Convict Chilid

How do you know when Convict Chilid are ready to breed?
I think i have a male and a female that i got from Franna.
The male has a bump on his head and his fins are really dark,he is also very terratorial (spelled wrong maybe) because he chases the female around until she finds a hiding spot.
The female is light and always hides behind plants and swims away from the male.

 

its spelt cichlid not chilid

 

Thanks for clearing that up :redface:,i guess i will have to go look for a freshwater enclopedia to find out their breeding habits.

 

not really - you put them in a bucket and they will breed. they are actually a feeder fish for other CA cichlids

 

Like Henk said put them in water and they will breed.

The male normally have long pointed fins and a hump depending on the age and the female normally will have some orange/green colour on the belly and dorsal fin and her fins are much shorter

 

Thanks,but what do they do before they breed?,i need to know because i might need another tank if there are going to be fry.

 

The male normally digs a hole or take a flower pot or something for himself and then lure's the female to it

 

They do what most animals do, before breeding - chase each other around a lot! LOL!

 

Just feed them up nicely and they're sure to breed. As said before, they'll have a few chasing sessions, dig up some plants and shift some gravel. Eventually you'll see a pair of fish guarding a spot - this means they're either guarding eggs or planning on spawning there.

 

im starting to wonder if both arent male,the female doesnt have a green or orange patch on her stomach but she is much more pale than the male and smaller,she also doesnt have those long fins the male has.

 

How can you explain it? You explain how they differ, and yet, you ask if they are a pair?

 

hehe true

 

I dont know these fish,i have never had convicts before now,the way i heard it is that
Male:Bump on head with long dark fins.(all match)
Female:Lighter and smaller than the male with a orange or green patch on the belly (first 2 match but not the patch)

I only found out yesterday that the Convicts Franna gave me are adults,i thought they were still babies until i looked up on the internet how baby convicts look.im still new to this hobby so i dont know much about the fish.

 

you can check as well wether the other one does not have a bump but a rounder/sloped head, then it is most likely a female, males tend to have bumps on their heads

 

Male.

Female.

Is this right?,sorry i have a crap camera.

 

If I could take a guess, I'd say that you're right about the gender.

 

Here is a pic of my breeding pair the big one is the male and the small one is the female and can u see the colours on the female
Sorry for the dirty glass

 

Dasher, you convicts are a pair!
On the foto of the male: is that a real plant in the background, or plastic?
If it is real, you have a very rare and good looking Madagascar Lace plant there!

Johan008, your pair of convicts look like they are brother and sister!
The markings behind the black bar on their heads, show that they have very close genetics. Very interesting indeed!

 

Good one Gertjc I was wondering if someone would notice +1 in fact they are far from it the male I bought in potch for R5-00 (a story for another time) but the female I have now comes from JHB from my brother in law

 

definately a pair ,during breed ing the colors of the female and male brighten and they tend to stay in one area were they will breed ,they get very agresive also and territorail