Albino Convict Cichlid 5/28/2009
Mutant Convict Death And Breeding
Good day to you guys, I have a 35gallon tank with 4 tailless albino convict (most commonly known here in my country as toffy parrot) and all paired with one another) but I was able to determine that it was a convict after comparing notes from different websites and studying my fish physically and its personality. I had a couple whom a few days back just spawned some eggs. The male was protective of its territory and was not letting the female leave its cave and does the job of running after tankmates who were getting close to their cave, The female then just tries to grab a quick pellet or two every time its feeding time. That aside, on the 3rd day after spawning, I noticed that the water was a bit cloudy, even just after changing water 3 days ago (same day I saw the convict eggs). So I made partial water change leaving a siphon and a hose on at the same time and then stopped after a few minutes after I saw the water cleared. I added some rock salt and a few teaspoons of anti-chlorine - which I always do after water change. However, after about 30 min.s I saw the male inverted dead.. I would like to know if the water change affected the male since I still saw him eating and energetically chasing his tankmates before the water change was done. Now the female is doing both taking care of the eggs and chasing tankmates off the area. Did the water change stressed him too much and would his death affect the rearing of the fry once hatched?
Thank you and hoping for your response...
< You probably should have placed the water in a bucket and then added the dechlorinator before adding this water to the tank. Water high in chlorine or chloramines can be deadly to fish. The female will attempt to take care of the fry but her job will be much more difficult without the help of the male.-Chuck>

Re: Albino Convict Cichlid 05/29/09
Quick Convict Death After Water Change
Thanks for responding quickly... I did not use the process of putting the water in a bucket and dechlorinating it overnight because our water is deep-well (spring water) and does not go through any process like what city water goes through. I just had the habit of putting anti-chlorine on it for safety purposes but has not had any effect on my community tank for the past 6 months (since I started the hobby). The water change did not have any effect on the other tank mates nor the other convicts, I was wondering if the water change stressed the male more since all day long he was chasing other tankmates away from their lair, and doing the water change might have increased the stress level to the point that it killed the fish. would this be possible?
<Well water may have compressed gases that are released when the water is brought to the surface. I would still recommend letting the water sit overnight before putting it in an aquarium. The water change may have startled the convict and it may have accidentally hit an item in the tank.
Trauma to the head could quickly injure or kill it.-Chuck>