Have you kept Convicts before? Comment and let me know what you love or hate most about them so we can crowd source opinions :)

I love convicts and certainly recommend them.

Great video! Love the mix of fish in your aquarium 👍

Excellent! I love convicts because they have such endearing looking faces. They also have what seems like a sense of humor!

This is a delightful little fish - with all of the big cichlid personalities. I've kept them, and bred them (as a matter of fact, just TRY and tell them to not to get-it-on, they'll simply laugh at you). Cichlid-parental behavior is a true wonder to witness, and no less so for the convict. The manner in which they look after and care for their little ones is awe-inspiring. Even conscientious beginning aquarists will be thrilled with these new hardy little fire-plugs. 'Hardy' does not mean keeping Mada- gasgar lace plant in a filthy unkempt goldfish bowel. No matter what your charge is, the more attentive you are to it's thriving (not 'surviving') the more your pet will return to you. The black convict is a wonderful little fish. I would recommend them to any fishkeeper. As far as the narrators comments on biology, desirability among traits can only go so far. The thinner a pool be- comes, or

Convict chiclids are my absolute favorites, they are so nostalgic

I've kept convicts for 40 + years pink and striped. I like alt of cichlid species, but convicts have always been a constant keeper. Easy to breed iron tough, I will always have a convict until the end.

I have a breeding pair in a 10 gallon tank to bring them closer during breeding times (Its heavily maintained) and they’ve been breeding for 5 years so they are not aggressive towards each other, they are in that tank for about a week before I return them to their normal tank. out of breeding times, they live in a 30 gallon planted. They are amazing fish, highly versatile and great parents (except for the accidentally swallowing their young part). If you want to get into fish keeping, highly recommend them; you can get babies for around $0.30-$3 where I live; they grow very fast and can adapt to any sudden change in their environment.

They definitely are the hardiest fish I've ever owned ! Tough mean and fun to watch !

So true how powerful these fish are. My 2 inch male and female cichlid always go after my 4 inch tiger barb and keeps them in check!

ive only been into aquariums for 9 months when posting this. Convicts are very tough and forgiving fish with water parameters, breed easily and are very intelligent. these fish are so brave theyll attack your hand if their fry are present in the tank.

Convicts are great fish, and are a must have for any south/central American cichlid community aquarium. they are tough, hold their own against fish twice their size, and yet while certainly being pretty damn aggressive fish, they aren't overly aggressive the way jags, dovii wolf-cichlids, midas, red devils, or green terrors tend to be. I had a 150 gallon witch 4 foot-long or longer oscars, one nine inch speckled pike-cichlid, 3 jack Dempseys ranging from 7 to 9 inches, a 14 inch Shovelnose Cat, and finally four large convicts - one of whom was the largest convict i have ever seen, he was all of 8 inches - maybe even a little longer, by comparison he was a good inch to two inches longer than the other three. In that tank, even with all those other big badasses, it was that massive convict that was the tank boss, nobody fucked with him. He consistently faced down the Pike and my massive Jack Dempsey male. I loved that tank, it was easily one the most harmonious tank set-ups i have ever had, and it lasted a good 6-plus years before the first of those fish died, that being the Pike who was considerably older than everyone else. To fill the gap in the pecking order, i got a decent sized Green Terror, because i wanted a fish who could immediately hold his own against some pretty large and aggressive tank-mates and yet not one that was already large, because i wanted him to spend time at the bottom of the tank's pecking order, because i was well aware of how aggressive they could be which is why he was about 4.5 inches when i got him. The first year or so everything was going pretty well, but then suddenly the Green Terror's aggression went through the roof once he reached 8 inches in length and he supplanted my big convict as the tank boss, but he took it to a whole new level and quickly became hyper-dominant. He chased any and everyone constantly and totally ruined the tanks equilibrium. Finally after about 4 to 5 months of this - it took him killing off the smallest of my 4 convicts and even an oscar before i finally was willing to admit defeat and got rid of the the little asshole. It sucked too cuz he was the most beautiful Green Terror i have ever seen, whether that be in a store, on youtube, or a picture of one for that matter. After that, sadly, the tank chemistry was never the same again. Regardless, those Convicts, especially my monster one, (who eventually developed and large nuchal hump which i previously was unaware the Convicts could grow one), and are simply awesome fish and deserve way more love/appreciation than they usually get from New-World cichlid keepers who usually focus more on monster fish like the huge Crenicichla Pike, oscars, peacock bass, red-devils, midas, jags, Dovii wolf-cichlids, along with other massive non cichlids like Pacu, Bichers, Arowana, Knife fish, and so on.

I have about 50 of them in my tank now . And the last 25 years convicts have a great personality lol . Never boring in this tank

Convicts have been one of those fish i have always admired, but never kept... maybe one day. thanks for sharing.

I had cichlids for years and tried some discs in my smaller tank. It was like having chickens when you're used to having a dog

This fish guy I met gave me three convicts for free! I'm so excited to have them

Yes . They are lovely . I do have a pair of convicts in my tank .

Getting a single Convict for a 20 Gallon long. I'm excited! I just need the tank and some other supplies then I'm ready to start cycling!

This video got my blood pumping. I love convicts and this made me love em more thank you

Awesome video. Convicts are a great welcome addition to any tank. Stunning flowerhorn 😍🔥😍🔥

Beautiful explanation...It was very professional ☺️

I just got 5 of them!! My very first fish ever I’m so excited 😆 ❤️

That flowerhorn is SICK! He’s friggen huge

i never knew 2 of my past fish and 1 of my current fish were convicts until i saw that all these points fit my fish perfectly!

30 years of fish keeping and convicts are still one of my fav. They act like Mini Amphilophus. Cons get over looked because they are so successful that they are everywhere.

You have same pleco , Same convict as me and I also plan to get a parrot and loach like yours . How funny 😁

I've always had cichlids. They have great personalities

Oh my gosh those cinematic shots are sick dude! Convict cichlids just might be to aggressive for my small tetras tho 😅

I’ve always thought that convicts were so beautiful. They just sound too aggressive for community tanks, and I worry about what to do with all of their young. Every fish store in my city is overrun with convict fry.

Your fish are so beautiful! Amazing vids dude ❤😊

Love your cinematic style ❤️. Just want more

Convicts and African Jewel cichlids seem to have similar behavior esp. pairing/ breeding, caring for fry and their extremely territorial nature once they paid off. My Jewel fry lived and thrived in a tank with large peacocks etc.

Great video 👌 They r unique in many ways, they come up with each and every characteristic that a cichlid lover demands be it color, care, temperament, personality, compatibility etc. Anyway u defined this breed really well

Definitely one of my favorite fish! Great job on the recording of this video!

I wonder if convicts and jewels are compatible when not breeding....they're both very interesting to watch, curious and seem to be "smart". Once paired my jewels had no fear! Love to watch them care for their babies!

i have 6 convicts coming this weekend and i cant wait. I'm trying to fill a 300 gallon tank with them

I had these fish in a deep 30 gallon aquarium. They used to nip my arm when I reached in to vacuum the gravel.

I feel like their hardiness needs to be emphasized more. This isn't meant to glorify abusing your fish or anything, but if you kill a convict with your water conditions without actively trying to do so I would be genuinely impressed. It's the perfect cichlid for beginners that want a fish with amazing personality. Perfect for learning about breeding as well. When I moved out of my parents I took my convicts, but left my tank behind full of water with no filter or heater. The tank sat that way for about 8 months until there was about 2" of water in the 55 gallon tank. My parents kept hearing a splashing noise so they went and looked at the tank. There was a convict cichlid fry that I didn't know about when I removed my fish. That fish grew from a spec to a monster in 8 months with no one feeding it, no heater, no filter, and barely any water. They ended up keeping him and he's about 9 years old now and one of the biggest Convict cichlids I've ever seen.

Your flowerhorn is a saint lol for not killing his tankmates

That tank is way over stocked

That flowerhorn is beautiful

Llevo más de 35 años cuidando peces y aprendiendo cada día cosas nuevas. Pero no puedo evitar cuando veo experimentos como el suyo, sentir lástima por sus peces, obligados a compartir un acuario muy pequeño, mal filtrado y con peces incompatibles por tamaño, comportamiento, etc.

I was looking for Hardy fish to add to my Cichlid tank, Convict are just what l was looking for, Thanks you

Rly great quality content. Keep up the good work

I used to breed convicts in the 1970s, they made great parents and bred easily, there were so many wild cons imported that the genetic diversity was off the charts. Today's convict are descended from those and there is probably still a wide genetic diversity so they don't get inbreeding defects. The albino cons are a totally different story, even back in the 1970s there were massive genetic defects.

Their shortbodied and polar parrots are my fav

Great video, I have been a fan of convicts for more years than I care to remember. I have just started a 3ft cube tank, containing a red belly Pacu (12inch) a Midas, (6inch) and a 6inch common Pleco. I am working on more “Bogwood “ for more hideouts, at which point I hope to introduce some Convicts.

I've kept a convict in a 10 before and honestly it's fine as long as you don't have anything else in there.

Thats an awesome mix of species you have there! Lovely! I wonder how well it goes though when the Dempsey grows to three times that size. It's so sneaky. Plays nice, then in the dark just smashes fish when they least expect. It's a nasty one.

I have 2 right now and there really territorial so i have a divider in my tank, there really fun to watch and they have so much personality they get exited when i walk over to the tank. Sometimes i look up coral reef videos and put my phone up to the tank and they like watching that. They like moving the sand and shells i put in the tank but they spend a decent amount of time trying to attack each other through the divider . Also they killed there brother but i try not to think about that

Thinking about getting convicts!

yes. . and bred a lot.. very protective parents... nice video sir...GOD BLESS...

The no 1 reason you said is what I too admire about them... They are not as huge as the rest but they don't back down and don't hesitate to fight with larger Cichlids...

I bought 6 ! Now I have dozens. They pair up. Then start laying eggs. Fun fish.

I am here once again (5th time) watching cause convicts are my favorite and I do not know why

Amazing video as always SG...I haven't seen a vid of urs in a while quite busy but entertaining videos as always...Thumbs up but I still love my mbuna only tank and raising fry like mad

Love my cichlids I got a curved 38 gallon they love it. They are great beginner fish!

Just got 3 convicts always loved them

Nice video man! Always wanted to keep convicts, had some great experience of keeping and breeding of firemouths, love them aswell!

I have one male convict cichlid with my 5 inch female Cumberland slider so far so good in my 55 gallon long turtle tank with above basking area.

I have too many convict but love them

I just got back into the hobby after a long hiatus before I had a 135 gallon with a a solo red devil that was a monster but sadly he died about 6 years ago and my son wanted a fish for his birthday so we went and got him a 20 gallon long and put 2 convicts in it eventually I’ll buy another 135 or 240 gallon and I’ll most likely keep these and add more central and South American cichlids

I love my Convicts!!... well the 2 I have left. Started with 7 and #71655 has shanked the the other 5🤷🏽‍♀️😁

Wow those tiger barbs are huge

I just got 4 Polar Convict Parrots... very cool and personable fish.!

Cool video. I’ve had Convicts take on my Red Devil and a nice size Snakehead, Especially if you have a pair.

Dam I miss this channel so much

Try Paradise Fish! They can be kept in cold, unheated aquariums. They don’t need a heater, aeration (because they are a labrynth fish with a lung-like apparatus), and can be fed flake food (but live food is way better, of course). They’re very hardy fish that are semi-aggressive but can also fight a convict cichlid. They hardly get sick and they have big personalities. They will soon learn who you are and will recognize you. They’re smart, hardy, inquisitive, personable, and very attractive with their fins. They also breed easily. They are a close cousin to Siamese Bette Fighting Fish. But I feel the Siamese are way more aggressive. Enjoy!

if you like convicts you're gonna LOVE Polare Blue Parrot fish (sometimes called polar blue cichlid). Those are crossover btw blood parrot and convicts (yes another man made combination) but they are GREAT.. they have all the good parts of convicts PLUS INTELLIGENCE and inquisitivness of blood parrot. They are smaller than convicts but better looking .. almost like cartoonish version of convicts .. yes they have feeding problems (cause of the location and construction of the mouth) similar to parrots but they ooze personality, cuteness and inteligence. It's closest to puffers in the cichlids world.

Me who only has a 5 gallon thank: *I'll do as SG commands*

I have about 15 in the same tank and they are awesome fish.. fisty and very active

Im very interested also on the yellow type of Convicts. Do you have any info about that one? I love to see Convicts. Great video...thank you so much...

I have a pair of little convict fish which is just 1inch pair and breed in community tank and protect there eggs from bigger fishes

Thank you for the video I am getting some convict cichlid

Love your video ! Go convicts !!

This is a really good fish video!

I noticed Salvini Cichlids also don't hesitate standing up to bigger fish...They have personalities like Convicts too...But they are alot more sensitive to water conditions

Got two convicts before and had no idea they were a match. I just left them on a small dirty algated tank, wide but not very much deep. 🤣 For weeks I just kept wondering how they were able to survive a messy and temp fluctuating environment. They just bred alone and had eggs. When it hatched I had a light feeling of this achievement. My first egg laying fish I had no idea I just bred. Then I sold them months after. 😅 I am now wanting to take care of convict cichlids again, for this reason. That they are actually very easy to take care of. It's just like taking care of guppies 😲

Cool video, about to trade for some convicts this got me excited haha

I absolutely subscribed. I find your videos informative and interesting.

I think that turtle is causing chaos in the tank due to stress

I love your mixed cichlid/others tank you're showing in the video. How big is it?

I have a convic bfore that live alone for 5 years in our abandon house they are pretty hardy fish they can live without maintenance they'll eat what ever falls into the aquarium.

Male convicts have a slight yellowing on the white of their bodies, females with orange splattering on their stomach. The Honduran Red Point is another Amatitlania that looks similar to the convict, but with a bright blue on their chest, surrounded by a rainbow of color radiating off that blue chest, and it can hybridize with convicts(though I don’t recommend this). Leucistic(white) convict cichlids are sexed in the same way.

hey bro, great video! just wondering because thats what it looks like, is your tank overstocked? haha ik you keep your parameters in check but it does look pretty overstocked to me.

I always really liked the personalities of Oscars but they are too big. Would convict cichlids be a good alternative? I just want all the typical Oscar traits, like how interactive they are and how they sort of have different moods at different times, but in a smaller package. Would these be good? Got any better suggestions? Needs to go in a 29 gallon tank.

haha.. that flowerhorn. And some say they kill everything if they are kept with other fish

Wow man i had heard wrong that flower horn are kept alone in tank

I got 7 free ones from Petco. They bred very soon after. Gave most away. Some of those also bred and were given away until no one wanted them. I still have 2 of my 7 original convicts plus 1 of the babies. They are now about 6 inches long with the head bump. I'm about to add one more of the offspring that I gave away back in with the adults. They're cool, but not ones I'll be getting again. I prefer colorful fish. 🤷‍♂️

Beautiful tank

@ 8:37 the convict goes at the big fish in the tank

Literally the toughest fish in the aquarium hobby. I have seven marbled convicts that came in today after being in transit for a week and all were still alive and healthy...

Omg! Thanos got so big! And the blood parrots too

Am first time keeper of these parrot blue cichlids. Its going to be a month now and already lookjg at fries. Separated the other fish to a new tank since parents were quite aggressive not allowing other fish in the tank to free swim.

I have 4 convict larger then the one you showed with the large heads

I have a pair of 3 Inch blood parrots, will they attack if I put pair of 2 Inch platinum parrots? since there are smaller than the blood parrots

totally agree. I´v had many different aquariums and biotopes but always had at list 1 couple of convicts. in my craziest periode I had 1 couple and around 200 descendents in a big aquarium. also emptied a tank but seems i did not see 1 guy inside " still had a bit of water of course". i stored it in my terrace an 2 month later o sow the convict swiming inside hahaha. they are rock strong.

Surprised that frog hasn’t ruined that flower horn yet with its claws

Nice video Ashley. It seriously tempted me trying to get a pair of convicts too. Somehow gotten Polar Blue Parrots instead - a mix of parrot & convict I presumed, that shop duped me :P. Tell me, where to find the real convict in sg?

I once added an Oscar about the same size as my convicts to there tank, but they killed him overnight. They became very territorial after having babies and anything put in the tank was lunch