Pink Convict Cichlid

<p>These fish are silver with black vertical stripes, like the traditional prisoner’s outfit, hence the common name “ Black Convict Cichlid”. They are usually 6 inches. New world Cichlids are extremely popular in the hobby and as such many color varieties have appeared like albino, pink, blue and black. The pink variety is pinkish silver and has no stripesTo keep these fish in captivity, water pH should be between 6.0 and 8.0 and water temperature should range from 74ºF to 82ºF. The tank should have a sandy substrate, plants, flat rocks and caves. They can be quite aggressive so they should only be kept as a single species or in community aquariums with similar size species. They should be kept in pairs of a female and a male in an at least 25 gallon tank.</p>

<p>This species is omnivorous. They eat everything in the wild and will also eat everything that is offered in an aquarium. For an optimum health, they should be fed dried foods supplemented with live foods and vegetable matter.</p>

<p>Males are larger while females have orange markings on their bellies.</p>

<p>The pair starts by cleaning and digging a small hole in the substrate, then the female will lay a few eggs in the hole and the male will fertilize them. The eggs take 2 to 3 days to hatch and become free swimming after a week. To induce breeding in captivity, water temperature should be raised to 86ºF.</p>

<p>These fish can be found from Southern Guatemala to Northern Honduras.</p>

<p>The water in which these fish are packaged is different from the water in the tank, since these fish are extremely sensitive to water conditions the acclimation process is very important. This process should never be rushed. Aquarium lights should be off for at least the first 4 hours of the fish in the new tank and it should not be fed in the first 24h. There are two acclimation methods: Floating Method and the Drip Method.</p> <p>Floating method -  the aquarium lights should be off and lights in the room should be dim, the bag in which the fish is should be placed in the surface of the water to float for about 15 minutes, this allows the water in the bag to adjust to the water in the tank. The bag should then be cut under the knot and the top edge of the bag should be rolled down one inch, then ¼ cup of the aquarium water should be added to the bag, this step should be repeated every 4 minutes until the bag is full, then half the water of the bag should be discarded and the bag should be put to float again and ¼ cup of the aquarium water should be added to the bag every 4 minutes until the bag is full. Afterwards, the Discus can be moved into the aquarium.</p> <p>Drip method – the aquarium lights should be off and lights in the room should be dim, the bag in which the fish is should be placed in the surface of the water to float for about 15 minutes, this allows the water in the bag to adjust to the water in the tank. The bag contents should be poured into a 1 gallon bucket that has never been cleaned with any chemicals, the fish should be enterally submerged. A siphon, using airline tubing, should be set up and a drip line should run from the main aquarium to the bucket. Several loose knots should be tied in the airline tubing to regulate flow. Sucking the end of the airline tube that goes to the bucket will begin a siphon, the flow should be regulated to 2 to 4 drips per second. Once the water in the buckets doubles, half should be discarded and the process should be repeated until it doubles again. Afterwards, the fish can be moved to the aquarium.</p>

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