Tropicalfish.co.za
This is a daily journal detailing the adventures of four convict cichlids.

Names [hey, you've got to give pets names, it's the rule :) ]

I bought two small convicts and hoped they would turn out to be a pair as they were still too small to determine their gender. But unfortunately when they grew, they were both female (Stripette and Zebby).

So I bought one new male (Finny) which paired up with a female (Stripette).
The pair laid eggs but ate the first spawning. The second female (Zebby) wa rejected and left to hide or be

fought with. She turned almost whitish in colour and hid away at the top of the tank or behind the filter. I really felt sorry for her.

So I had to decide to get rid of her by selling her back to the fish shop or get another male ... decisions, decisions. Ok, so I bought a second male (Blotch) and when I put him in the tank, he swam between the existing pair (Finny and Stripette) trying to separate them, constantly until they finally gave up and he won her (Stripette) over as his new mate.

So Blotch and Stripette were now a new pair, in the meantime Finny and Zebby started getting closer and the female regained all her colour and now displayed beautiful colours, and they are now a pair too.
They spend most of their time under rocks and in the ceramic pot on it’s side.

In the meantime, Blotch and Stripette spawned a batch of eggs which was eaten as it was their first batch (even though it was Stripette’s second spawning). Stripette then laid eggs again (her third time) and this is where the story begins…


Continue to Birth to first month