Personally, I think the Convict Cichlid is a beautiful addition in an aquarium. I love the color the stripes, body structure and the fins. They swim all over the tank making them selves visible at all times. They are very active and alert fish. They are not that expensive too.
Its only that they are a bit rare down where I am. The only problem is their temperament.
They are bullies by nature and will pick on other fish. So when keeping these bad boys, you will need to be selective about tank mates. With these guys around, it gives me the impression of a prison environment. They attack mostly at night. They pick targets and usually next morning you will notice someone all bashed up or dead.
Now I'm going to talk about what fish can be kept with these ones. I would say bigger fish that are well build like oscars, tinfoils, clarias, plecos, irridescent shark, flower horn etc. These are big and tough fish that will go well with convicts. But even then thats not the end of it. Don't think that convists will even spare these guys. When it come down to protecting their young they get much much more aggressive and are known to attack even fish which are double their size. You see, the convict is very fast and attacks and runs and dodges.
They have a sharp row of fine teeth which cause damage fast. So avoid keeping a pair in a populated tank. Just keep a small number of either male or female in a tank with the above mentioned fish and everything should be just fine. Every now and then, there might be some quarrels, but otherwise things shouldn't get out of hand.
Its very important to keep a watch for injured or stressed fish, especially in a tank in which convicts are included, as these are very agressive fish and agression will definately vary from personality to personality.
They are mostly agressive with their own kind. It's kinda like - eliminate the competition thing. The dominant cichlid will try and destroy his strongest competitor first, since he sees him as a threat and then will move down the ladder. I have observed these patterns for many years now.
So to keep things simple and calm, keep with big 'take no shit' fish as mentioned above. Avoid keeping male and female together, and keep a watch for any trouble and remove the troublemakers. There are some real bad ass fishies who just enjoy harassing other fish.
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