Convict (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus)

Common Name:

Convict.

Scientific Name:

Archocentrus nigrofasciatus.

Family:

Cichlidae.

Class:

Central American Cichlid.

Distribution:

Central America: Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

Size:

5-6" males, 3-4" females

Diet:

They are omnivores. Foods such as pellets, some flake foods, krill, blood worms are readily accepted and a live and/or frozen treat now and then would be great in the form of bloodworms and brine shrimp. They are not fussy eaters.

Water Temperature:

Approx 78-84 degrees Fahrenheit (25-29 degrees Celcius).

Water Chemistry:

Medium hard water.

pH:

6.5-8.0.

Life Span:

5-10 years.

Housing:

These guys need a tank of at least 20 gallons for a pair and/or single. pH requirements are anywhere from 7.0-9.0 and they prefer soft to mildly hard water as they are not very picky about chemistry. Temp should be 74-82 degrees F.

Breeding:

Breeding Convicts is about as hard as saying "breeding Convicts". They are very prolific, to say the least; almost as prolific as some live bearers even though they are egg layers. It is not hard to get a pair to form; usually, just putting a male and female together does the trick. Yes, it is that simple. The spawning ritual may begin with the male courting the female. He does a vertical dance while his coloration begins to rapidly change to darker more vivid shades. The female will flare at him as he is puffing up. She, too, begins to do this same display. Soon after, the female gets right to work cleaning an area around a chosen rock, flower pot, cave, etc., moving any rocks or sand around it the best she can. The female, once satisfied with the nest, will begin to lay about 20-40 eggs, usually on the upside of a pot or cave, and the male will follow up to fertilize them. They will continue this until 100-300 eggs have been laid, depending on the females size. The female will then begin fanning the eggs with her fins while the male keeps an eyeful watch over the nest. At this point, the pair's aggression is at an ultimate high and it is critical for any life forms near by. Before the eggs hatch, the female will dig a pit to which they will transfer the young. Mine usually lays the eggs on the outside of a flower pot and digs the pit directly under the spot she laid eggs at so when the young hatch they drop directly into the pit. The eggs will hatch between 48-72 hours and the wigglers will feed on their yolk sacs for about 6-8 days. The parents will retrieve any strays and the female will continue watching over the young while the male viciously guards them with his life. The wigglers become free swimming after about a week and at this point are needing to be fed foods such as baby brine shrimp, daphnia or finely crushed flakes. The mother will attempt to search for food by stirring up the substrate with her belly (if its sand of course which mine is), in hopes to find organic matter for the young to feed on. After a couple weeks, you will want to remove the young from the tank if you plan to raise them and the process will start all over. Sometimes a young pair will eat some of the young. This behavior is mostly attributed to the female, and the male generally will severely punish her for it. In this case, you should remove her or divide the tank. If you leave the fry in the tank too long, the female will almost certainly eat them after they grow a bit, and same scenario, the male will viciously chase her down and pummel her. For the most part though, Convicts are great parents.

Description:

Sexing this species is rather simple. Convict males usually have longer dorsal and anal fins with filaments trailing from the caudal fin upon reaching a mature age. They are often larger than the female. They also tend to grow a nuchal hump. Females are more brightly colored with an orange underside and brighter coloration through the fins. Convicts are mildly aggressive when solo but become downright nasty during spawning. They can be skittish when single, but when paired up and protecting young will destroy any thing in their designated area, even fish twice to three times their size. If you go to the tank while they are protecting the brood, they will come to the pane of glass and flare up as if to challenge you. The female will come up and then turn back to protect the young while the male stays behind to fight. If kept as a single specimen you can keep them in a species community with other cichlids such as jack dempseys, green terrors, blue acaras, rainbows, etc, etc. They can even be kept with some bottom dwellers like clown loachs and plecos if given PLENTY of space. If you are breeding the Convicts though, nothing should be in the tank with them. That is, if you want the other fish to survive.

Nomenclature:

Convicts are widely known as Archocentrus nigrofasciatus. Before they were Cichlasoma nigrofasciatus. Although, as of late, they have been listed under the genus Cryptoheros nigrofasciatus to separate the Convict types like spinos and centrarchus and describing a new species from panama, the Cr. altiflavus is very similar to Cr. nanoluteus.

Miscellaneous:

Convicts are great beginner cichlids because they are very hardy, they do not grow very large, are very easy to breed and are great starter cichlids; if you are looking for aggressive cichlids. If you have a spare 20g long laying around, you might want to consider giving these guys a try.

Photo Credit:

Photos 1-6 supplied courtesy and ^© Molino
Photo 7 supplied courtesy and ^©Dustin AKA Cichlidae.