golf channel on our digital cable.

So, unchecked, there's now... a lot of them. We also have two cats,
who have noted the trend with disgust. "There they go again...
Bloody convicts, filling the tank with bloody children they can't
afford to bloody feed."

Sadly, I can't interest the cats in aquatic feasting, either.
(They're 13, and a lot more concerned with visiting, in a low-key
manner, with the neighborhood cats on sunny days. Sadly, I live in
Souther California, where it last rained about 6 months - and three or
four sets of fry - ago...

[RedForeman ©®]

|| Sadly, I can't interest the cats in aquatic feasting, either.
|| (They're 13, and a lot more concerned with visiting, in a low-key
|| manner, with the neighborhood cats on sunny days. Sadly, I live in
|| Souther California, where it last rained about 6 months - and three
|| or four sets of fry - ago...

Solution #1 - get a bigger tank, a convict tank...
#2 - Get a baby Red Devil, and then you'll have 1 red devil, a very fat red
devil too..

--
| RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!!
| ==========================
| 2003 TRX450ES
| 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
| '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
| ==========================
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| for any questions you may have....
| www.gmail.com

[skozzy]

Advertise them for free, tell us where you are, there might be someone that
wants some.


"Wendell" > wrote in message
om...
> My tank (24 gallon) started innocently enough; two electric yellow
> juveniles, two blood parrots, two convicts. Flash forward four years,
> having bought no fish, I have a blood parrot and about 300 convicts.
> (not literally, but... ;) And they _keep breeding_. No fish store
> around here wants any more of them; I've pawned off what I could, but
> now when they see me coming they flip the sign to say "Closed" and
> lock the door. I can't (student $ situation) to expand the tank,
> don't have room to set up more tanks, and feel really bad about
> flushing them, but it's getting to where it's not fair for the other
> fish.
>
> Is there anything I can introduce into the tank that might enable some
> population control? A small shark (with or without a frickin' laser
> on its head) with an affinity for small convicts? A "Honey, I shrunk
> my husband"-sized fish hunter from Arkansas, with a speargun and a
> People Eating Tasty Animals t-shirt? (I kid! I kid! I'm from the
> Ozarks...)
>
> In years past, the fry population would dwindle more or less
> overnight, and coincidentally, the remaining blood parrot would...
> grow... (He's about the size of a Mini Cooper S). But lately he/she
> seems to be content to just lurk "behind" a rock with a remote
> control, a six-pack of fish beer (they drink mostly Kirin), and a bowl
> full of blood worms, watching the golf channel on our digital cable.
>
> So, unchecked, there's now... a lot of them. We also have two cats,
> who have noted the trend with disgust. "There they go again...
> Bloody convicts, filling the tank with bloody children they can't
> afford to bloody feed."
>
> Sadly, I can't interest the cats in aquatic feasting, either.
> (They're 13, and a lot more concerned with visiting, in a low-key
> manner, with the neighborhood cats on sunny days. Sadly, I live in
> Souther California, where it last rained about 6 months - and three or
> four sets of fry - ago...

[jk]

"Wendell" > wrote in message
om...
> My tank (24 gallon) started innocently enough; two electric yellow
> juveniles, two blood parrots, two convicts. Flash forward four years,
> having bought no fish, I have a blood parrot and about 300 convicts.
> (not literally, but... ;) And they _keep breeding_. No fish store
> around here wants any more of them; I've pawned off what I could, but
> now when they see me coming they flip the sign to say "Closed" and
> lock the door. I can't (student $ situation) to expand the tank,
> don't have room to set up more tanks, and feel really bad about
> flushing them, but it's getting to where it's not fair for the other
> fish.
>
> Is there anything I can introduce into the tank that might enable some
> population control? A small shark (with or without a frickin' laser
> on its head) with an affinity for small convicts? A "Honey, I shrunk
> my husband"-sized fish hunter from Arkansas, with a speargun and a
> People Eating Tasty Animals t-shirt? (I kid! I kid! I'm from the
> Ozarks...)
>
> In years past, the fry population would dwindle more or less
> overnight, and coincidentally, the remaining blood parrot would...
> grow... (He's about the size of a Mini Cooper S). But lately he/she
> seems to be content to just lurk "behind" a rock with a remote
> control, a six-pack of fish beer (they drink mostly Kirin), and a bowl
> full of blood worms, watching the golf channel on our digital cable.
>
> So, unchecked, there's now... a lot of them. We also have two cats,
> who have noted the trend with disgust. "There they go again...
> Bloody convicts, filling the tank with bloody children they can't
> afford to bloody feed."
>
> Sadly, I can't interest the cats in aquatic feasting, either.
> (They're 13, and a lot more concerned with visiting, in a low-key
> manner, with the neighborhood cats on sunny days. Sadly, I live in
> Souther California, where it last rained about 6 months - and three or
> four sets of fry - ago...


When in a similar situation I try selective breeding. Pick out a
characteristic you like in a few of the fry, and toss the rest. Try to come
up with a surerior fish! It kind of relieves your conscious of willy-nilly
flushing.

--
JK Sinrod
Sinrod Stained Glass Studios
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

[Leong Goh]

"Wendell" > wrote in message
om...
> My tank (24 gallon) started innocently enough; two electric yellow
> juveniles, two blood parrots, two convicts. Flash forward four years,
> having bought no fish, I have a blood parrot and about 300 convicts.
> (not literally, but... ;) And they _keep breeding_. No fish store
> around here wants any more of them; I've pawned off what I could, but
> now when they see me coming they flip the sign to say "Closed" and
> lock the door. I can't (student $ situation) to expand the tank,
> don't have room to set up more tanks, and feel really bad about
> flushing them, but it's getting to where it's not fair for the other
> fish.
>
> Is there anything I can introduce into the tank that might enable some
> population control? A small shark (with or without a frickin' laser
> on its head) with an affinity for small convicts? A "Honey, I shrunk
> my husband"-sized fish hunter from Arkansas, with a speargun and a
> People Eating Tasty Animals t-shirt? (I kid! I kid! I'm from the
> Ozarks...)
>
> In years past, the fry population would dwindle more or less
> overnight, and coincidentally, the remaining blood parrot would...
> grow... (He's about the size of a Mini Cooper S). But lately he/she
> seems to be content to just lurk "behind" a rock with a remote
> control, a six-pack of fish beer (they drink mostly Kirin), and a bowl
> full of blood worms, watching the golf channel on our digital cable.
>
> So, unchecked, there's now... a lot of them. We also have two cats,
> who have noted the trend with disgust. "There they go again...
> Bloody convicts, filling the tank with bloody children they can't
> afford to bloody feed."
>
> Sadly, I can't interest the cats in aquatic feasting, either.
> (They're 13, and a lot more concerned with visiting, in a low-key
> manner, with the neighborhood cats on sunny days. Sadly, I live in
> Souther California, where it last rained about 6 months - and three or
> four sets of fry - ago...

I hope you get some good solutions. My LFS just took 38 from my convict
tank. My original pair now live in a 500l tank with green terrors, male
texas, fast growing oscar, 3 firemouths and a blue acara. The convicts rule
the tank, and 4 of the latest batch of fry have survived to 10mm, so putting
them into this tank may not have worked either!!

Leong

[Limnophile]

Years ago, I tried feeding excess convict fry to a group of S.natteri
"red-belly piranha".

Don't bother.

The convicts are so good at hiding / retreating that they survive long
enough to grow, and eventually harass the piranha to death.

YMMV, but I doubt it.

Limnophile

[RedForeman ©®]

|| Sadly, I can't interest the cats in aquatic feasting, either.
|| (They're 13, and a lot more concerned with visiting, in a low-key
|| manner, with the neighborhood cats on sunny days. Sadly, I live in
|| Souther California, where it last rained about 6 months - and three
|| or four sets of fry - ago...

I'll take some if you really wanna ship 'em....

--
| RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!!
| ==========================
| 2003 TRX450ES
| 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
| '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
| ==========================
| ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø
| ><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸. ><((((º> ·´¯`·. , .·´¯`·.. ><((((º>
| for any questions you may have....
| www.gmail.com

[blove]

probably a bad idea but you never know, why not put a couple pimelodus
pictus in the tank, they are fast so they might be able to dodge the adults
and they will eat any fry they come across, they also get 6-8 inches so they
can handle slightly larger fry. i have a couple in my molly tank and they
are doing wonderfully at keeping the fry population down, i call them vaccum
cleaners on speed.


"Wendell" > wrote in message
om...
> My tank (24 gallon) started innocently enough; two electric yellow
> juveniles, two blood parrots, two convicts. Flash forward four years,
> having bought no fish, I have a blood parrot and about 300 convicts.
> (not literally, but... ;) And they _keep breeding_. No fish store
> around here wants any more of them; I've pawned off what I could, but
> now when they see me coming they flip the sign to say "Closed" and
> lock the door. I can't (student $ situation) to expand the tank,
> don't have room to set up more tanks, and feel really bad about
> flushing them, but it's getting to where it's not fair for the other
> fish.
>
> Is there anything I can introduce into the tank that might enable some
> population control? A small shark (with or without a frickin' laser
> on its head) with an affinity for small convicts? A "Honey, I shrunk
> my husband"-sized fish hunter from Arkansas, with a speargun and a
> People Eating Tasty Animals t-shirt? (I kid! I kid! I'm from the
> Ozarks...)
>
> In years past, the fry population would dwindle more or less
> overnight, and coincidentally, the remaining blood parrot would...
> grow... (He's about the size of a Mini Cooper S). But lately he/she
> seems to be content to just lurk "behind" a rock with a remote
> control, a six-pack of fish beer (they drink mostly Kirin), and a bowl
> full of blood worms, watching the golf channel on our digital cable.
>
> So, unchecked, there's now... a lot of them. We also have two cats,
> who have noted the trend with disgust. "There they go again...
> Bloody convicts, filling the tank with bloody children they can't
> afford to bloody feed."
>
> Sadly, I can't interest the cats in aquatic feasting, either.
> (They're 13, and a lot more concerned with visiting, in a low-key
> manner, with the neighborhood cats on sunny days. Sadly, I live in
> Souther California, where it last rained about 6 months - and three or
> four sets of fry - ago...

[Kelly]

just offer em up as feeders when they are still small, should get good
takers

[Phil]

Look around for a local aquarium or cichlid society
someone will have a large predator who'll appreciate clean feeders.
Mangrove jack keepers seem to like em... do they have them over there?

[Charles]

"Wendell" > wrote in message
om...
> My tank (24 gallon) started innocently enough; two electric yellow
> juveniles, two blood parrots, two convicts. Flash forward four years,
> having bought no fish, I have a blood parrot and about 300 convicts.
> (not literally, but... ;) And they _keep breeding_. No fish store
> around here wants any more of them; I've pawned off what I could, but
> now when they see me coming they flip the sign to say "Closed" and
> lock the door. I can't (student $ situation) to expand the tank,
> don't have room to set up more tanks, and feel really bad about
> flushing them, but it's getting to where it's not fair for the other
> fish.
>
> Is there anything I can introduce into the tank that might enable some
> population control? A small shark (with or without a frickin' laser
> on its head) with an affinity for small convicts? A "Honey, I shrunk
> my husband"-sized fish hunter from Arkansas, with a speargun and a
> People Eating Tasty Animals t-shirt? (I kid! I kid! I'm from the
> Ozarks...)
>
> In years past, the fry population would dwindle more or less
> overnight, and coincidentally, the remaining blood parrot would...
> grow... (He's about the size of a Mini Cooper S). But lately he/she
> seems to be content to just lurk "behind" a rock with a remote
> control, a six-pack of fish beer (they drink mostly Kirin), and a bowl
> full of blood worms, watching the golf channel on our digital cable.
>
> So, unchecked, there's now... a lot of them. We also have two cats,
> who have noted the trend with disgust. "There they go again...
> Bloody convicts, filling the tank with bloody children they can't
> afford to bloody feed."
>
> Sadly, I can't interest the cats in aquatic feasting, either.
> (They're 13, and a lot more concerned with visiting, in a low-key
> manner, with the neighborhood cats on sunny days. Sadly, I live in
> Souther California, where it last rained about 6 months - and three or
> four sets of fry - ago..

I did this a few years back,I was in that same situation,so I
took my jd's when they got big enough and I let them go in
a pond near my house,you know I went fishing a while
after that and caught one of them,I was surprised as hell
by that.

[Limnophile]

"Charles" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Wendell" > wrote in message
> om...
<snip>

> I did this a few years back,I was in that same situation,so I
> took my jd's when they got big enough and I let them go in
> a pond near my house,you know I went fishing a while
> after that and caught one of them,I was surprised as hell
> by that.
>

Releasing exotic species to the wild can cause all kinds of environmental
damage, and in most civilized countries it's illegal.

A lot of people think things like "just a couple of new fish can't do much
harm in that huge lake."
Around half a century ago some people thought the same thing about releasing
some Nile Perch into Lake Victoria. Within a decade, the Nile Perch caused
the extinction of well over 1,000 species that were endemic to the lake.

Over a thousand species gone forever, because a couple of guys dumped a few
fish.

It may seem like only a small chance of doing harm, but extinction is
FOREVER.

Think about it....
Limnophile