Bottom-feeder for Breeding Convicts

[Frank Castle]

Just got a pair from the clutch I have my other 2 females from, they are heterozygous for "Pink". Looking for a good bottom-feeder to keep the tank clean in the meantime that won't get thrashed by the pair or mess with the fry at all. PetSmart has Chinese Algae-eaters for $1.00 LOL Sound good? I think Corys are a poor choice.....Pictus or Rainbow/Redtail Shark maybe?

Any other ideas? I thought Pleco, but I really don't want a 24-inch crap-machine again, much less TWO like last time. Also, I don't want to spend a lot of $$$, so I want it to stay simple and effective.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

When my minnows breed, my cae goes through the java moss and munches the eggs. When my goldfish spawn, I move him in with them to eat all the eggs because I can't be bothered raising the fry. I don't know if a cae would be able to take on your convicts, but if I wanted to keep my eggs, I wouldn't keep a cae in the tank.

 

[Frank Castle]

When my minnows breed, my cae goes through the java moss and munches the eggs. When my goldfish spawn, I move him in with them to eat all the eggs because I can't be bothered raising the fry. I don't know if a cae would be able to take on your convicts, but if I wanted to keep my eggs, I wouldn't keep a cae in the tank.

LOL I knew you'd show up as soon as I said "Convicts" haha. I don't even know what a Cae is or where I could find one, but I definitely want to keep the fry since they will be Pinks and have astounding red coloration as normal. They will be stunners.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

LOL I knew you'd show up as soon as I said "Convicts" haha. I don't even know what a Cae is or where I could find one, but I definitely want to keep the fry since they will be Pinks and have astounding red coloration as normal. They will be stunners.

Yup. I love me a nice convict.

Cae is Chinese Algae Eater.

Can I have some pics of said convicts please?

 

[Evilking]

Chinese algae eater could work but can be aggresive when it gets bigger. I think it will get picked on and even killed by convicts. Pictus and Redtail Shark are a bad choice. Pictus will eat the fries and eat all the foods before your convicts can even get to the food. Retail sharks are aggressive fish that will even give a convict a run for its money. If you are worried about food at the bottom. Feed the fish less and more often is a good choice. Loaches are a good choice for bottom feeders. I always had luck with Kuhli (sp) and clown loach. Banjo cats and Raphael are good bottom feeders too but might eat the fries. They are not active swimmers and you will mostly not even see them once you put them in your tank. Bushy nose are good pleco's but more of an algea eater. I keep them with my fries and never had issues.

 

[Frank Castle]

Yup. I love me a nice convict.

Cae is Chinese Algae Eater.

Can I have some pics of said convicts please?

lol I gotta have some fun with that ....why do the white-collar sweetheart white girls love big bad Convicts?? You see what I did there with the wordplay?

Yea, I haven't messed with the pix upload/URL and whatnot, I still have to figure it out and find a way to do it since my digital camera is a bit outdated somehow.

Chinese algae eater could work but can be aggresive when it gets bigger. I think it will get picked on and even killed by convicts. Pictus and Redtail Shark are a bad choice. Pictus will eat the fries and eat all the foods before your convicts can even get to the food. Retail sharks are aggressive fish that will even give a convict a run for its money. If you are worried about food at the bottom. Feed the fish less and more often is a good choice. Loaches are a good choice for bottom feeders. I always had luck with Kuhli (sp) and clown loach. Banjo cats and Raphael are good bottom feeders too but might eat the fries. They are not active swimmers and you will mostly not even see them once you put them in your tank. Bushy nose are good pleco's but more of an algea eater. I keep them with my fries and never had issues.

I had actually thought about BNPs and they are easy to find or Rubberlip Plecos....are there other Plecos that stay small like those 2? Don't those loaches get big too? I saw like 14" for Clown Loaches...

 

[Evilking]

Rubber lip pleco's would be a good choice, but not sure on how they would be around eggs. Yes clowns do get big but take forever to get to 14" but are great and active fish. That is why fishes over 6" are expensive. If you can find petricola catfish they are great tank mates with most smaller cichlids. The hard part is you want to keep a bottom dweller with eggs, fries and parent. If it is just with fries and no parent . Cory will be a good choice. How big is your convict tank?

 

[Frank Castle]

Rubber lip pleco's would be a good choice, but not sure on how they would be around eggs. Yes clowns do get big but take forever to get to 14" but are great and active fish. That is why fishes over 6" are expensive. If you can find petricola catfish they are great tank mates with most smaller cichlids. The hard part is you want to keep a bottom dweller with eggs, fries and parent. If it is just with fries and no parent . Cory will be a good choice. How big is your convict tank?

ATM, it is just a 20L - they way I do things, is when they breed, I give them a few weeks or so until they start to shun the free-swimming fry and move the parents to another tank to breed again while carefully sexing and removing all males from the fry tank and putting them in a males-only tank. I have several tanks for this before going back to #1.

I just went and bought the Convicts today just to get something breeding for now. They are about 2.5",, maybe 3" max and the LFS said they have all been breeding randomly, but they siphon up the eggs. The tank itself has about 12-15 fake plants, a castle, some décor and a large arch made of rocks containing about 25+ caves that stretches the entire length and 85% of the height of the tank in the back.

It has a Marineland Penguin 150 rated to 30 gallons and when I drained it down to move it a few weeks ago I counted less than 15 gallons total in the tank itself. Probably about 15-20lbs. of gravel too

I'll get some pix up here soon.

 

[Evilking]

If it is just a fry tank I leave it bare bottom with no decor for easier cleaning and switch to sponge filters (more fry safe). I would not put any bottom dwellers in a fry tank since you don't want more waste added due to tank size and any available space for the fry's to grow is valuable. My honest opinion with your setup I would not add any bottom dwellers to the tank. I have not kept convicts in awhile but don't remember them being very messy eater. Out of curious why are you breeding so many convicts?

 

[Frank Castle]

If it is just a fry tank I leave it bare bottom with no decor for easier cleaning and switch to sponge filters (more fry safe). I would not put any bottom dwellers in a fry tank since you don't want more waste added due to tank size and any available space for the fry's to grow is valuable. My honest opinion with your setup I would not add any bottom dwellers to the tank. I have not kept convicts in awhile but don't remember them being very messy eater. Out of curious why are you breeding so many convicts?

I just searched 3 stores today for sponge filters and no one sells or makes them anymore. I like to make lots of caves because IDK how long it will take to sell the babies, so I like to make sure they are comfortable and can hide from their "unculled", larger, more aggressive siblings, at least until I can cull or sell-off the biggest ones, but judging by the Convict-fans here asking for pix, I have a feeling I'll be getting PMs in no time LOL.....

In response to your question, I'm NOT sure how many I will breed, but at this size, about 40 babies will survive at a time (going from past clutches), but they are the brightest red I have ever seen and are heterozygous for Pink, so I am breeding them to enhance already desirable qualities and try to get "High-red" Pink Convicts. Almost the entire dorsal fins are red on my females, I love it.