Aggressive firemouths

[davidcalgary29]

I have two one-inch male firemouths, now separated into their own tanks (50g and 35 g). They're both extremely aggressive toward all other new world cichlids that I have in my tanks, and routinely bully my much larger jaguars and green terror. Both tanks are well-planted (neither are diggers) and have many hiding spaces; they're sparsely stocked with fish (four cichlids for the 50g tank). I was thinking about buying a female firemouth or two in the hope that some of this aggressiveness may be a mating impulse, but perhaps should leave well enough alone. Any suggestions?

 

[impur]

Not many fish mate at 1". I don't think adding females would help. For one, you are overstocked. The jag will need a 150-200 gal tank on its own. The GT may be ok with one firemouth in the 50 gal. Give it a few months and the jag will probably kill the other fish when it starts to establish its territory, which will be the entire tank.