Just got my convicts in thier breeding tank. Tips?

[jonclark96]

What can i do about alge in the breeding tank? I know a pleco would eat the eggs wouldnt it?

Reduce the things that cause algae in the tank - less light, less food, more water changes.

A BN pleco may work, but again, a 20 isn't a lot of room and you risk either the eggs being eaten or the pleco getting killed. Another option would be nerite snails. They do a great job eating algae and shouldn't be a threat to the eggs.

 

[festaedan]

Im far from you too lol. I dont live in MD anymore. That big of an oscar wouldnt work in my tank though. All my fish are 3" and under.

Petsmart is the only local store really. Ive found theres fish store thats close other than them but havent been there yet. Plus petsmart gives 14 day guarentee on their fish. If it dies bring it back for exchange or refund. Most stores are 1 or 2 days....

Then theres the prices. Most of the time LFS's are move expensive. Not always. Sure they usually have more to choose from. But 8 dollars for a fish i can go to petsmart and pay 3 dollars for? Plus the guarentee petsmart gives? Hate to say it but if a LFS has better quality stock than petsmart than for the more expensive price why not give the guarentee that petsmart gives or better?

Sorry, should've looked at the location of where you live lol. Like what jon said, big box stores have low prices and high guarantees but very poor quality in their stock. In my opinion I think it would be better to buy the slightly higher priced fish that will live longer than a cheap fish that has countless diseases. If you where planning on putting a petsmart oscar in a community tank, theres a good chance that it would infect all your other fish buying the more expensive fish ends up being more cost efective. It's also good to support your lfs.

 

[04rwon]

Well i read this a little late lol.

I bought the Oscar and a Red Devil. Ill probably take the red devil back and maybe get another JD or GT down the road. The red devils not as cool looking as i thought.




Im still not sure why having a guarentee makes it a lesser quality fish. Back in MD we bought a few fish from HOT, Congressional, Petsmart, Petco, and Todays Pet. Honestly...all have been about the same. Our demasoni came from petsmart and we have had nothing but compliments on it. Our duboisi we got from congressional didnt make it. But lfs's only guarentee them for 2 days. Thats nowhere near long enough to know if they are sick, diseased or whatever. When i posted i bought fish from congressional i heard a lot of bad stuff about them. So it seems damned if you do, damned if you dont. Down here the lfs's are pretty far. Ive been to 2 so far. The closer one was nice but didnt have a giant selection. Im not one to order fish either. I want to see them, see how they act as well before i choose one.

I like my little oscar. Feel bad for him, he about the same size as the jack and jewel, but they gave him a little crap. Seems good now. He swims everywhere.

I had my eye on him since last week. He was the darkest in the tank of 3, the smallest, and his orange mix was beautiful. Took him a little bit to regain his color but he seems ok. The red devil isnt pushing anyone around. In fact the red zebra and firemouth(surprising) were giving him some crap. Which Im happy about. I though it would be the meanest in the tank. Im still not sure, I may take it back though.


I just cant find my **** pleco! Its gone. When we seperated our fish, we took the decorations out and couldnt find the pleco. We looked all though them too...

 

[jonclark96]

Take back the Oscar and the RD. You don't have a set up that is appropriate for either of them.

 

[festaedan]

Well i read this a little late lol.

I bought the Oscar and a Red Devil. Ill probably take the red devil back and maybe get another JD or GT down the road. The red devils not as cool looking as i thought.




Im still not sure why having a guarentee makes it a lesser quality fish. Back in MD we bought a few fish from HOT, Congressional, Petsmart, Petco, and Todays Pet. Honestly...all have been about the same. Our demasoni came from petsmart and we have had nothing but compliments on it. Our duboisi we got from congressional didnt make it. But lfs's only guarentee them for 2 days. Thats nowhere near long enough to know if they are sick, diseased or whatever. When i posted i bought fish from congressional i heard a lot of bad stuff about them. So it seems damned if you do, damned if you dont. Down here the lfs's are pretty far. Ive been to 2 so far. The closer one was nice but didnt have a giant selection. Im not one to order fish either. I want to see them, see how they act as well before i choose one.

I like my little oscar. Feel bad for him, he about the same size as the jack and jewel, but they gave him a little crap. Seems good now. He swims everywhere.

I had my eye on him since last week. He was the darkest in the tank of 3, the smallest, and his orange mix was beautiful. Took him a little bit to regain his color but he seems ok. The red devil isnt pushing anyone around. In fact the red zebra and firemouth(surprising) were giving him some crap. Which Im happy about. I though it would be the meanest in the tank. Im still not sure, I may take it back though.


I just cant find my **** pleco! Its gone. When we seperated our fish, we took the decorations out and couldnt find the pleco. We looked all though them too...

Like what john said, I'd send back both the oscar and the red devil because they each get well over 10 inches. Also, it's not the guarantee that makes the fish bad quality, it's just the fish itself, but if you have had good experiences with the big box stores, thats great, I've just never had good quality fish from petsmart or petco. Their advise isn't the greatest, they told me an oscar would be the most aggressive fish in any tank, but oscars are not that aggressive, I have one in a tank with a festae, jag, texas, and others, and even though he is the biggest, he is th low man on the totem pole.

 

[Andrewtfw]

I agree that your not currently set up to provide these fish with the space they need.
Petsmart gets their fish from a reliable supplier. It is the care/husbandry provided by the store that makes the difference.

 

[04rwon]

So what other Americans can go in their place? I could just put my Africans back i guess. The fish are wayyy to small to be in that tank alone. If thats the case I may as well drain it halfway, unplug one of the filters and save some water and electricity. If they get too big im fine with getting rid of any of them. Same with aggression issues.



It would be a shame if the fish got too big and I needed more tanks.....

 

[JasonC]

So what other Americans can go in their place? I could just put my Africans back i guess. The fish are wayyy to small to be in that tank alone. If thats the case I may as well drain it halfway, unplug one of the filters and save some water and electricity. If they get too big im fine with getting rid of any of them. Same with aggression issues.

Wait... we are still talking about a 20 gallon tank.. right? or did I miss something here??

 

[festaedan]

So what other Americans can go in their place? I could just put my Africans back i guess. The fish are wayyy to small to be in that tank alone. If thats the case I may as well drain it halfway, unplug one of the filters and save some water and electricity. If they get too big im fine with getting rid of any of them. Same with aggression issues.



It would be a shame if the fish got too big and I needed more tanks.....

A tank can't be too big for a fish, for example, would you rather have a nice cozy apartment room, or an unecesarily large mansion. The only case where a tank might be too big is if you have a 0.5 inch fish in a 500 gallon or larger mainly because it would have trouble finding food, especially if the tank is heavily planted or full of ornaments.

 

[04rwon]

Wait... we are still talking about a 20 gallon tank.. right? or did I miss something here??

Ohh no lol. The 20 has the convicts lol. Im letting them do their thing. This is the 55 im talking about with the "bigger" fish. Even though the convicts are the largest at the moment.

Im taking the RD back. Putting my africans minus the 2 yellow labs, back in the 55. The oscar ill keep for a little while and see what happens. Ill get rid of it if need be. But ive always wanted an oscar so ill keep it for a little bit until i see an issue.

I am going to start saving for another tank. I want to set it next to the current 55, same stand, same hoods, same background, same substrate. So it will look like an extension, but one will have africans the other will have americans.

 

[festaedan]

I like your idea for the next tank. Can you post some pics of your convicts and the new oscar.

 

[04rwon]

I like your idea for the next tank. Can you post some pics of your convicts and the new oscar.

Ill have to get some of the convicts when I get home later but I do have a couple of the Oscar.

 

[04rwon]

Heres the convict tank:

 

[festaedan]

that is a cool oscar, there are pictures of mine in my photo gallery, the picture of her in the album with the chocolate cichlid sucks but I'll try to get more of her later, I like your convicts too.

 

[04rwon]

Thanks. I have trouble getting good pics of them. Just before we left i noticed the female black convict digging and moving sand around. Maybe shes getting ready? Im pretty sure its a female. Shorter fins, rounded dorsal, little bit of orange on the sides.



I wanna get into training that oscar. Id like to be able to hand feed it, pet it, whatever you can do with oscars.




Just checked out your gallery. Great looking oscar. But i reaallly like your green terror. I cant wait for mine to get big. They are so cool looking. Im almost ready for a GT only tank. I think the only other american cichlids id want are an ebjd, blue acara, and a texas. Once i get another big tank Im going to finish off the africans with peacocks.

 

[festaedan]

if the convict that looks like a female is digging holes that means you should get eggs in the near futer. Also, if you are interested in jack dempseys and texas I have some hybrids of the two that I would be willing to part with. Bread them myself if I may add.And quick recomendation, If you plan on making money off your fish I'd recomend breeding some rarer stuff like buccorti, festae, or bartoni. And if you wan't even rarer I'd recomend ufermani, intermedius, and ornatum. Good luck with the convicts!

 

[04rwon]

We talked in your other thread. Im in Florida now so I couldnt come get the . Even though it sounds like a fish id enjoy.

Im just trying to convicts as a start, see what happens. Im not looking to make money, just have some fun, maybe use some as feeders for the big fishys.

 

[04rwon]

Im pretty sure this is the female, what do you think?