Convict breeding

Okay, so what are the best conditions for breeding and is there anything I
can do to promote it? Thanks.

Convicts are some of the easiest fish to breed. The running joke is that you
can breed Convicts in a box of damp newspaper. Well, not quite ....

You need an adult male, an adult female, some food, and a container of water
with no other fish in it. Convicts are so agressive that when breeding they
can injure or kill fish much larger than themselves. A 10 gallon aquarium
might do, but 20 gallons or more is better.

Other than the agression problem, they do well at pH 6.3 to 7.5 , soft to
moderately hard water, 74 to 82 F . It helps to seperate the adults for a
few weeks and fatten them up with lots of live or frozen foods, but it's not
really required.

They usually lay their eggs on a smooth rock. Flower pots or other smooth
surfaces will do. The eggs hatch in about 3-5 days, after which the adults
move the fry to small pits dug in the gravel. The parents take great care of
the fry for several weeks.

Glad to help;
Keith J.

"Myles Mansell" wrote in message
news:%xlnb.200315$9l5.41164@pd7tw2no...
Okay, so what are the best conditions for breeding and is there anything I
can do to promote it? Thanks.




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They say "just add water". My convicts have laid eggs and and got to the
free swimming fry stage 3 times, but fry seem to disappear after a few days.
Parents are young, and in 20 gallons of soft water. Only tankmate is a
borneo sucker.

Leong


"OGRE" wrote in message
...
Convicts are some of the easiest fish to breed. The running joke is that
you
can breed Convicts in a box of damp newspaper. Well, not quite ....

You need an adult male, an adult female, some food, and a container of
water
with no other fish in it. Convicts are so agressive that when breeding
they
can injure or kill fish much larger than themselves. A 10 gallon aquarium
might do, but 20 gallons or more is better.

Other than the agression problem, they do well at pH 6.3 to 7.5 , soft to
moderately hard water, 74 to 82 F . It helps to seperate the adults for a
few weeks and fatten them up with lots of live or frozen foods, but it's
not
really required.

They usually lay their eggs on a smooth rock. Flower pots or other smooth
surfaces will do. The eggs hatch in about 3-5 days, after which the adults
move the fry to small pits dug in the gravel. The parents take great care
of
the fry for several weeks.

Glad to help;
Keith J.

"Myles Mansell" wrote in message
news:%xlnb.200315$9l5.41164@pd7tw2no...
Okay, so what are the best conditions for breeding and is there anything
I
can do to promote it? Thanks.




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Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.532 / Virus Database: 326 - Release Date: 10/27/2003

I've heard that if you raise your aquarium temperature to about 79-82 it
will induce breeding. Probably something to do with the temperature of
their natural waters at the time of year that they start breeding.

I've heard that if you raise your water temp to about 79-82 it will induce
breeding. Something to do with the temp of their natural waters at the time
of year that they breed.

Sorry for the repost, it was my first time posting to a news group.

The old joke is that convicts will even spawn in a box of damp newspaper.
Not quite, but nearly. Convicts will spawn every month or so, assuning you
have an adult male and an adult female. Temp., pH, etc. are usually not
important. Mine used to spawn every 3-5 weeks, regardless of tank
conditions.

If you are having trouble, try seperating them for a week or so, feed them
live or frozen foods, do water changes, raise the temp to 80, and
re-introduce them.

Usually, they spawn on flat rocks, preferrably a flat rock with a plant or a
cave over it for cover. If nothing else is handy, they will even dig a pit
and lay eggs on the bottom glass.

Wishing you luck;
Keith J.

"Matthew Orvis" wrote in message
...
I've heard that if you raise your water temp to about 79-82 it will induce
breeding. Something to do with the temp of their natural waters at the
time
of year that they breed.