BLACK CONVICTS CAN YOU HELP ME?

i was researching jaguar cichlid the other day on the internet, cuz i wanted to buy one, and it was mentioned that black convicts cichlids make good tank mates for them cuz they're small but they can hold their own. i didn't really think much of it and continued on with my research. yesterday i was at the fishstore gettin some food for my 10" Osacar "King" and my 8" Venustus "Wally" and i noticed a sign on a tank at the back reading, "Black Convict Cichlids 4 for $5" and the name popped out at me... so i ended up buying 4... they're an inch big each and in a 30 gallon tank... HOW BIG DO THEY NEED TO BE BEFORE YOU CAN REALLY TELL THEM APART BETWEEN THE SEXES? I THINK I HAVE 3 FEMALES AND A MALE, BUT THE ONE I THINK IS THE MALE LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE FEMALES EXCEPT FOR IT DOESN'T HAVE THE ORANGE SPOTS NEAR THE BELLY? I WENT TO THE FISH STORE TO SEE IF I COULD SEE AN OBVIOUS DIFFERENCE IN ANY OF THEM THERE, AND THE SAME THING. THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE BREEDER KEPT ALL THE MALES AND ONLY SOLD THE FEMALES. THE STORE OWNER THOUGHT THEY MUST BE MIXED, HE HAD BETWEEN 50 - 70 LEFT. DOES ANYBODY KNOW ANYTHING MORE ABOUT THIS???

 

I don't have a whole lot of experience with young convicts, but if you're seeing orange on some then the one w/o orange is probably the male.

Also, what size tank do you have? You're talking about a bunch of large/aggressive fish that are going to need a pretty large tank. Are you planning on keeping the jag & cons with the oscar & venustus (btw venustus really aren't all that compatible with new world cichlids)? If you plan on doing that, I wouldn't try it in anything smaller than a 250 gallon and even then you may run into problems if the cons breed (breeding cons have been known to kill fish 3x their size).

And even if you just wanted to keep the jag with the 5 cons (again, beware if the cons breed), you're going to need at least a 150 gallon. Or if you just keep the jag with 1 - 2 cons you'll need at least a 100 gallon.

-Chelle

 

don't worry about tank size

My oscar and venestus are in a 55 gallon... i kno its a bit small but i got them both small 2 years ago not really knowing too much about them. i'm no longer getting them jag cuz i got the convicts... the cons are all in a 33 gallon tank...

 

and its 4 cons not 5... looking to get a bit bigger tank for them but for now they have plenty of space in the 33 gallon... i've read other forums about people breeding convicts in a 10 gallon tank, so 33 gallons should be ample for four 1" fish for the time being

 

RE: convicts, 33gallons is plenty

RE: convicts, 33gallons is plenty

for 4

i notice alot more females than males in hatches

orange on the belly means female

I highly recommend against added the cons to the oscar tank

cons are tough fish, but if your oscar is 10" they are food to him

(i know because i have many tanks with convicts and also an oscar tank, unless u put alot of cons in at the same time, and some would def get eaten right away, remember the 55 is your oscars territory, it can be different if the fish are introduced at a young age, but at 10" heheheh)

 

Umm, I do not believe 33 gal for 4 cons is near sufficient. If I remember right you need 10-15 gal per fish at the lowest as they get 5" in length.