# Convicts as Surrogates?



## WrasseMan (Jun 30, 2011)

Hi guys, so I just had an idea. I was reading about convict cichlids and the article said that convict pairs with fry have been known to adopt other fishes' fry and care for them as their own. I googled it and someone on the web said that his/her convict pair adopted some of his/her kenyi fry. So my idea is this: could we use convicts as surrogate parents for the fry of cichlids who are less reliable/more sensitive parents (e.g. angelfish who often eat their eggs/fry)?


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

I have actually tried this using one set of parents to raise multiple batches of fry and the only way i have had any success with it at all was when 2 pairs both spawned <both convicts> around the same time within a day or so of one another , i removed the larger pair , sucked up the fry and placed all the wigglers together back with the larger pair , momma convict quickly scurried around and scooped up all the babies and put them in a safe spot, and the fry grew out and were then fed to my jags so... 
the reaoning behind doing this was for me to free up one tank

the second time i tried this wasnt with cons it was with my devils, and there was only one batch of fry but i tried placing a first gen baby still super small in with the momma and her new babies<another try at freeing up a tank> I dont know how the mom singled the one out but it was very very quickly eaten.. so i dunno , and i doub like heck angels would work


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