posted February 01, 2008 05:53 PM         

I just went upstairs to ask him about it and one of the sucker fish are giving him a hard time. their tank has been moved to a different location so they are all up in arms - the convinct fish is huddled in the corner, for now.

as soon as i pick up the fish tank stand - he'll be moving to my apartment. I'll probably name him something like Bilbo or something. hey! I think that will be it.

posted February 02, 2008 12:04 AM         

I too, read "CONVICT"

posted February 04, 2008 10:25 AM         

Nephthys - they are actually called Convict Cichlid and on one website this is how he is described:
"The bar-room brawler and reproducing rabbit of the fish world. This cichlid is a mean S.O.B. that will hold it's own against fish more than twice it's size!"

oh - i just saw your post about the puppy bowl - i caught the end of it after the super bowl last night. those puppies were soooooooooooooo cute. did you get a chance to see it? i couldn't stop saying awwwwwwwwww. so adorable. reminds me of my dog from my young days (12-13) - her name was samantha and she was a GREAT football player and skateboarder.

26taurus - maverick is a sound name, as well. so is bruce lee. i can tell you that this guy is a fighter - through and through but he could be so sweet sometimes.

YFIS - Hi! lol - you all gave me a good smile for the day. Capone is an ok name. My fish is kind of small but mean and now that i get the visual (height) of capone - i can see where capone would be a good name for him.

posted February 04, 2008 02:44 PM         

Yes I did see the Puppy bowl on and off, switched back and forth. it was so cute!

posted February 07, 2008 09:51 PM         

k....your fish sounds like a rottweiler

for your sake...
i hope he never escapes.

posted February 19, 2008 02:20 AM         

I've had him for about three years, he's a rally intresting fish.

A rally smart fish, I'm the one who feeds him and when ever I walk by he swims out, but not for anyone else.

He is vary psychic, I was thinking about how much he grew since I had him and he swam out of his cave to the edge of the glass were I was looking at him.

Two of my fish died and when I found them he was hidding in his cave pretending as if nothing happend, it was pretty obvious he had something to do with it.

posted February 25, 2008 03:33 PM         

Are they really sinister and plotting like you say, 3rd benjamin? That's pretty funny what you wrote, "like he had something to do with it".

I want to get some Bala Sharks! I think both species get along?

posted February 26, 2008 02:35 PM         

thethirdbenjamin - one of the guys believes that the convinct fish killed the red devil we had in teh tank. i don't know but i will tell you that - no matter what size the convinct fish is - he will get up in the face of another fish, no matter what size the other fish is. i've seen him get in the face of two sucker fish who are triple his size and when he doesn't get his way - he kicks up the gravel in teh tank and builds mounds.

ok - Nephthys - someone asked on yahoo about their putting two convicts and two bala sharks in the same 29 gallon tank together and here was the response:
"As long as you're prepared to get the Balas out eventually (at about 5 inches), you should be okay. The chances of the Convicts paing up is VERY good. To encourage spawning, just give them a place to lay the eggs like a flower pot turned on its side. There really isn't a good way to prevent spawning other than separating them. If you don't want the eggs, just vacuum them out (the Convicts will probably attack your hand and the siphon) and allow them to dry (the eggs). You'll want fast, surface dwelling fish that won't attract the Convicts attention, so Danios, Minnows, Rainbowfish, and Killifish are all good options and can be quite colorful and entertaining."

oh - on another site - they say that silver dollars are okay to put with convicts because they swim really fast and the convicts will never be able to catch up to them.

posted February 26, 2008 03:38 PM         

thanks for the info. I just found 3 or 4 good links of info. about the fish and read up a little bit.

Since I only have a 10 gallon right now, I might wait on getting more fish. The only other fish I think would be good is one of those kind that eats the algae and the poop? (tank cleaners) what do you think and can you recommend good ones that the Convicts won't mind?

So my neighbor gave me 3 of his babies. 2 females and 1 male. One female is large and one is small. Of course the male is prettier 'cos he has orangey/pink color.

So from what I read so far, I might be surprised with babies. I might put in a small clay pot like the links suggests. My neighbor told me if they have babies and I don't want them I can give them to him. Also if I need a bigger tank I can switch to a larger one, he has all sizes.

OK so far so good, they survived their first night and we are trying to keep the tank at 80 degrees. (overnight it got up to 86! but we got it down to 80 and are trying to maintain. I know the sites say 68-77 but my neighbor said he keeps his at 82 and not to let it get colder or they might die).

Ok so this is so fun and exciting for me as I haven't had a tank in decades!

OK so thanks again and can't wait to hear more news from you.

OH btw I named the little female Pebbles, the male Bam Bam and the larger female Wilma. teehee!

posted February 27, 2008 12:21 AM         

Or did they just decide that b/c they are bigger, that they are the "bosses"?

The male *is* acting very territorial. I just think it's so mean how they constantly chase her and she has to hide and/or hang out by herself, while they hang out together.

I haven't told my neighbor yet. This is a really busy week for me.

posted February 28, 2008 04:18 PM         

ok - i'll try to remember everything i said.

robert (the convict) shares a 40-50 gallon tank with two synodontis contractus (upside-down catfish). there are two different kinds of synodontis catfish - the contractus and the nigriventris - i think the nigriventris is less aggressive. convicts are bullies - no matter what. btw - 75 to 80 degrees is fine.

10 gallon tank is pretty small so you should try, if you can, to get a bigger tank. i'll be transferring robert into a 25 gallon tank soon. he gets fed the flakes once a day in the morning - sometimes, i'll sprinkle a little bit in the evening and he doesn't go after the flakes like he's starving.

maybe - if you can keep the 10 gallon and get a bigger one - you could keep the smaller convict in the 10 gallon with a few surface dwellers and a sucker fish. you could put the other two in the bigger size tank with some synodontis (it's better to get more than one of them). here is some good info - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070720142828AAAJGN8
regardless - you will have to manually clean the tank out - it'll get easier after the first 5 times

p.s. you will have lots of convict babies, i see. also, i like the names you gave your fish. i see you are on a flintstones kick like my cousin. he's been into freshwater and saltwater fish, etc. since we were kids. we tended to the stray cats on teh block (mimi, tiger, grayard, mama cat), a parakeet (jojo), two snakes (i can't remember their names), two dogs (samantha and snooky), two turtles (joey and susan), and several fish. he has a nice fish tank set up - i have to sit down with him and find out what he has but there are quite a few fish in his tank and a little turtle. it's so cute - you should see it.

posted February 29, 2008 03:29 PM         

However, the alpha female and male are now chasing the new male as well.

Now the (supposedly) pregnant female and male have made an even bigger hole in the gravel; kind of concave shaped, piling up gravel on one side. We observe them picking up with their mouths and actually moving pieces of gravel as well as kicking and pushing them aside. So now there is a large round openeing to the bottom of the tank where they both hang out and "guard". No eggs yet but we expect so.

A really good website gave the idea to put a clay pot and we did that.

Following good insturctions from this website.

posted February 29, 2008 09:09 PM         

This is the large female and male (in front). The little female is off in her corner. (you can catch a glimpse of her off to the left)

Now the new male and smaller female are kind of hanging out together; I mean, they have no choice as they are being fully harrassed and bullied by the other two.

posted March 01, 2008 08:49 PM         

I might switch to a larger tank. My neighbor said he has every size; 20,30,40, etc.

He has so many fish, 2 tanks. 1 large.

posted March 07, 2008 10:00 AM         

My Robert is black and grey.

wow - so the female was the one doing most of the bullying? what's the bigger male doing now? does he seemed ****** off?