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I always thought that convicts can be recognized as being males or females from the pink colouration that females would have on their belly. I was reading an article on the net which stated that as males grow older they tend to have a change in colour namely pink colour on their belly. I am confused now because I purchased two adult convicts from an lfs which to me appeared to be a male and female because of their colouration and size. The one with the pink colour is much smaller thab the other one. What do you think?

Another question, I always found that convicts are aggresive but my pair seem to be quite and stay always at the corner of the tank. There are no other species or tankmates with them. is it normal behaviour or I purchased two sick fish?

Females have the pinkish/orange coloring on their bellies and have a smaller body build. Males are larger and sometimes have a ounced nuchal hump on his head ( depending on his age ). How long have you've had them and what size tank are they in?

The female is around 12cm and the male is 15cm. I had them for only a week.

since u have no other fish in the tank, there wouldn't be any need for them to be aggressive or defend there territory.

i have about 4 convicts in a community tank setting(rainbows,gouramies) they aren't that bad, not aggresion.

But my main pair(who live by themselves) are very aggressive only when they have fry and young.

as far as sexing, besides coloration, like stated males will grow bigger and in hight than females.

Well it may take a little bit longer for them to get used to the tank, but that is a little bit werid at the same time because fish usually settle in by the first week. What size tank is it?

It is an 80litre tank.

Well really thats too much fish in a 20 gallon when they are 4" and 5". That could be why they are just laying in the corner because they dont have room to establish territories.

Thanks. I will try to add some more pots in between so as to create a sort of barriers.

I have to add that they seem to be doing better and the female seems to be guarding something behind the pots. Everytime, she is out the male follows behind the pots. I am not sure whether they have any fry hidden. Will check though.

To add on this, the convicts have really settled. They had been breeding now for the 6th time. They stopped because some of the fry that were not taken away had managed to survive and grown to large size enough to compete with their parents.

Congrats. What do you do with the fry? BTW 20gals/80l is a fine size for a pair of cons.