i got to small convict cichlids today and i have a few questions:

1.) is a special cichlid food really needed? i picked some up but i was wondering if normal flake food would be enough?

2.) are some convict cichlid's white stripes darker than others because one out of the two has almost black stripes so im not sure if its actualy a convict or not.

3.) why are they both sitting at the bottom of the tank? the tanks been cycled for a month and i let them sit in the bag for a while and added some of the tank water slowly and all that so why are they both still sitting at the bottom. its been a few hours.

4.) any tips for keeping convicts? (they are in a 20L)

thanks
~joma

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"just do it"

1 Feeding different kinds of food is always better, so I would choose for both. I don't think flake food only wil be enough, it often isn't very nutricious. I do not know what kinds of food they sell in America, but just try to feed your fish different types of food.
2 I think that is normal indeed, it might show who of them is/are the big boss(es).
3 I think they are still a bit stressed from the transport, so that might be the reason. Look again tomorrow.
4 20 liters seems very smaal to me to keep cichlids in, as most cichlids can get very territorial. I live in the Netherlans, and here I think the minimum would be about 80 liters, but i don't know what is usual in America of course.

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Currently a fan shrimp fan
80cm aquarium Multiculti, Aqua40* shrimpz
*available only in Holland

flakes alone will not be enough nutrition as stated above. I have always fed mine a combination of pellets and frozen foods. its better to vary the diet and they will grow at the right pace and show their colors much nicer. dont worry about them sitting at the bottom, they need to adjust. Convicts are very hardy so your water conditions would have to be horrible to hurt them. I think the 20L is 20 long and not liters right????? if it is liters then that tank would be way to small.

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55 Gallon Planted dirt bottom,Reproducing colony of Heterandria Formosa(Least Killifish), 2 Dwarf Puffers, 5 or so Gambusia, 2 Swamp darters???, Several Wild P. Latipinna(Sailfin Mollies), a handful of Jordanella Floridae(American Flagfish), 1 Lepomis Macrochirus(Bluegill fry)

Even if it was the length, i don't suppose it would be 20 feet. 20 inches or 20 cm wouldn't do either, I think.

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Currently a fan shrimp fan
80cm aquarium Multiculti, Aqua40* shrimpz
*available only in Holland

when i said 20L i ment a 20 GALLON long tank, not litters, feet, inches, or cm.

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"just do it"

Oh okay well that should do i'd think, but how do you mean 20 gallon long? Or is it a long tank and does it contain 20 gallon?

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Currently a fan shrimp fan
80cm aquarium Multiculti, Aqua40* shrimpz
*available only in Holland

its a tank that holds 20 gallons of water and the demensions are 30in x 12in x 12in

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"just do it"

Okay thank you, well that tank should be large enough

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Currently a fan shrimp fan
80cm aquarium Multiculti, Aqua40* shrimpz
*available only in Holland

Do you have anyone else in the tank as well???

Yeah they are not going to like flake food. These guys get a good size and feeding them flake food would be like keeping yourself on a purely liquid diet. Sometimes the darkness of the stripes is an indication of the sex of the Convict. They like the bottom more then the rest of the tank ,IMO, but they will start to move around some more as they get used to the tank and stop stressing over the move. Can you upload some pics?? I've seen a few different looking convicts. Some have short very Cichlid looking fins and the others have very long flowing fine looking fins. The one I had had the latter and I think they look so much more beautiful!!! Can't wait to get some more like that one!!

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10gal fry tank planted with Wisteria, Java Moss, Anuabis and Anacharis
35gal Sponge Bob tank with live bearing tropicals (daughters tank)
15gal planted with Swords, Java Fern, Wisteria and Red Rubin housing 10 fry and 2 bladder snails
55 gal with Oscar (future planted tank with angels and flowerhorns)
55 gal Community tank (platys, mollys, guppys, glass catfish, angels, phantom tetra, red eye tetra and swordtails)

Don't feel like a bad fish owner. I, too, had a pair of convicts in a 20 long tank, at first. However, you will learn that they grow very quickly, especially if feed well (live, frozen, and flake and pellet chichlid food products). I have separated my convicts for two reasons. One - they didn't get along, at even a young age, but they're opposite sexes (that confused me but I don't want babies anyway). Two - they grow way too rapidly to have more than 1 in a 20 gal for a long time. At maturity, they should have, at least, 30-40 gals per fish. If you plan to keep them long-term, you will eventually need to expand your hobby to accomodate their mature size. I believe that is what other members of the site had in mind with their negative replies. If you keep them to adulthood, they just need alot more space.