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I'm thinking of turning over my 29g to my step-son and was wondering if it would work for convicts.

-How difficult are they to sex?

-How many should I start with? (they're ~1.5" at a lfs)

-I realize they eat plants...any suggestions about aquascaping?

Thanks

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Females have a reddish/colorful belly - starting at a very small size - you might be able to sex them even when as small as they are at the LFS. The females will also be smaller.

Look in the tank at the LFS and see if any pairs have formed naturally - you'll get a better pair that way. However, they do pair up easily so getting a male and female often works out.

They can be a bit rough with each other, so lots of caves and sight breaks are in order. Mine didn't eat plants - just tore them up a bit.

A good pair is great in a 29...a bad pair can be painful to watch.

Eric

I'd add my assent to Big E's warning that a good pair of Convicts are a delight, while a bad pair are a nightmare.

If you're looking for a Cichlid species that will cause far less trouble in a 29, there's quite a few choices. Yes, I'm going to push those two perennial favourites of mine again, namely Laetacara curviceps and Anomalochromis thomasi. Not least because they provide all of the joys of Cichlid keeping (intelligent behaviour, diligent parental care of offspring, beautiful colours) without the downsides (neither of these species attacks plants, performs industrial scale substrate digging or engages in vicious internecine warfare).

Something else you could try in the 29 is the tiny Apistogramma panduro. The advantage of this species being that male and female are VERY VISIBLY different from a very early age, so finding two individuals to form a pair will be ridiculously easy. In fact they're so different in appearance that it's tempting to think they belong to different species! And in a 29, a pair of panduro would have acres of space for their life business.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I'll jump on board Calilasseia's L. curviceps band wagon. I just traded in 4 T. ellioti (relatives of firemouths - more colorful and allegedly more peaceful...but not more peaceful in my experience) which were in my 33 gallon tank (36" long). I picked up 4 L. curviceps which I've not kept in 5 or so years (maybe longer).

I love the curviceps! I'd forgotten what charming fish they were. My 4 are only 1" SL (1.5" TL) right now, but they're not shy at all. I do have dithers (platys and red eyed tetras), so maybe that helps...but I recall my past pair as being rather outgoing for dwarf cichlids. They truly are just small acaras in many ways - thick bodied, outgoing, attractive.

You could get 4 and they may all co-exist forever in the 29 or at the worst you'll get a pair that will do great in there and have to trade in the unpaired duo. Their only downfall is they're hard to sex...with size and a larger black splotch on the dorsal fin being the only clue for sexing. I picked my 4 based on size (two small, two biggest from the LFS), and it looks like it's two males and females...but only time will tell.

Eric