Couple questions about Convicts

1. Can a 2 inch Convict live with a 6 inch blood parrot and two 1.5inch Clown loaches. I would also like to add some other dither fish.
Its in the 90 gallon.
2. The blood parrot will eventually be moved out in about a year and a half and I would like to add a JD but maybe not. Do you think a convict about 2 years old be able to hold up to a JD. Also will there be aggresion issues.
3. How easily do convicts breed. I heard its pretty easy. is that true.
Thanks

 

1. I don't think the blood parrot will be able to out right eat the con, but the con might pick on the BP (hit or miss depending on individual personality) and some BP's can be fairly aggressive so it could got the other way. There's also a chance it could pick on the loaches, but again, it will depend on the individual personality of the con. If you try it, I'd make sure there's places for the loaches to hide.

2. From what I've been told (my con was already almost full grown when I got him), cons should be a decent size (4" - 5" for a male) in a couple years. So yes, in theory, it should be okay.

3. Just add water. LOL. Seriously, though, they breed like rabbits and it's generally really difficult to get rid of the fry (I'm probably crazy for eventually wanting to get mine a girlfriend). They also tend to get very aggressive when breeding (they've been known to kill other cichlids 3x their size). Also, there's a slight chance the con & BP could breed (resulting in a jellybean parrot).

-Chelle

 

What is the best way to vent a blood parrot. I was told by the LFS that the BP was female but i want to make sure of that.
I know that the vent is larger than the anus on the female and the vent is the same size as the anus on the mlae.
Any tips would be good.
I really want a female Con and a female JD eventually. It all depends on what the sex of the blood parot is. If the BP is female I will go ahead and get a female Con to go into the 90 Gallon.

 

One more question.
Is it true that you can use play sand as a substrate.
Some websites say its a good substrate, others say its to fine.
Can i use it in the 90 gallon.

 

Yes, play sand is fine, just make sure to rinse it really well before you put it in.

As for sexing, according to these sites:
http://www.petfish.net/articles/Cichlid ... parrot.php
http://www.geocities.com/parrotcichlid/breeding.html

Males have pointed fins. However, some females will too. But other females will have rounded fins and males almost never have rounded fins. So if your fish has rounded fins, chances are it's female. If it has pointed fins, it's probably a male, but there is also a chance it could be a female. (if that makes any sense).

With venting, I'm not sure how obvious the oO oo difference is on BP's.

But even if your BP is male, I think the chances of him breeding with a female con are pretty slim since many BP's are sterile. And if they do breed and you don't want to deal with fry, you could always remove the eggs.

Also, since female cons & JD's get smaller than the males (4" for cons, & 7" for JDs), I think that in terms of bioload, the 3 fish should be okay in the 90.

-Chelle

 

The blood parrot is coming out before the JD goes in. I would like to put dither fish in instead of the blood parrot.
Will aggression be less with the JD and Con (Both Female) instead of 2 Jds.

 

Probably, since females tend to be a big less aggressive than males.

Oh, and for dithers, if you don't want to do silver dollars, you could maybe try some giant danios (thinking about trying some myself). They're a bit more streamline than silver dollars, but I think that when full grown, they'd still be too big for either a con or JD to outright eat. I think they're a little faster, too.

-Chelle

 

How many silver dollars could fit in with the Con and JD.

 

Probably around 5 or so.

-Chelle

 

I just read that JDs and Cons are messy eaters.
Do you think i should have a couple bottom feeders to keep the tank a bit more clean.
We still want Silver Dollars.

 

Silver dollars should be able to catch most of the uneaten food.

Heck, when I feed my oscar, the con follows her around and eats all her scraps (together they make the perfect shrimp eating machine. )

-Chelle