Yes, the ever-breeding, tank-terrorizing convict cichlid. I have not had any for years, and was not look for them. However, I was browsing in the local chain pet store and just happened to notice a tiny juvenile striped convict with extra black spots on his sides, and a half-black anal and caudal fin. He was there a few days later and I ended up buying him since I had not seen this coloration before. Of course the pink/white "albinos" are common, and you occasionally see "calico convicts" with the pink/white background and random gray splotches. Two other males in the tank also showed black splotches. I have had it for about a month or so and it has already grown a lot. I finally bought a regular, striped female forhim a couple days ago. He had grown so much that the female is much smaller than him. The black spots do not fade with the mood of the fish (like the stripes), and the black on the fins is especially striking. Has anyone seen this color morph?
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Black-spotted convict cichlids?
- Thread starter Woodnative
- Start date
Here is a photo...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums....lid.jpg
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums....lid.jpg
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/Woodnative/ablackspotconvictcichlid.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>
Not much interest in this post, I guess iConvicts are too common. Still, I have not seen these markings before and these guys are neat. The female has not-yet free swimming young. I don't think it is a big batch, but they are not doing too badly for a first spawn. They are in a tank with other fish and blue crayfish, let's see what happens.....
I have cichlids and absolutly love them! but one thing i have learned the hard way is looks are very decieving in young cichlids. as they grow and mature their colors change sometimes drasticly. i have a fish that we bought young and thought he was a firemouth well he is now maturing and has lost some markings and gained new ones but now we know he's not a firemouth! so wait a while to see if the colors stay. hope this helps!
Clint
Stay chooned in for more!
prizmbatch the colors are staying as he gets larger. They are now guarding a batch of free-swimming young (the female is of the "regular" variety). I am curious to see if this is passed on as a dominant characteristic. They are in a tank with other fish and crayfish, but I still wish to leave the young with the parents for a few days. Hopefully some will make it. If not, I am sure another batch will follow soon.
These guys are such awesome parents, always a pleasure to watch no matter how many times I have seen it!
These guys are such awesome parents, always a pleasure to watch no matter how many times I have seen it!
Definately a Convict. Looks (and act!) like a convict, just a little extra black.
I have a pair of firemouths in another tank. It is a 75 gal with a large Oscar, some angels, a silver dollar, a pleco, and a spotted Rafael which I have had for about 23 YEARS (since my hight school days). The firemouths are a pair, but I have never seen young. I think they have spawned a coupe times, but the catfish must eat them.
I wonder if your fish is a hybrid between a firemouth and something else. Apparently such hybrids are not uncommon.
I have a pair of firemouths in another tank. It is a 75 gal with a large Oscar, some angels, a silver dollar, a pleco, and a spotted Rafael which I have had for about 23 YEARS (since my hight school days). The firemouths are a pair, but I have never seen young. I think they have spawned a coupe times, but the catfish must eat them.
I wonder if your fish is a hybrid between a firemouth and something else. Apparently such hybrids are not uncommon.
no i don't think it's a hybrid, with the most recent changes he's lost his stripes and only has a few black markings left on the top of his body. i'll have to get a pic up for ya. you can still see where the stripes were, it's strange. i have him in a 65gal. with an albino oscar, an albino bichar, and a normal pleco. then i have my baby, my pacu who isn't much of a baby anymore. then my pond outside which have different kinds of wacky goldfish who have decided to spawn now at the prime of fall wierdo fish, all my koi decided to jump out. i'd like to see pics of your fish if you have them.
The young are still in the original tank. Amazing that bunches of young fish can survive in a tank with other fish. Although they don't stay with the parents, the parents don't seem to bother them too much. I think the parents may have even spawned again but I am not sure.
The youngsters are showing stripes, but I don't see any with the extra black of the father. Maybe they are too young, or maybe it is a recessive characteristic.
The youngsters are showing stripes, but I don't see any with the extra black of the father. Maybe they are too young, or maybe it is a recessive characteristic.
The parents have spawned a few more times, but I don't think any made it in the later batches because there are so many more fish in the tank. More males than females among the babies and I must get rid of some now that the young males are maturing. I put two males and one female in my other tank (I will add another female). Maybe the black is recessive and will come out next generation.
2.5 years later, the original male is still going strong (you can see him in the right side of the photo). They have lots of descendents swimming around them too. Unlike past experience with convicts, these don't seem to hard on the other fish in the tank, including the angels. BTW, there is a Raphael catfish in this tank I have ahd for about 24 years, and a silver dollar for about 16 years or so.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/Woodnative/P2210125.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v468/Woodnative/P2210125.jpg
DavyJones
Is ready to take this hobby to a whole new level
This is remotely off topic, but, how much do you love your silver dollar. 16 years, yikes! I have a 29 gallon with 5 Silver dollars in it. My oldest one to date is 9 years old, but it appears now he has many more happy years to go! They really are one of my favorite species of freshwater fish. Really nice set-up, BTW. I can't wait to move into my own place so that I can get a big thing going.
DavyJones. 9 years is great!!
Unfortunately, a catastrophe has occurred. It is ironic that I recently posted this.
I did a large water change Saturday evening. The next morning a family member noticed a lot of dead fish in this tank. The old Raphael catfish and Silver dollar, as well as those awesome angelfish and the original convict are gone! The Oscar, a pleco, and 95% of the too numerous convicts survived. The remaining fish were stressed in the morning, but did not look like they were at death's door. I wasn't sure what happened. I removed the dead fish......by evening the survivors were back to normal. The only thing I can think happened was the tap water was "spiked" with a much larger than normal amount of chlorine........since whatever it was killed a lot of fish but then quickly disspated.
Unfortunately, a catastrophe has occurred. It is ironic that I recently posted this.
I did a large water change Saturday evening. The next morning a family member noticed a lot of dead fish in this tank. The old Raphael catfish and Silver dollar, as well as those awesome angelfish and the original convict are gone! The Oscar, a pleco, and 95% of the too numerous convicts survived. The remaining fish were stressed in the morning, but did not look like they were at death's door. I wasn't sure what happened. I removed the dead fish......by evening the survivors were back to normal. The only thing I can think happened was the tap water was "spiked" with a much larger than normal amount of chlorine........since whatever it was killed a lot of fish but then quickly disspated.
