What You Should Know About CONVICT CICHLID Fish Care

Photo  by Marcel Sigg 

All people that are growing cichlids know that we are in front of an exciting hobby. It is perfect for beginners, especially if they want to raise convict cichlid fish. This is because it is quite easy to take care of them. You are not to have to deal with a lot of problems when breeding them. The zebra cichlid the common name stands out as highly attractive and this does bring in a lot of people wanting to raise them.

Convict cichlid fish are capable of adapting to different water conditions. An aquarium for them needs to include some rocks, artificial caves intended for breeding and some flat stones. Plants are not really needed because they are to be destroyed by this fish. In the event that you do want to add plants for design, you should use plants that are hardier like Amazonian sword plants or java fern.

These fish will accept quite a wide range of PH and temperature. One thing that is really important is that all has to be kept stable and no quick changes have to be made. The water PH level should be around 7 while the temperature is perfect if kept around twenty-five degrees Celsius. Convict cichlid fish stand out as an omnivore and are capable of eating almost anything that you buy. Aquarium plants can also be taken into their diet.

One really important fact is that a convict cichlid fish is really aggressive when placed in the same tank with other fish. When mating season appears this becomes highly true. We do recommend that you keep them in a separate tank when breeding season comes. All convict cichlids will be easy to breed. The parents are always guarding fry and eggs and are really protective parents.

The bottom line is that it will be easy to raise a convict cichlid fish. In the event that one beginner is looking for one fish that can be raised easily and looks very well there will be no real problems.

Article Directory: EzineArticles

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Cichlids - Proper Care of Your CONVICT CICHLIDS

Keeping cichlids is an exciting hobby. For beginners, it is great to start off by keeping convict cichlid fishes and taking care of them is relatively easy. Convict cichlid fish is very easy to keep and breed in the aquarium. The Convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) is a type of fish from the family-Cichlidae, native to Central America. These popular aquarium cichlids are also known as the zebra cichlid.

An Amatitlania nigrofasciatus male.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Convict cichlid fish is a hardy species that can easily adapt to almost any water conditions which made them easy to maintain and breed in aquariums. The aquarium for Convict cichlids should be decorated with a few flat stones and rocks and artificial caves for breeding. Plants are not necessary because of most of the plants will be destroyed by the cichlids.

However, if you really want to put some plants, it is better to put some hardier plants such as Amazonian swords plant and java fern to withstand their aggression. Using these plants, it can help to beautify the aquarium and make the cichlids feel more at home. In fact, as long as you avoid putting harmful toxic objects in your aquarium decoration, your fish will make themselves at home.

They accept a very wide temperature range and pH level range as long as it keep relatively stable but is best kept in 20-28C/ 68-82F and pH 6-8. Convict cichlids are unfussy omnivore and eat most types of prepare fish foods such as flake food and pellets. They also eat aquarium plants. By nature, Convict cichlids are aggressive towards other fish. This is more obvious during their breeding period. It is best to keep Convict cichlids in a separate tank for breeding.

In fact, Convict cichlids are one of the easiest fish in the world to breed. They can start spawning as young as 16 weeks of age. It is common to find a pair of Convict cichlids under a flat stone which the male Convict cichlid could have dug a cave under it earlier and they breed there.

Both cichlids parents will guard both the eggs and the fry. As good and protective parents, they can become very aggressive towards other fish that enters their breeding territory. The fry can be feed crushed flake food and newly hatched brine shrimp.

Because of its relativity small size along with ease for keeping and breeding, Convict cichlid fish is a great cichlid for beginners and aquarists who are interested in observing paid bonding and brood care.

In conclusion, keeping and breeding cichlids is a very satisfying and challenging hobby. Thus, it is very important that you know the secrets of taking care of your cichlids.

By Taylor Fox Article Source: EzineArticles

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