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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Sexing Convicts?
Is it possible to sex Convicts? I have 4 that are about 1-2 inchs long, but I'll only be keeping 2 of them if they pair. I just want to be sure I don't have 4 of the same sex! | 
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Moderator
| yes..the fems will have orange/red on their bellys  | 
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Well when they get old enough the female has a red belly, Also I've heard that you can sex convicts using their dorsal fin..If it's long and pointed it's male if it's shorter and rounded it's female. I'm sure someone else will come along and give you more ideas..Shawnie has convicts and knows allot about them, I'm sure she'll know.  by Shawnie...  | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I'll try and get some pics if they'll stay still long enough! | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Moderator
| the only sure way is the bellys...I have fems and males with pointed dorsals...so thought I was safe with my pink convict LOL ...I put her with my male, thinking she was a he, and I was so wrong.....id gladly share some pics nick for you to see if you would like...just dont wanna hijack ya | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| That'd be great Shawnie, thanks! | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| How big/old do they have to be before they get their pink/orange bellies  | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Goody  That'd be great Shawnie, thanks! | DSC01054.jpg heres my pink female..now with the pinks, they only show the orange/red when in breeding mode because of their light coloring...but you can see her finnage and deffinately are pointed, but trust me, its a girlie!! (shes had 5 batches of babies)
male striped boy daddy.JPG
and female striped girlie (always has the red even when not in breed mode) momma.jpg
Hope that helps...and anywhere from 1 1/2 inch to 2 inches, they can breed | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Thanks Shawnie! Hard to tell at the moment as they're still really small! I've got a bit of a dilemma with them at the moment. They're bullying the Platys in the 20gal at the moment, but I daren't risk them with the Oscar yet. The Jewels and Acara are fine with him, but they're a bit bigger. He could eat the Convicts in 1 gulp! And I really don't have anywhere else to put them until they're bigger. And the bigger they get the more the Platys will suffer........... | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Moderator
| yes nick the platys will be a victim  can you set up a plastic container for the platies for now? something to just give them a break? with plenty of hiding spots and plants, believe it or not the cons can survive with the oscar...they are fast critters and oscars arent quick enough to get them usually...but of course, thats not a garruntee...I had my babies in with the oscars and they never could catch them ...or maybe even some kind of plastic mesh or divider with the platies for the time being would help...
if you have an LED light, or even a bright flashlight, you can sometimes hold it on the bellys of the cons and see the red before it appears.... | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Yeah I need to do something. Usually I won't buy fish until they're big enough to go into their respective tanks, but I had no choice with the Convicts, as I couldn't get any anywhere, and then was offered 4 for $20. Another option is putting them with the Kribs, who are twice the Convicts size, but are also spawning at the moment........... | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Moderator
| my cons were 3inches and were in the tank with 10 inch ocars..they are fast, and can hold their own...I cant believe how much you pay for fish nick....Im wondering how long shipping fish from the us to you would take? do you know? because here, you would pay $2 for an adult con...not that you want anymore im just saying as an example.... | |
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February 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Here is another male. | |
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February 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Ok, I've rescaped slightly with some caves and put the biggest Convict in the 90gal. He's so tiny compared to the other fish and the Oscar could easily eat him in one bite! But he's ok so far, if the Oscar chases him he hides in the caves. If he does ok and the Oscar gets used to him I'll put the others in. The Oscar is not bothering the Acara who I added this morning, but he's twice the size of the Convicts. | |
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February 22nd, 2009
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| | Moderator
| looks great~!! and your red boy is getting big...love his markings as he gets older .... | |
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February 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| I agree with the member who said your platys are gonna be victims....IMO,Convicts together get really aggressive, seperated they seem to be a sociable fish...........I had a 4 inch female in a community tank with gouramis, rainbows, and few varieties of barbs, and the convict never chased anyone and she was the biggest fish in the tank!.......When breed her a few years ago, i needed to go somewhere with the fry, so i fed them to my Jack Dempsey, or so i thought........The fry where to quick fro the Dempsey and it ended up 3 of the fry grew to an 1 1/2 inches and started to beat up and pick on the dempsey........The dempsey was 8 inches at that time.......When i bought my breeding pair, the orange was already prevelent ..........The ones i see at various stores are already showing orange bellies........Maybe you just have all males?........I agree with the members who said about the dorsal fin comment.......My 4 inch female's dorsal fin is long and pointed, like what a males fin should look like, IMO i dont think thats a sure fire way to sex them.......The orange-pinkish belly is the best way | |
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February 23rd, 2009
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
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February 23rd, 2009
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| | Moderator
| welcome to fishlore wilfred!!
great link! love the pics!! but females have pointed dorsal fins also ...so dont rely on that to sex them ... | |
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