New here :) Wanting to set up a tank for a pair of convicts

Hello I'm new here ......I have a 25 gallon tank which id like to setup for a pair of convicts...with no other fish , I will let them breed then move the fry to other tanks when they're juvies. I have never kept cichlids before and they sound really interesting and fun to keep to me
I currently only keep Fancy guppies which I have been selective breeding for 3 years and they are also a great fish :thumb:

My questions are:

1) What type of tank do convicts prefere ...They like rocks and caves right?what about temp/lightning/plants/gravel....etc.

2) How often do convicts spawn and how many fry do they produce in 1 spawn?

3) Does anyone know a good safe website where I can order a pair of convicts BUT it has to be a website that ships fish to all over the world cause I live in alexandria,Egypt and I have been having a hard time trying to find one that would ship to me.....otherwise id have to wait for many months till the fish store gets convict cichlids....Last week I checked they had 3 types of cichlids but not convicts that wouldn't fit nicely in my 25 gallon.

Thanks alot :drooling: :fish: :dancing:

tannable75 said:

Sounds like there arent any in Egypt. He could sell them there :roll:

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Yupp....this is true Convicts ..and generally cichlids aren't at all common in egypt :roll: I can very very easily sell them and for a BIG prophit here :drooling: But anyway im not getting convicts in hope of selling their babies for money , I just like them as a fish i've never kept before but also if I can sell the babies it would be helpful to atleast cover up my expenses buying them quality food and the tons of BBS eggs I already buy which are really expensive here :? So my convicts breeding is not at all a problem ,I have the time, space and homes for their fry if I do get some or many :fish:

I understand that they multiply like crazy and this is going to be good....I mean, i want more people to start realizing that fish keeping is a fascinating hobby here and maybe these little guys will help me do so

Also im definitely going to buy more tanks in the near future and expand my hobby and even try new types of cichlids but for now im starting with just one type of cichlids I think would be good as a first cichlid......

Anyway now i have to go feed my Guppy fry BBS feeding time :dancing: ....they go MAD about it !

tannable75 said:

Are aquariums in general not common or just cichids?

Sounds like you need to open an LFS.

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LOL no ...you can easily get an aquarium and some common fish like goldfish, zebra danios, some barbs....etc but i'd readily accept to open one...maybe later when I gain some more knowledge on various types of fish... , I know 6 LFSs in my area so thats quite alot but 3 of them totally suck :x Their fish are all the "feeder type" even the guppies they sell are feeder guppies (but mine are fancy) and are kept in icky conditions that I never buy anything from there except tanks cause they look so diseased! I once got 2 guppies from them and I was still new to the hobby a few years ago so I didnt quarantine my new fish and all the tank bloomed with itchy icky fin rot And i lost some of my best fancies to the horrible disease And since then I decided never to get anything from there....anyway these fish store owners are coarse people who have only received minimum kind of education that just want money...so u can imagine how horrible their fishs' quality would be!

The other three are much way better! Two of them are decent shops with healthy fish and good shop owners that atleast care about their fish. And the last LFS (which is the ONLY LFS i deal with now ) is super awesome :thumb: Their tanks are crystal clear and they sell all kind of fish, all kinds of plants ,aquariums,decorations ,equipment and their fish are SUper fish! They sell all the fancy types which gets shipped to them often .The shop owners run the place themselves every single day! ...No "petshop guys" stand in there so everything is just fantastic! They also get cichlids so often and im sure that if I tell them that id like convicts they'd get some!They are really nice people! They are also very knowledgeable and keep many rare and fragile species (not for sale...its their own) in tanks at their house and shop and u can see how educated they are when it comes to fish keeping by how they keep some of the most sensitive fresh and saltwater fish alive for many many years.....I mean I see the same fishes there everytime I visit since maybe about 8 years and they are still there :lol: Last time I visited we talked about guppy selective breeding and he was explaining to me a few things on how to obtain certain traits...never tried talking to him in ANY fish topic and he didnt know what imtalking about LOL very impressive people......they were the reason I got into fish keeping and i hope i'll be the reason to enchance many other people too Fish keeping is just beautiful :fish: ....isn't it??

Ooops! Seems like im in the mood for writing! Sorry i Blabbered too much LOL :lol: