Got a new fish

[t_chelle16]

First, the story (sorry, it's kind of long)

The office manager at the base vet clinic keeps fish (55 gallon community tank) so every time I went in, we'd always chat and if she had any problems, I'd try to help her out. She was really wanting a larger tank but they are moving in July so she was holding off. Then about a month ago her husband got an incredible deal on a used 130 gallon tank that he couldn't pass up. The only downside is it came with some fish. She planned on getting rid of the fish but she still wanted to know what they were (she just knew that they were cichlids), so she asked me to come over and identify them for her. It turns out she had 2 female JD's, a male black con, a male pink con, and an incredibly large male kenyi. I really, really liked the pink con, but I didn't have any place to put it. She did, however, say that I could have her neons when she got around to taking down the 55 gallon.

Last week she called me to set up a time for me to get the neons. She also asked if I wanted anything else. I still wanted the con and had been considering getting out of breeding/selling my african cichlids (which would free up my 20 gallon tank) but I still wasn't 100% sure that's what I wanted to do so I didn't say anything. Over the weekend, I decided for good to sell all my fry and arranged to take most of them to the LFS on Friday. I called her once, but got the answering machine and didn't leave a message. I called her a couple days later and her husband said she had just left to take the fish to someone. I was pretty bummed, but it was my own fault for not speaking up sooner. I decided that I'd still get rid of the fry then eventually put a goldfish in there when the ones in the pond started breeding.

Today I met with her to pick up the neons and she told me she gave the fish to The Pet Shop in Sedalia (the same place I sell my fry to). I planned on going to Sedalia today anyway so I stopped by. Sure enough, he was still there with the other fish she'd dropped off. I had to pay $7 for him as opposed to $0 if I had spoken up earlier, but selling my fry on Friday will more than offset that cost.

He's currently in my 20 gallon. I put a divider in there until Friday. Then I'll completely redo the tank and he'll have it all to himself. He's also a little beat up. His fins are pretty ragged, he has a quarter sized scrape on one side and a few spots that look like they're either small scrapes, bruises, or ammonia burn (the 130 gallon had really pitiful filtration). I put some Melafix and Maroxy in there so he should be just fine.

And now for the pics:



-Chelle

[Kirk]

Nice fish.

[grnlemonade]

nice looking convict, appears to be forming a nice nuchal hump .

[Nameless]

Wow, your convict looks nice. It looks way better compared to my very traditional young grey convict females.

[t_chelle16]

I got rid of most of my fry on Friday and rearranged the tank for the con.

It's still a little cloudy from changing the sand, but here's a pic:


And a couple pics from a few days ago that I haven't posted yet.



-Chelle

[M_wm]

Beauty Pink convict i love those guys. He looks pretty big! Good pick up even if you had to pay $7!

[t_chelle16]

He's going to be absolutely gorgeous once his fins grow back. He's right at 4 1/2" sl and about 6 1/2" to the longst piece of his tail.

He's fairly mellow for a con so I've moved my 2 emerald catfish (a lot like bronze cories) to his tank. He chases them a little, but hasn't tried to bite them yet (they do have a couple hiding places). And he's been a lot more active since I put them in so I think they're acting as dither fish. They also go really well with the decor because they're green.

-Chelle

[Trickster]

How big is he gonna get? is 20 gal a big enough tank?

[t_chelle16]

He should max out at around 5" or 6" so a 20 is fine. Many people will say it's perfectly fine to have a breeding pair in a 20 gallon, but I really disagree and wouldn't put a pair in anything smaller than a 30. One of these years I plan on getting a 120+ gallon for Buddy (con) & Sherbert (oscar) plus a nice school of silver dollars and maybe some clown loaches. But that's not going to happen any time soon.

-Chelle

[Trickster]

Yea, ive been thinking of getting a convict. But i gotta move some of my fish into the 10 gallon to have the room in 20.

[Fish Addict]

great new fish

[M_wm]

Oh ya a 20g is perfect for a convict, I wouldnt want to keep a full grown pair in a 20 but one will be good IMO