Pink Convict Pair Tank Mates

I plan to get a small pair of pink convicts for a 50 gallon breeder and am wondering if they will tolerate any dither/schooling fish, or catfish, as tank mates. I’m not too concerned about fry getting eaten.

 

Yeah, you’ll find out that they are really aggressive during spawning.
But first to come to mind was a rainbow shark but they definitely would prefer a longer tank and only one. Giant danios is another. You could do a bunch of them safely
sure other will list more options

 

It's been my experience that Convicts usually direct their territorial aggression towards conspecifics & other Cichlids.
Big Tetras, Barbs & bottom feeders are often ignored or half heartedly chased away.

 

Thank you both, this was very helpful.

 

Another option would be swordtails which originate from some of the same waters as convicts. Many rainbowfish also appreciate moderately hard water.

 

Am I correct in saying most tetra and swordtails need a somewhat planted environment? My vision for the tank was to have hardly, if any plants, and mimic more of the rock environment convicts live in in nature.

 

Am I correct in saying most tetra and swordtails need a somewhat planted environment? My vision for the tank was to have hardly, if any plants, and mimic more of the rock environment convicts live in in nature.

Don't know if we can generalise. Probably true for most tetras but there might be some species where aquatic plants are not a major feature of their environment. I think rummynose are one though you might want to choose a larger species. Swordtails can be found in the same environment as CA cichlids which are not heavily vegetated.

 

Yeah, but not every species of tetra. if a planted aquarium isn’t you there are some decent fake plant that come in different thickness and height for great depth.
In community tanks I find that if there is room I like to create sight blockers all over the bottom and that helped quite a bit with my black phantom tetra’s which don’t school and spook easy.
Convicts love hides ,vegetation and open areas
I did a half planted with hides on one side and some rocks and a lot of open space with a hide on the other side with 2 convicts, 10 black phantom tetra, 5 red phantom tetra and one rainbow shark in a 40 gallon breeder and it was awesome.
as I mentioned before my rainbow shark seemed like he needed more room but to give you an idea
On a side note the convicts at time weren’t much bigger than than species of tetra and I removed the convicts later on once they got bigger.

 

I grow rocks in my tanks, Lol. A lot of them, no plants. I keep Columbian & Diamond Tetras as well as Denison & Filamentosa Barbs. All do well.
Another tough Tetra to look at is the Buenos Aires Tetra.

 

Thanks for all the advice!

 

What’s your choice and live rocks? I’ve also given up on plants not because they weren’t growing because I couldn’t keep them from getting unearthed. And when I could the bottom of my tank, basically had no open space because I had the weigh everything down smh

 

No live rocks. Lol. Couple of hundred pounds of limestone, as well as quartz & petrified wood.
I keep too many herbivore fish to have plants.

 

No live rocks. Lol. Couple of hundred pounds of limestone, as well as quartz & petrified wood.
I keep too many herbivore fish to have plants.

Word that’s what I thought lol, I use 40 lb limestone 10 lb sandstone

 

No live rocks. Lol. Couple of hundred pounds of limestone, as well as quartz & petrified wood.
I keep too many herbivore fish to have plants.

Is there a point where you have to worry about the weight of rocks in a tank, or use foam/egg crates. Does that matter if I have sand?

 

Is there a point where you have to worry about the weight of rocks in a tank, or use foam/egg crates. Does that matter if I have sand?

I don’t personally use the foam but I think if it’s available to you why not? But as far as heavy rocks, You want to put the rocks on the bottom first and then put the sand around it so overtime when the rocks shift because fish are sifting sand the rocks won’t adjust themselves and accidentally hurt a fish or crack the glass, because they’re already on the bottom. But no typically you can put them right on the bottom. No problem as long as you’re careful.
As for the weight, I am sure there is a weight limit that you wouldn’t want to surpass but I’m not exactly sure.

 

As long as the aquarium is properly leveled. The glass can hold an enormous amount of weight.
The rocks displace a proportionate amount of water, which lessens but does not eliminate the total added weight of the rock. Hope that makes sense, Lol.