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My step-son is convinced he wants convicts in the 29g I'm letting him have. I have rocks/caves that he can use and will most likely get fake plants since I've never had much luck with larger cichlids and live plants

This used to be a Tang tank and has a sand substrate. Is that ok for cons or should I switch back to gravel?

Thanks

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I have convicts with sand and they have no problems with it, just be sure that you sink you base rocks to the glass or you will find you aqua scaping colapsed because of their desire to dig and build egg laying sites.

good luck

Joe


The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an bacon and egg breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

they would be ok with the sandbut i think from having kept these fellas for years now,they would like the gravel better,its easyer to move the gravel for them,and with mine they are always moving gravel and building something new,maybe give the sand a go first,to see if they ok with it,and if it seems no good give the good ol gravel a go,but thats just my 5 cents

Thanks for the replies.

Would the tank be ok with just rocks and some plants or do I need caves? What do they like for spawning?

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

honestly,ive breed these guys in pots,coke canz,rock caves,pvc pipe,i dont think they care much,but ive had the most luck with a flowerpot turned on its side,ive even breed these guys in cold water (thats rite no heater)i had even had them lay eggs while ive had treatment in the water,once they are ready for a spawn as long as you keep up the food,they will most likely spawn,i even had 2 off them lay and raise like 50+ babies in a 8 gal tank,and they were only ment to be in there for like a week,and they just seemed to love it,very hardy fish,thats very easy to breed,however when the eggs are layed,make sure you are prepared for the aggresion,do not be put off by theses guys modest size,mine beat up my 10 inch oscars,mum and dad make a good team,they will even flair there gills at u if they feel threatenedanyway im ramblen on again,good luck,but trust me you wont need luck once they get spawning,i usally just feed the babies to my bigger cichilids.....

Keep it simple and true to the biotype; add some sand and a great deal of rockwork, with the ever-so-eye-catching driftwood log, and you're set. They will breed in like, 2 inches of water, anyways.

so hows the newbe convict setup coming along,has your young bloke got the little terrors yet,you were asking about breeding setups, so abvously u want a pair,but dont be put off if you cant get a established pair, all you need is a male and female and they will glady become a pair.

Oh, and by the way, note that when Hokese talks about 'cold water', he's in Australia, and chances are his tap water is at 20 degrees C to start with if he's in the Brisbane area or further north in Queensland!

Given the propensity of Convicts to go excavating, it might be worth considering the possibility of cementing some of the planned decor to pieces of flat slate (using aquarium silicone of course) so that these can be laid on the tank bottom and then covered with the sand. Using flat slate will distribute the loading over a wider area and ensure that stresses on the aquarium bottom are more even, plus once buried it'll be securely anchored even against the best digging attempts of the Convicts!

Mind you, from the standpoint of breeding, Convicts are not that fussy about how aesthetically pleasing the decor is to the aquarist - as Hokese notes, they'll spawn in a flowerpot turned on its side even though it looks hideous to our eyes! Bear in mind that what the Convicts are looking our for is a defensible spawning site, and a cave with only one entrance is something they can guard effectively.

Once they start digging, however, you might find that the aesthetics of the aquarium are wrecked by the Cichlids anyway if you're using sand, because they'll spread it all over the place. You'll also have to guard your filters against sand ingress because the wear and tear on the impellers will be increased if sand is sucked into the filters.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

actully im miles from qld,im at the bottom of n.s.w,and honestly u would be surprised how cold our water gets,even colder in winter,but thats a valid point,anyway getting back on track,calilasseia came up with a great point about the sand getting into your impella,thats another reason to use gravel too,one other thing will this tank be just for the cons or will it be a comunity tank?