20 Gallon Tank: new member, breeding convicts!!

cons4rbp · April 14th, 2009

hi all, this is my first post, i just recently purchased some convicts 6 to be exact, and i also got them a 20g tank and i already have a 10g tank that was running and had 2 filters on it in preparation for this.

both filters (30 HOB and DIY canister) have been cycled and are ready for the tanks (cycled them with some livebearers for a while)

so im undertaking my own convict breeding experiment, going to produce as much piranha snacks as i can hopefully.

ill put pics up after i take them i am just finishing up my stand for this, took about 45 mins to build.

just installed the last piece, the light under the second level

built this with a circular saw and a drill

so the 10g tank will be housing my small fish untill there big enough to be feeders.
it has a 10g sponge and a DIY canister filter moving about 50 GPH

the 20g is a long tank and will be the home to my already paired convicts (pics soon)
the filter is a 30g HOB and theres a marineland 550 powerhead moving 130 gph

ill get some pics of my red bellies too they are in a 55g long
emperor 400 filter
300gph powerhead
200w stealth heater

had atleast one question about the cons i cant seem to find the answer to, and that is how big do they get before they start to breed? mine are already fairly large atleast 2".

agabr123 · April 15th, 2009

hi and welcome to fishlore

i haven't kept convicts myself, but IMO you'll run into a lot of aggression problems with six in a 20 gallon. convicts are gorgeous fish but they are MEAN. you could probably keep one breeding pair in there, just one male and one female, and they'd have lots of fry for your piranhas, but IMO six will end up killing each other.

shawnie should have more info for you though, she has or has had a breeding pair of convicts

cons4rbp · April 15th, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by agabr123

hi and welcome to fishlore

i haven't kept convicts myself, but IMO you'll run into a lot of aggression problems with six in a 20 gallon. convicts are gorgeous fish but they are MEAN. you could probably keep one breeding pair in there, just one male and one female, and they'd have lots of fry for your piranhas, but IMO six will end up killing each other.

shawnie should have more info for you though, she has or has had a breeding pair of convicts

thanks i have already selected my breeding pair, the others went in to the 10g
i was surprised to see them pair up so fast, the male has been digging and cleaning the pot etc. i understand this is all spawning behavior so im hopeful for fry soon

i took some pics so ill put them up...enjoy

Nick G · April 15th, 2009

Welcome to Fishlore! 4 Convicts won't last long in a 10gal. You'll need to rehome them or get them a bigger tank asap.

cons4rbp · April 15th, 2009

theres only 3 in there, and there feeders for my piranha. the pair in the 20g are for breeding...im just gonna keep excess offspring in the 10g

Nick G · April 15th, 2009

If you want feeders why not get 2 male and 8 female guppies in your 10gal and put the fry in the 20gal until they're big enough to feed? You'll get WAY more feeders that way.

aquarist48 · April 15th, 2009

Nice set ups. Good luck!

cons4rbp · April 15th, 2009

thanks for the comments so far guys i have already went the route of the guppes and it was not worth it. i had more die than survive, they take quite a while to grow to any reasonable size too. im not expecting 3" convict feeders overnight, but i would like decent sized piranha-snacks whenever possible.

*edit* + i understand a rough guess for fry would be around 20-100 for a guppy and around 300ish for a good size convict.

at most i might just need to get a bigger tank to growout more fry.

but the piranha eat alot of other stuff, rarely ever feeders, main diet is fish fillet and shrimp and pellets, cichlid sticks and hikari carnivore pellets(cons like em too)

there already so big a guppy is like why even bother? i could see my p's eating about 20 guppies before giving up

so the top tank has the pair in it, im 99% sure i got a m/f they seem to like eachother and the male likes to dig pits and clean the inside of the pot with his belly and mouth...so hopefully soon i will see eggs, will post pictures as stuff happens

Shawnie · April 15th, 2009

as a breeder of cons, (god knows anyone can be as they are chia pets...water and feed and babies!!) it will take a good 6 months or so for the fry to be big enough to be nutritional for the piranha's ...they will barely hit an inch at that point ..but they are great feeders if you vary their diet and give them lots of vitamins and protein

..goodluck!

cons4rbp · April 15th, 2009

thanks for the info, thats good to know.

my plan so far is to let the cons have the fry till they are ready to get it on again

then to remove all the babies into the 10 and by the time they are ready to spawn again hopefully ive reduced their numbers in the 10 enough to just drop them in the 10, and have 2 age groups in there, then just take out the bigger ones for feeders.

1 problem i might have is severe overcrowding, i might need a 20g for the babies as well, and im gonna add a HOB to the 10g tank in addition to my diy canister(which i might convert to 100% bio) then let the hob do mechanical, hopefully that can keep some of the overcrowding issues down, if theres too many ill give some to the LFS or friends or just scoop out a net full and let the p's chase them all down.

let me know what you think about this?

Shawnie · April 15th, 2009

cons will breed every 2 - 3 weeks...and then when their next spawn are free swimming, they will kill the original spawn ..its a crazy cycle...you will need 2 20 gals..one for grow out and one just for the breeding pair...they arent huge waste producers so you should be ok with regular filtration and weekly tank cleaning

cons4rbp · April 15th, 2009

sweet, well we will see how it goes, i guess if i start drowning in convicts i can just put them in the piranha tank and theyll help me out.

does it look like my cons are of breeding age and male and female? i just want to be sure, they spend an awful lot of time next to eachother and they had the other 4 at the other end of the tank most of the time. and from what ive read it seems like they are doing pre-spawning things like cleaning the pots and digging?

thanks

Shawnie · April 15th, 2009

they look male/ fem yes...as far as breeding, they can breed from 1 1/2 inch on ...(size wise)

cons4rbp · April 15th, 2009

alright thanks, yea they are definately close to that if not there, everyone tells me the female is more colorful but my male is so dark and colorful, actually changes to white when he's stressed, then back again when he's happy. like a black tint to him

Shawnie · April 15th, 2009

they both will change constantly from whitesh grey to white with perfect black stripes..but only the female will have the orange/red tinge to her belly

Jonah · April 15th, 2009

Hi I have nothing to contribute to the discussion just thought i would pop in and say Hi and Welcome

Shawnie · April 15th, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonah

Hi I have nothing to contribute to the discussion just thought i would pop in and say Hi and Welcome

hi jonah!!

ty for the welcome

cons4rbp · April 15th, 2009

thanks for all the welcomes and comments guys!

and one more q for ya what do they like to eat for a special nutritious item? everyone says flakes and stuff yea, but what other stuff will they eat, i fed em a small piece of raw shrimp and they liked it. any fruits or anything? live fish? i definately want my breeders nice and healthy for good healthy babies

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