Convict Fish Breeding can be very rewarding for the beginner cichlid hobbyist. In most cases newbie’s who start out with cichlids usually begin with convict cichlid fish. These Central American cichlids also known as zebra cichlids, although there are African cichlids who share this common name too. There are several colors available and typically these fish are very common in pet stores. Another key aspect with these cichlids is that they are cheap. For around ten dollars you can typically come home with half a dozen of these guys. It shouldn't take much effort to find them locally. The colors available are black, pink and the calico convict sometimes called the marble convict.

 

 

 

Because convicts are not a very large cichlid to begin with, they require a large tank like other members of the cichlid family from Central America. They average adult size of a convict is around four inches give or take. And if you do see a convict larger than four inches it most likely took a long time to grow to that size and it may have been in a large community tank. With that said a 20 gallon long aquarium is the perfect starter convict fish tank size.

 

 

The main difference between male and female convicts is in most cases their sizes. Generally speaking males are much larger than the females and in most cases it’s not uncommon for the male to be twice the size of the female. There have cases of large females but overall on average females are smaller and thus easily recognizable. Another attribute of difference between them may include coloring, often females have brighter colors and accents on their bodies. You can have variability if you mate a male and female which are not siblings.

 

 

Breeding convict fish is relatively easy and one of the best first time experiences for breeding egg laying cichlids. In most cases it’s hard to prevent them from staking out a territory and spawning. Odds are keeping a pair together will result in reproduction. Many people who start out with convicts typically buy six or less around one inch in length and raise them together. What happens is the largest male will select the strongest female and forms a pair bond and ultimately spawn. They will drive the others away from their territory with this happens. It’s not uncommon for the remaining fish to pair off as well, having two pairs of convicts in the same tank.

 

 

The zebra cichlid or convict fish are egg laying cichlids. This means the female deposits her eggs on a hard surface. It could be the inside of a flower pot, PVC tubing, and ceramic cave or on the aquarium bottom. We convict cichlids spawn they are where the eggs are deposited is usually relevant to where the pair staked out their spawning territory. When spawning occurs the female lays her eggs and the male fertilizes them afterwards. This process can talk about 15 minutes or so to complete. The amount of eggs varies but generally the larger the female and provided she eats well the amount of eggs could be are 200 give or take.

 

 

Like other egg laying cichlids convict fish eggs hatching occurs in three days. So what this means is once the female lays her eggs and the male fertilizes them, the female with fan the eggs for three to circulate water over them and keep them allowing debris to land on the eggs. The color of convict cichlid eggs is almost honey colored. In regards to telling if the eggs are fertile or not, after the third day if the eggs turn white, this means they’re not fertile and have begun to fungus.

 

However after the third day if they are not turning white, the will appear honey colored but with black specks on them or it looks like someone sprinkled pepper on them. This means the embryos are developing and they remain in this state for five days. On the fourth day the hatch and wiggle in the nest, they are called wrigglers at this point. They remain wrigglers until the fifth day when them finally become free swimming. During these five days they are absorbing their yoke sacs. Once free swimming they begin to eat on their own and take food from their parents as well.