My cichlids have bred

Question
Karen,
My "convict" cichlids have very successfully bred several sets of fish, but now I'm at a loss. What, exactly, can I do with all of these fish? The tank is overcrowded and the pet store I bought the parents from isn't interested in taking any of the babies. Any advise would be appreciated!
Thank you,
Crystal

Answer
Hi Crystal,
Unfortunately there is not much you can do but have a larger fish to eat the convict fry. This most likely would have to be a much larger species of cichlid - in another tank. And use the baby convicts as your own homegrown feeders. Many aquarists do this.

Another option you could try is to try different petstores and offer the babies just as feeder fish. I know it sounds bad but a overcrowded aquarium is worse for them than being sold as feeder fish. In nature, they'd be picked off by larger fish all the time also.

I hope you can find a solution to your problem. Convicts are great fish -- but boy can they breed like rabbits!

Best wishes,
Karen~