# Breeding for quality



## FishBreeding (Aug 13, 2010)

I was wondering how you can determine quality at a young age for your fish. I would like to know because I cant wait for the fish to mature they will be too big for my tank space so need to figure out which ones would be the best. Are the bigger ones at a young age always the biggest when they grow up? and ones that have defined colors now will they stay the most colorful? Thanks any help would be great thanks.


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## toddnbecka (Jun 30, 2006)

If you're breeding convicts it doesn't matter much, they're common as flies and about as valuable. Convict fry are best used for feeders for something more worthwhile IMO. Same w/bristlenose pleco's. I have a couple dozen breeding size now, would be overrun with them if I kept more than a few of the fry. I use the brown fry for feeders for my cichlids and knife fish, and grow out the relatively few albino and calico fry.


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## FishBreeding (Aug 13, 2010)

thanks for your comment it didnt really help me though


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## Fishy Freak (Jun 1, 2011)

I've not bred convicst, but in other fish the bigger ones do seem to be the stronger healther ones, however some sexes one is larger so culling all the smallest ones may result in a single sex group. Any that seem weaker and not eating as well as the others will be smaller so they could go. Someone else may be able to help more.


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## toddnbecka (Jun 30, 2006)

If you're wanting to pick out show-quality fish you really do need to raise hundreds of them to maturity and select the best few of those. A speaker at a fish club meeting addressed that question a few months ago. IME the biggest ones do show up fairly early, but larger size tends to indicate a more aggressive fish. Colors are a different matter entirely, since cichlids use colors/patterns to communicate. I had a group of peacocks growing out in a 75, 3m/7f. One of the males showed full colors at about 3", the other 2 males didn't look nearly as vivid. One male was sold off, and a couple months later the other male also showed full colors. Within a week one of the males was dead.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

The largest fry will not always be the biggest long0term. Often it is the first to breed, but may also be the first to stop growing. Over time, fish-keepers tend to select for younger breeding and more aggression. Think about it, you buy fry, keep the first pair to spawn,and sell the rest. 

First cull all the "weird-looking" fry, Bend spines, missing fins or gill-covers. Then you have to raise enough large enough to really look at them. Then you can start selected for a specific trait. My convict mommy has a nice green color, but none of her fry do. I think they'll show it, but not until ready to breed. And I don't have space for a second convict pair. I had a horrible time getting rid of only one spawn. I agree you need to work with something that has some value or get a piscavore to eat your rejects.


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## FishBreeding (Aug 13, 2010)

So basically I have to wait until they are grown? And is there a fish that is big enough to eat young convicts yet is small enough to fit in a 120 gallon tank?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Almost anything will eat small fry. But I have heard stories of convict "feeders" escaping oscars and pike cichlids, growing up, breeding and taking over a big tank. It probably does select for smarter fish. Fish in the hobby usually get dumber as being the first one caught can be a good thing.


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## toddnbecka (Jun 30, 2006)

I keep 3 breeding pairs of cutteri in a 90 with 6 P. typus catfish. Out of at least 6 spawns and hundreds of fry there are now 2 juvies about 1" long. A nice size for the Carapo knife in the 40 that eats ALL the fry from the cutteri pair and BN pleco's that spawn in that tank.


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## FishBreeding (Aug 13, 2010)

I think i may get a pike cichlid in order to eat some of my convict fry and my T-barb loves the little guys and then i can pick out some to save as they get older


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