# Can I put Baby Convict Cichlids into a "community" tank?



## avalanche333

I have 2 tanks at home.

1 with African Cichlids + 4 baby Convicts. This tank is 45 Gallon.
1 with various fish (Rainbows, Angle, tetras, bottom feeders.. bunch of community fish etc) This is a 75 Gallon.

The 45 Gallon has the 4 convicts about 6-8 weeks old. 2 are almost twice the size of the others which leads me to believe they are the males.

I do not want them to breed so i was thinking to move the 2 females out of the 45 gal tank and into the 75 gallon with community fish.


Is it safe to do this or will the 2 cichlids starts attacking other fish when they are bigger? My though behind this is that they will not be able to breed so they wont get too aggressive. And the fact they are in there at young age maybe they will get used to the other fish and leave them alone when bigger.

Any thoughts/opinions/advice on this?


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## NatBarry

If I were you, I wouldn't do this as once the convicts get older they will become very aggressive and I can guarantee it will kill some of those nice community fish you have. Have you tried taking them to your local fish store? They might be interested in buying them from you.

Nat


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## avalanche333

All fish stores in my area have a surplus of convicts and no one is willing to pay for them. But they would take them for free. So this may be the better option then.


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## lohachata

at 6-8 weeks of age ; the convicts should be about 1/2" long..possibly slightly more..so i would say that the size difference has nothing to do with the sex of the fish.just who eats more...while they won't breed for quite some time ; they will still be very aggressive..
i agree..if you put them in the community tank ; they will eventually kill everything else in there.


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## Obsidian

Convict + Community tank = really bad idea.


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## avalanche333

Thanks everyone.
Think I'll be ok to leave 2 of the convicts with the various African cichlids? Or are they too aggressive for this also?


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## lohachata

africans need hard alkaline water...convicts like more acidic water


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## avalanche333

lohachata said:


> africans need hard alkaline water...convicts like more acidic water


Pardon my ignorance but does this really matter that much?
A friend of mine has had a mix of Yellow's and Cichilds for long time now and he does nothing but add tap water with some stress coat when doing water changes. Nothing to increase/decrease pH or alkaline, and the fish have always been fine.

I've been doing the same and all seems well in both my tanks, mind you I've only had cichilds about 4 weeks.

Thanks,


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## lohachata

i always tell people.."you can put any fish you want ; in any environment you want ; with any other kind of fish you want.."because what you do is your business..your money and your tank..
that was just my opinion..


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## NatBarry

I must agree that convicts do need more acidic water but I admit that I have had convicts with my malawi cichlids a few times now...I think they are a lovely mixture, not only look good but the convicts wont show their aggression too much due to the africans/malawi's being just as aggressive. If you want, take the risk and just see how they turn out! 
Nat


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## ron v

avalanche333 said:


> Pardon my ignorance but does this really matter that much?
> Thanks,


If you want to create an optimum enviroment for the fish that depend on you for their survival, listen to loha. If that doesn't matter to you then its OK.


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## emc7

Convict are CA not SA. The like somewhat more acidic water than Malawian, but on the high side of 7 and on the hard side. The tank-raised strains are fine in Malawi water. Which makes them a better tank mate for Africans than all the big soft-water SAs like Oscars. 

However mixing American and African cichlids is always risky as the fish don't understand each others "I give up" message. Success largely depends on the size of the fish and the size of the tank. What works today, may fail tomorrow as the fish get bigger and meaner. IMO convicts may eventually decide to "stand their ground" and then you may have all-out war.


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## avalanche333

I decided to get a test kit and watch my water regularly.

Cichlid tank is at apx 7.5, maybe bit higher pH.
Nitrate between 0.25 - 0.5
Ammonia < 0.25

Do these levels seem reasonable?

Thanks for everyones input.


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## carr65

convicts are a no no in a community tank unless you want to ring the dinner bell for the convicts cause they are going to kill and eat every fish in the community tank .


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## emc7

I don't think they'd eat them, just kill them.


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## Guest

*convicts*

*Fish in general, not only convicts, are very seldom wildcaught when you buy them at your LFS. Therefore they have never known what is their ideal water conditions ,most likely since birth.*
*so unless you are a serious breeder, and your water conditions are horrible, the convicts will live just fine in what you have, although maybe not an exact match for what wild convicts prefer. The best indicator of male or female will come with a little more age. The female will develop a noticeable pink or red stomach area. As for the aggression, all cichlids are aggressive to some degree, or a better word might be territorial. So if you have more convicts than tank area to allow their territories to be established and guarded, because thats what they will do, then there will be trouble.*


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