Stuck With A Mean Fish In A Big Tank Convict Cichlid

Let me start off by telling y'all that I love this fish. She's a female convict cichlid that is the cutest one I've ever seen (longer horizontally and shorter vertically than most convicts in my opinion). I had kept fish in the past, knew I liked cichlids, but did not do enough research before selecting a species. I chose her because she followed me as I walked past her in the pet store and she was alone in her tank. Now I know the reason for both of those things.

She is mean as can be. She uproots her plants (normal adorable cichlid behavior), BUT when they get pushed down by the filter flow, she rushes to attack the movement she saw out of the corner of her eye. She digs pits near the front of the tank, and if I walk past she'll try to torpedo her way through the glass to attack me for getting too close to her 'nest'. The girl loves riding her bubble stream, swimming through whatever new arrangement in her tank I make.. She even does well when I have my hand in the tank moving things around: coming out to explore seconds after I take my hand out. BUT I WANTED MORE FISH!

I don't want to get rid of her because I believe that if I purchase a pet it's my responsibility to do the best I can to give it a good life, which of course means NOT giving her away simply because I envisioned a community tank. I tried a pleco that was a little bigger than her, but any time it moved she darted across the tank to it. I only saw her 'peck' it once and so I removed it.

The tank is a 36 gallon bowfront. She has a TON of space. I am fully aware that I cannot stock this tank with more than maybe even a couple of fish including her, but my main concern is fish safety, not bioload. I am very on top of tank maintenance and water testing. That being said, I'd love to hear any suggestions for companion fish. Again, I know it's a long shot, but maybe some person out there knows exactly what I could do. I am familiar with dither fish, but I do not think it is a wise choice in this situation. She is VERY fast and the tank, while not small for her, I don't think any dither fish would have much of a shot at escape. I know that I might just be stuck with the little terror, and that's okay. Thanks for reading!

 

I've been tricked into buying a breeding pair of Black Convicts before and completely understand the behavior you describe. Unless she is paired with equally aggressive tank mates, she will never be a happy fish. My pair did breed. After a short while the male was so aggressive to breed again, he began beating her up. Then the young began nipping at her too. This broke my heart. They all ended up as fertilizer in my garden bed. Yes, I did euthanize them. I will never have another. Live bearers are so much better! See if you can return her to the store.

 

With convicts you just need the means to be able to separate sometimes, I had a gorgeous breeding pink pair but decided to sell them as I was tired of having fish which I had to intervene with, still got some of there fry now but maybe the person I sold them to feels tricked. Research is key but no matter how much you do I find stuff still goes face first sometimes, my female when alone without her male seemed to have a "time of the month" like a lady with bad pmt she chased my red fins tetra like a mad woman. As with all cichlids I find you have to plan the tank around them but like you say they are beautiful the face and everything I do miss mine a little bit.
that's the mr.

 

My opinion u need a male convict a little bigger then her. Also maby try another American cichlid. Green terror or maby jack Dempsey are very aggressive and will fight back. I currently have a breeding pair of convicts 1 jack Dempsey and 1 Oscar. All in 3 separate tanks. When u get into south American u gotta watch aggression and u kinda gotta keep them with other American cichlids. But watch if u get a male for your female if they pair up they gang up on everything together. Aggression doubles towards everything else

 

I've been tricked into buying a breeding pair of Black Convicts before and completely understand the behavior you describe. Unless she is paired with equally aggressive tank mates, she will never be a happy fish. My pair did breed. After a short while the male was so aggressive to breed again, he began beating her up. Then the young began nipping at her too. This broke my heart. They all ended up as fertilizer in my garden bed. Yes, I did euthanize them. I will never have another. Live bearers are so much better! See if you can return her to the store.

I understand why people return fish, but I want to give her a good quality of life and I don't want to toot my own horn too much but I think I'm probably the best owner she's going to get if she's sold at Petco. I guess I could consider taking her to another fish store, but most places that specialize in fish don't want convicts. Thanks for the response.

 

My opinion u need a male convict a little bigger then her. Also maby try another American cichlid. Green terror or maby jack Dempsey are very aggressive and will fight back. I currently have a breeding pair of convicts 1 jack Dempsey and 1 Oscar. All in 3 separate tanks. When u get into south American u gotta watch aggression and u kinda gotta keep them with other American cichlids. But watch if u get a male for your female if they pair up they gang up on everything together. Aggression doubles towards everything else

Thanks for the response. Just based on that photo I'd love to see more of your tank. Anyway, I was considering a Dempsey, so I'm glad you mentioned it. I really want to avoid a beeding pair of convicts, because if I tried to remove the eggs every time they were fertilized I think it'd be tedious, frequent, traumatizing and I'd inevitably miss a few. From what both of you have said and what I've also been thinking is I need to get an aggressive tank mate, perhaps slightly more mild than her but willing to hold is ground. At first I thought that if I just got a docile fish that is larger than her she wouldn't mess with it, but she tries to attack my face near the tank so I imagine size doesn't intimidate her. I think I'll do a little more research on the Dempsey's. I want to keep respect at the LFS, so I don't want to be "trying" fish but I don't really know what else to do because she will attack everything until I find something she won't. Trial and error I suppose. Any other stories are welcome!

 

Yeah it's kinda hard to get rid of baby convicts. Cause their so easy to breath. Also I would look into a vermouth. And I've seen convicts aggression go down when with a large number of African cichlids also. I've seen them kept with large number. It helps reduce aggression and helps from singling out any 1 fish. The aggression is spread over all the fish. And eventually the convict will calm down with enough fish. Alot of people overstock Africans. To spread aggression. But I've seen Americans in with Africa s also. Just another thought

 

Yeah it's kinda hard to get rid of baby convicts. Cause their so easy to breath. Also I would look into a vermouth. And I've seen convicts aggression go down when with a large number of African cichlids also. I've seen them kept with large number. It helps reduce aggression and helps from singling out any 1 fish. The aggression is spread over all the fish. And eventually the convict will calm down with enough fish. Alot of people overstock Africans. To spread aggression. But I've seen Americans in with Africa s also. Just another thought

I've only got a 36 gallon but if it was bigger I think this would be the best solution. I feel like if I get one Dempsey and another fish, they'll still feel like they can potentially take over the whole tank. I suppose I could just try it out and see how it goes. It would stress the fish out but there really is no other way to tell unless I just go for it. I'll take all of this advice into consideration, thanks a bunch

 

My opinion u need a male convict a little bigger then her. Also maby try another American cichlid. Green terror or maby jack Dempsey are very aggressive and will fight back. I currently have a breeding pair of convicts 1 jack Dempsey and 1 Oscar. All in 3 separate tanks. When u get into south American u gotta watch aggression and u kinda gotta keep them with other American cichlids. But watch if u get a male for your female if they pair up they gang up on everything together. Aggression doubles towards everything else

Jack Dempseys need a 55 Gallon tank minimum and a green terror might work but in my opinion you should do something that isn't in her region of the tank, to large for her to bully, and tough enough to handle all the bullying. I would think the best combo would be a RTS or Some very aggressive Tiger Barbs.

 

If u don't plan to upgrade it kinda limits u. I've got a pair of convicts. Just laid eggs and there is a couple different small Africans in with them and there is no fighting even with the female on eggs. The male guards the cave entrance while the female tends to the eggs but nothing like I got chasing through the whole tank. It's all in the personality in your cichlid. My little jack chases my big Oscar around all day who is a lot bigger until the Oscar get tired of running then fights back. But for some reason my jack is so brave and territorial. She being 5Inches even tries to fight my 7inch armor spiked Raphael catfish. Big mistake but she never learns. I put her in her own tank and she killed everything with her. So I moved her with the Oscar who is bigger and the Raphael and about 5 random Africans and she calmed down alot. She got overwhelmed by all the fish. But still gets brave sometimes. You just got to try some fish and see how it goes. Sometimes you would be surprised what works together. But you'll never know unless you try. But don't try fish that will be too big for your talk full grown cause if it does work then your gonna have to keep the fish and upgrade tanks

 

Jack Dempseys need a 55 Gallon tank minimum and a green terror might work but in my opinion you should do something that isn't in her region of the tank, to large for her to bully, and tough enough to handle all the bullying. I would think the best combo would be a RTS or Some very aggressive Tiger Barbs.

I hadn't thought of the tiger barbs.. interesting suggestion. No matter what I end up putting in there, I will be around to monitor them for at least 48 hours, and I of course have other tanks in case of emergency.

 

nothing like I got chasing through

If u don't plan to upgrade it kinda limits u. I've got a pair of convicts. Just laid eggs and there is a couple different small Africans in with them and there is no fighting even with the female on eggs. The male guards the cave entrance while the female tends to the eggs but nothing like I got chasing through the whole tank. It's all in the personality in your cichlid. My little jack chases my big Oscar around all day who is a lot bigger until the Oscar get tired of running then fights back. But for some reason my jack is so brave and territorial. She being 5Inches even tries to fight my 7inch armor spiked Raphael catfish. Big mistake but she never learns. I put her in her own tank and she killed everything with her. So I moved her with the Oscar who is bigger and the Raphael and about 5 random Africans and she calmed down alot. She got overwhelmed by all the fish. But still gets brave sometimes. You just got to try some fish and see how it goes. Sometimes you would be surprised what works together. But you'll never know unless you try. But don't try fish that will be too big for your talk full grown cause if it does work then your gonna have to keep the fish and upgrade tanks

Haha, so you think I just have a little nightmare? That's crazy about your jack! I think I might have to take that approach, which means she'll have to be solo for quite some time since I can't get a bigger tank at the moment. I was also considering a firemouth. What do you do with the fry? If I can find a reasonably ethical solution that doesn't result in me having a bunch of adult convicts I'm open to it.