Fish

__Common Name:__ Convict Cichlid

__Diet:__ Omnivorous

__Temperament:__ Mildly aggressive

__Size:__ Up to 5 inches

__Water Temperature:__ 70 **°** F - 80 **°** F

__Tank Size:__ 10 gallons minimum to around 30 gallons maximum per fish

__General Info:__ Convicts are very easy fish to care for and if wanted they do breed very easily as well. When the female lays her eggs and after the male fertilizes them, the female will turn on to her aggressive side. If the male shows any harm or disconcern in caring for the baby convicts, the female will almost immediately attack, most likely killing the male in the process. If you want to see how aggressive your convict could be while defending her babies it is simple, tap the glass near the babies and often the female will try and tear your finger to shreds. Once the babies reach about a centimeter in length you should seperate them from their parents(or parent depending on the female's behavior) and put them in another tank. Because of the size of the babies it is necessary that when feeding them you should use flakes that are crushed into a powder like material. If the male has lived with the female and they share a bond they will eventually breed again. It has happened in our class where a breeding pair had a few batches of babies. When feeding your convicts you can feed them tropical flakes our if they are in groups they can eat cichlid sticks. They will almost resemble a piranha as they break off pieces of the sticks a small portion at a time.. They can also eat bloodworms or mealworms as a treat every once in a while.

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__Common Name:__ Red-bellied Piranha

__Diet:__ Omnivorous

__Temperament:__ Extremely aggressive mostly to different species

__Size:__ Up to 12 inches

__Water Temperature:__ 70 **°** F- 85 **°** F

__Tank Size:__ 30 gallons minimum to 100 gallons for large schools of fish

__General Info:__ The infamous piranha is very popular in captivity for not only its beauty but for its feeding habits that seem to fascinate people all over the world. These South American predators of the Amazon River lurk waiting for anything from birds to small monkeys that fall in the water. Using their serrated teeth like chainsaws they charge in one by one tearing off chunks of flesh. This is one reason people find it fascinating when they feed, but something a lot of people don't know is that piranhas are actually omnivorous, tending to eat rotting vegetation in their natural habitat. This means they will eat things such as feeder fish, bloodworms, brine shrimp, and fish flakes which contain all the nutrients they need to stay healthy. In order to keep the piranha comfortable you must keep it with at least one other of its kind. In the wild they school in the hundreds making it easier to catch food, but this is why they are so aggressive. When they find a food source they must eat quickly before the other piranhas eat all the food. You MUST remember that although these fish school with one another they cannot live with any other fish for they will eat anything that is in their tank giving it isn't too big for their school to kill.

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__Common Name:__ Electric Yellow Cichlid, nicknames include yellow lab, lemon drop

__Temperament:__ Mildly Aggressive

__Diet:__ Omnivorous

__Water Temperature:__ 72 **°**F - 82 **°**F

__Size:__ Up to 5 inches

__Tank Size:__ At least 20 gallons

__General Info:__ The yellow lab, also known as the lemon drop or electric yellow cichlid, is one of the most common african cichlids of all that are available to buy. Being a peaceful species it is often known to be very calm around other cichlids. Yellow labs inhabit the rocky shores of Lake Malawi and browse on the vegitation or small bugs that float around. Because of this it is recommended that when kept in captivity it would be helpful if you used things such as rocks to create caves and maybe a few fake/living plants to resemble the natural environment they would live in. Feeding these fish is very important for you must feed them nutritious meals. It is recommended that there be atleast two varieties of food for these fish. They could be fed dried shrimp, krill, bloodworms, pellets, flakes, and when they reach the appropriate size and if they live with other cichlids they could even be fed feeder fish every month or so.

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__Common Name:__ Red Belly Pacu

__Temperament:__ Aggressive

__Diet:__ Omnivorous

__Water Temperature:__ 74 **°** F - 84 **°** F

__Size:__ Up to 24 inches

__Tank Size:__ 80 gallons minimum for adults

__General Info:__ Red belly pacus are a South American fish that browse th surface of the Amazon river waiting for things like walnuts or seeds to fall from trees up above. Although these fish will kill any fish that is a lot smaller than it, it is an omnivore in its natural habitat. If you were to look at the teeth of these fish(bottom under video) you will be shocked at the fact that they are strangely similar to humans teeth. These bulky teeth are used to crush hard nut shells and seeds to swallow. They are also used to grip prey fish and things such as worms. The red belly pacu is very picky on the tank mates it lives with. Being a territorial fish it will attack and most likely kill anything that is smaller than it. A few months ago in our classes fish tank with a pacu we had to put around seven convicts in with it because of an overload of babies. The next morning in school we came to discover all fish to be dead. One formittable tank mate for this fish is the pleco. In the wild babie plecos will lach on to bigger fish such as an adult pacu and act as a parasite remover as it cleans off the body. Because of this the pleco would be the best tank mate for these big fish of the Amazon.

media type="youtube" key="MKub2hVuXj8" height="344" width="425"PS- these are babies:)