Convict Cichlid Care and Requirements

Freeze Dried Fish Food
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The Convict Cichlid fish are  tough and can survive is pretty bad conditions. Its body is well designed for combat and speed. It can well adjust in various kinds of environments from thick vegetation to open waters. These fish  like rocks, pipes, gravel and burrows. Sometimes, if you place a decoration in the tank, you can expect your convict to take ownership of it and chase all other fishes away from that spot.

Where water parameters are concerned, they appreciate a PH of 6.6 to 7.8 and temperature of 26 to 29 °C (79 to 84 °F). Although not fussy about water type like many fish, they will thrive in these conditions. They are also tolerant to higher levels of ammonia. But keep  changing the water often as a prolonged exposure to this toxic stuff causes irreparable damage to gills and organs which results in slow imminent death.

When it comes to feeding, convicts are hogs. They are omnivorous fish. Feel free to give them commercial pellets, dried blood worms, dried tubifex worms, beef heart etc. Sometimes I give them an altogether different treat like cooked fish that's rich in protein. They just go mad when such a thing is dropped into the water. Within minutes, the entire fish is devoured and only the bones remain. Sometimes I drop a little bit of brown bread so those who are small too can tear off bits and pieces and get their nutrition. When feeding, you must keep an eye on who is hogging and who is starving. When feeding pellets, I notice that some of the convict cichlid fish are not big enough to swallow and end up starving. In these cases, I either separate the big from the small or provide fine powder food in addition to the big type food so all can get their share.

Aquarium Decoration - Scull
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How big does a convict cichlid get? Male convicts grow up to 6.6 centimeters, while females get up to 5.5 centimeters. Provide them a reasonable sized tank with some hiding type decorations, like the one to the left. One thing to note, is that the are not right for a planted aquarium. They like to dig and uproot and rearrange stuff according to their own preference, so for convict cichlid fish, rocky, coral or shipwreck theme will be cool. I tried the potted plant method (plants in a pot full of soil covered with gravel) and these fish pulled out all the plants, gravel and soil making the water muddy. Everything was a mess and I had a lot of work that day.

Hydrilla
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So just to keep things simple, provide a large cichlid fish tank, good filtration, regular water changes and a varied diet; but do not over feed them. If you are more of the chemistry type, get your pH ammonia test kits and try to get the water parameters according to what's mentioned above. I don't check water parameters and stuff as the test kits are too expensive here. I just do regular water changes, provide good filtration and have a huge mass of green hair algae and hydrilla to maintain water quality in the natural way.