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what can i put in my 20L tank with my male convict. he has killed 2 placos, and has been chasing my chinese algae eater every chance he gets.

Well nothing really, if you want him to have a tank mate I would go with a larger tank. If you want to breed convicts, take him out and rearange the rock work, then put a femlae in first then him.

Quick question.

By "20L" do you mean a 20 gallon long or a 20 litre aquarium?

I sincerely hope it's not the latter, as that's too small for anything other than a pair of guppies or some shrimp!

If you want your Convict to become more sociable, more space is vital. If this is a 20 long (designations like this go a long way toward explaining why we UK aquarists prefer tank sizes quoted as length x width x height) then chances are your Convict is treating the WHOLE TANK as his territory, and wiping out interlopers for that reason. Get a 55 gallon (US) aquarium and chances are, that with more space, he'll prove to be somewhat less of a problem, as he'll only take up ownership of part of the aquarium, and the other fishes he lives with in there will learn to stay in the part he isn't patrolling.

Additionally, when you DO provide more space (and I'd suggest a 55 gallon as a baseline set up if you want the Convict to live with numerous other fishes - for a full blown Cichlid community a 75 would be better still) furnish the aquarium so that 'lines of sight' are broken up in there. If a Cichlid isn't constantly viewing other fishes, and has some 'personal space' as it were, chances are he'll be a LOT less fractious. mind you, if you put in a female with him (assuming it's a male of course) and the introduction results in a pair forming and the patter of tiny fins, the Convict pair are going to make life pretty hard for any other fishes in the same aquarium even in one as large as a 75, because once the parental instincts kick in, Convicts become pretty belligerent.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Can a convict even be alone in a 20G isint it too small?

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

20 gal long
i dont need to keep him with other fish. i have 3 other tanks i was just hopping. thanks

i believe that a convict should have at least 30 gallons to itself.

my convicts dont seem aggressive at all, and even live peacefully with rainbowfish, but not when they are breeding.

i would just leave him by himself, as when u bought a convict, i am sure that you were aware that they are aggressive cichlids.

of course