A Firemouth With....

[MegTheFish]

So I'm going to be buying a brand new 29 gallon. I can't decide if I'm going to move my goldfish into it from my 50 gallon (freeing up the 50 gallon for stocking), or if I'm just going to let the goldfish be and stock the 29 gallon. I'm pretty sure I'm going with the later though, as I don't want to crowd the goldies. I absolutly LOVE firemouths (the males), and was really hoping I could get one. The profile on this site says 30 gallons is the minimum for one, but then I'd be off by one gallon Would one be able to live comfortably in 29 gallons? And if he would be ok in my tank, would the following be suitable tank mates: rummy-nosed tetras, yo-yo loaches, and thats all I'm thinking about so far. We also have these really cool albino rainbow sharks in, that look like this:

And I thought that one would go well with a firemouth because it would be able to stand its ground. But I realize that I should stick to either the shark or the yo-yo's, as the shark might get territorial?
I've been reading conflicting advice on firemouths, some sites say to stick to a species tank, some sites say to stick with only aggressive cichlids, and some sites say they are ok with some community fish. I've noticed at work that the males will "challenge" each other, but they don't seem to bother the other fish.
And, if the firemouth is a no-no, what other small cichlid would work out? I know a Ram is an option.

 

[jayjay]

how many goldfish do you have? if you have 2 or more you have to keep them in the 50g.

as for the firemouth you realise they grow 6inches? and become aggressive my 4 used to be aggressive at 2 inches long and they just got worse.

i would not risk tetra with a firemouth, what are the dimensions of your tank BTW?

i think your best bet would be to have maybe a pair of firemouths as i can't see them liking it with the other fish in a 29g. (i'm not so sure about this part)

wait for other peoples advice though i could be completely wrong.

 

[JArtiles305]

Why not do Dwarf Cichlids in a 29G?

You can have a nice community setup with Rams/Keyhole Cichlids.

 

[MegTheFish]

how many goldfish do you have? if you have 2 or more you have to keep them in the 50g.

I have 3 small fantails, I have had them for almost two years though, and they have not grown at all. I've tried to find the source of the problem but can not figure it out, my guess is that they were stunted when I bought them. But I'm keeping them in the 50 gallon anyways.

as for the firemouth you realise they grow 6inches? and become aggressive my 4 used to be aggressive at 2 inches long and they just got worse.

Yes, I do realize they grow up to 6". I was asking if they would be ok because some sites say they are one of the more peaceful cichlids, but most sites say to keep them with other large aggressive cichlids. Just wanted to get other opinions though.

i would not risk tetra with a firemouth, what are the dimensions of your tank BTW?

I thought the tetras would be a good idea because they are fast and can out run predators, but maybe not. I haven't bought the tank yet, its a standard 29 gallon, will get the dimensions off the 'net in a few minutes.

i think your best bet would be to have maybe a pair of firemouths as i can't see them liking it with the other fish in a 29g. (i'm not so sure about this part)

I thought a pair are more aggressive though (if they are breeding)? And I don't really want just the firemouths, my plan was to get a single firemouth and build around that, but now I see it probably won't work out.
Thanks for the advice jayjay!

Why not do Dwarf Cichlids in a 29G?

You can have a nice community setup with Rams/Keyhole Cichlids.

That's what I'm going to do if a firemouth won't work out. But I find keyhole cichlids kind of bland in coloring, will probably go with a single blue or bolivan ram and work around that.

 

[jayjay]

if you go for the dwarfs you could definatley keep a pair as their not that aggressive i would go with a pair of blue rams and a nice large (15) shoal of tetra.

 

[MegTheFish]

How do you sex rams? Will they breed for me, in a community tank? That would be cool if they did, even if the fry get eaten.
For other tank mates, I was thinking of a school of 6-8 rummy nosed tetras, and maybe a gourami. For the bottom, I really like the yo-yo loaches, but I also like the albino rainbow shark. Would the shark be aggressive to other bottom-dwelling fish, ecspecially the loaches as they are similar shaped?
I'm going to be stocking my tank slowly, and I won't have a set stocking list. I work in a petstore and I usually take home the fish we can't sell (for example;if there is only one fish with a disease, that isn't expensive, it gets flushed ) so I want to keep the tank open to those kind of fish that I nurse back to health.