by Angela Johnson

Created on: January 22, 2009

These pretty little nasty fish, grow into pretty big nasty fish of about 12 centimeters in length at full adult size. They are very aggressive but remain popular in the aquarium industry. Because of their aggressive tempertment, smaller fish are normally not safe around these gorgoues fish. Yet still, the ease of keeping convicts and their unique personality make them a great introductory aquarium fish. The best tank mates for your convict are other aggressive or semi-aggressive fish of equal or larger size. No matter what the tankmate, it should be fast and be provided with plenty of hiding spaces to escape the inevitable wrath of its convict neighbor.

Do not confuse cichlids as a whole with convicts, which are only one particular type of cichlid. There are 57 Orders of fish in the world,one of these orders is the Perciformes which contains 148 unique Families. The Cichlidae, or what is commonly called the cichlids, are one of these families. The Convict Cichlid is also called the Zebra Cichlid, or scientifically named Archocentrus nigrofasciatus. As cichlids go, the brilliantly striped convict is extremely aggressive and not fit for community tanks. There are many other types of cichlids with more calm or intermediate temperaments.

Convict Cichlids interact best with other convicts, and keeping them together will allow you to see some interesting social dynamicsnot to mention that these fish breed like rabbits and will pair up very easily. Just keep in mind that a breeding female may become very territorial, only keep one pair per tank or have a very large tank (at least 30 gallons per fish and many flat rocks or hiding spaces). Another solution for a peaceable convict tank is to keep only females together to prevent spawning. For best results, always introduce a fish to its tank mates when it is young, as adult fish may be more territorial.

Other aggressive cichlids also make good tank mates, such as red terrors, and jack dempseys. These will also add variety to your tank, but beware that even with other aggressive species, your convict may still insist on bullying or harassing other fish, even fish much larger than him. I have successfully kept the milder mannered peacock cichlids with my convicts. If started from a very young age, the convicts will accept most other types of cichlidsthat is right up until the babies are born. After spawning, the convict is a devoted parent, and will go to extremes to keep its babies safe from all perceived threats.

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