Hello after a week of wondering why my male ceibal was hiding in a cave far from my female convict, and also wondering why the convict was protecting an area of the tank as if she had babies...I realized that indeed she had babies, almost a week ago in fact. The babies are already free swimming and are very plentiful, about a hundred of these little guys. In the tank is her, a female 4 inch convict she is 7 years old, a 4.5 inch male red ceibal just a few months old, 4 blue rainbows, 3 giant danios, 4 white tip tetras, a Hifin Pleco and a Bristlenose pleco. Right now nothing will go near these babies obviously due to her aggressive nature while protecting them. I dont have a lot of space to house these babies but would really like to see if I could raise them up and then find homes. I would love to see what these guys will turn out like if they survive. I have taken care of fry before but i have always had an extra tank to provide the fry a safe home after they reached a certain size but now I only have my turtle tank and my girlfriend had a small 10 gallon peaceful community tank. Has anybody ever seen this mix before? and if anybody could give me an idea on what to do to help the fry it would be great.
Red Ceibal X Convict Hybrids
- Thread starter ChrisH
- Start date
post pics! I would love to see the ceibal x con hybrids! It doesnt happen often that south and central americans hybridize.
Fry are only a week old so you can just barely see them. I need suggestions on what to do with them, seems to me that ten or more have been eaten , a smaller group now swimming with mother convict. I have a 2 gallon tank with a small filter but no heater, I know this is tiny but would it suffice for now? Also how would i move those guys?. These pictures are very poor quality taken with my beat up phone.. first picture is the full tank convict had babies on far left in the big rocks and the male ceibal is now in a cave in fear of the convict on the far right. Put up first picture of male ceibal and second of female convict and you can see few small fry.
Ceibals don't necessarily need a heater, so if those genes are passed on a 10 gal is fine for raising fry. I keep ceibals in a pond spring thru fall in Milwaukee, even in summer night temps get down to 50'F. In winter I keep them in an unheated tank, on a north wall, in the coldest room in the house without a problem. In fact they do best with a winter cool down. The fry thrive in an algae covered tank, and will graze on it all day.
thank you very much, also do you think they would graze on algea wafers while in their seperate tank. I have had many batches of convict fry before and have raised them up in seperate growout tanks 10 and 15 gallons it just happenes that now I have no other tanks besides that tiny one. I may be able to find a fifteen gallon in my shed aha.
Bet the algae wafers would do fine.
I'm not much in favor of hybrids, but if your spawn really is a ceibal/convict mix, it would debunk the theory that Centrals and S Americans can't hybridize. And these 2 are probably geographically, and genetically further apart than many that have been suggested to not possibly hybridize.
I'm not much in favor of hybrids, but if your spawn really is a ceibal/convict mix, it would debunk the theory that Centrals and S Americans can't hybridize. And these 2 are probably geographically, and genetically further apart than many that have been suggested to not possibly hybridize.
Ciebal?!This is the first time the name has cuaght my eye.............I have been experimenting with convict cichlids for the past 10 years...........More pix pleae and infop on the Ciebal......
Are those the only 2 cichlids in the tank? The male isn't helping at all?
Leaving them in there is best for them. A 2 gallon is too small, you may get some wide temp swings and that might kill the fry since they're still fragile.
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Leaving them in there is best for them. A 2 gallon is too small, you may get some wide temp swings and that might kill the fry since they're still fragile.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Australoheros "red ceibal" is a Uruguayan species.
They can take outrageous temp swings from highs in the 90sF to lows in the high 40'S.
Mine top out at about 7" for the males, and 5" for females.
I have them in my pond April thru Oct, and keep them in unheated tanks in winter.
Male in non breeding coloration above, female below
They spawn at very small size, 2" female, 3" male
Mine have spawned the last few years in the pond, and like to lead fry into very shallow water to graze on algae and detritus
They can take outrageous temp swings from highs in the 90sF to lows in the high 40'S.
Mine top out at about 7" for the males, and 5" for females.
I have them in my pond April thru Oct, and keep them in unheated tanks in winter.
Male in non breeding coloration above, female below
They spawn at very small size, 2" female, 3" male
Mine have spawned the last few years in the pond, and like to lead fry into very shallow water to graze on algae and detritus
Great pictures mine will likely reach its maximum size as well and looks similiar to your. He grew so fast in the last month about three inch growth since i got him the start of summer. They are the only two cichlids in the tank along with 4 blue rainbows 2 white tip tetras and 2 giant danios. Those guys are fast enough to escape those and work as dithers. My female convict is 6-7 years old and has had many broods of fry in passed but only ever with my male convict which would always beat her up and kill fry unless i removed them. The male convict died in a fight with my friends JAck Dempsey I was holding for a while. This time I guess the female convict made sure he had no chance of eating them and forced him into the corner of the tank. He ventures out just to feed. The numbers of fry are slowely declining and though I don't have the housing for them I would love to see them grow so I am confuse don what to do next. I also realize though with their mother is the best place for them and she is doing a hell of a job taking care of them.
