i just checked to see how they were doing. they have been digging out the same spot as last time (i setup the 20 the same as the 10) and sure enough tonight they have a new batch of eggs. hard to tell how many because many are on the gravel, not just the slate.

on a separate issue one of the lionheads died. the white one with the black saddle had been pretty lethargic, just hung out by the surface by the plant for the past few days. i was afraid of is was going to die. gynmonkey said to add more salt and that should help, but that night after i talked to him he was already dead. everyone else looks good though.

How big are the babies & what do you have to do to look after them ???

the fry (babies) are about a quarter of an inch so far. i have them in their own 10 gallon baby tank with a medium bio-bag (whisper filter cartridge without the frame or carbon) on the end of the intake to the filter so they dont get sucked up. i just feed them hikari fancy guppy because it is so small. i could also just feed crushed flakes or something like that. the eggs are about 1.5, maybe 2, millimeters across and the parents will take care of them.

That is so cool. It's so neat to see what other people are breeding & how it's done. It sounds like it's been successful for you so far. Are you going to sell them to the store where you work or to private parties?

the nicest convicts and platies will hopefully go to the store i work at, the rest will most likely become food for my other animals (jaguar cichlid, water turtles, maybe the bichirs, possibly even the pacman frog).

Sorry the lionhead died. They are pretty sensitive. Any theories on cause of death?

water quality is obviously the first consideration, but the others seem fine. and if he and the other lionhead did fine in the ten gallon (which was not pre-cycled) than those two plus two more shouldnt have had problems in a 55 that was not pre-cycled. i think it was something internal that he has been dealing with the whole time. i dont know if i ever said anything here (i think i did), but he was getting big for a while when he was in the 10. his stomach was just getting bigger and bigger and i was considering not feeding for a few days, but then i saw him poop, so i kept feeding him. as soon as i put the bubble wand in the 55 he stayed under it for a day, then just stayed at the top by the bamboo for a few days until he died. i saw him eat once during this time, but his stomach was getting smaller and smaller. i think there was something wrong internally. whether it was a pathogen (parasites, bacteria, virus, etc), or some sort of defect (bad genetics, malfunctioning organ, etc) something internal was wrong.

the convict eggs hatched already, i noticed it right after i added water. i can see them, so i dont what happened last time when i couldnt and figured they were eaten. in the baby tank the convict fry are doing fine it seems, and there are at least 2 platy fry in there as well. i think i will breed some out of the tank that werent raised by their parents, to see if their parenting abilities are altered in any way.

I saw some convicts in the petstore today when I went to get more cichlid pellets for my paradise fish. They were black & white & some had little pink bellies. They weren't very big. I can see why they call them convicts...the stripes look like old-time prison uniforms.

I love the way everyone does these little breeding, feeding & parenting experiments. The fact that you work in a petstore must open up more avenues for you that many of us dont have. This is an interesting thread.

Sorry about your lionheasd...they're very pretty.

there is a big cloud of convict fry in the tank now. it looks like there is about 50-75 fry. there ended up being about 15 cinvict fry that made it from the first batch after that platy ate most of them. they are now living with about 5 platy fry/babies.

I have new convict fry and it i can see the babies when i put food in i dont know, however, when to take mom and dad out or if i even should any advice would help me greatly sorry about ur lion head losing something as small as a fish can be pretty discouraging but i recommend you get a new one

the convict parents would usually start to fight at some point, at which time i remove them. or i have moved the parents anyways before that happens.

HMMm,
i was wondering what would happen if i at least left the mother in there she seems to be taking food in her mouth and feeding the fry which look very lively.
ill attempt to move the male but they still look ok as far as fighting is concerned :) thank you