Could I Get More Firemouths?

[mrvillicus]

I have a 55 gallon 200lt 4ft tank, i have 2 firemouths, 2 dwarf apistos, 9 columbian tetra with some planting and bogwood. I want to increase my stock to 6 more tetra and 2 more firemouths...would that be ok?

 

[fishprotector]

It would be quite a lot of fish for a 200l, especially when the firemouths get to fill size and start getting grumpy with each other. I would up the tetra and get a small to medium sized plec instead.

 

[mrvillicus]

ive done a bit of research since my original post and yep, theres not much i can add. Maybe kribs, or rams, I would love yellow lab cichlids but they sound too boisterous

 

[fishprotector]

I personally wouldn't add another species of Cichlid, especially not Kribs. I used to have a pair in a 180l and they took over the tank, shortly before the female killed the male. Violent little buggers they were.

 

[mrvillicus]

okies, ill just get some corys and tetras i think

 

[angelfishguy]

Female kribs claim entire tanks to themselves and then kill theyre mates. They are the mantis of the fish world.

 

[onidrase]

yellow labs are african cichlids, they like hard, alkaline water, the exact opposite of what the rest of your fish like. They're not as boisterous as you'd think, they're just not compatible water-wise. You just don't mix rift valley fish with new world fishes.

Aside from that, firemouths IME really don't like each other. Adding more could be disasterous. IME they're also devils toward other cichlid species. I'd avoid putting any dwarf cichlids with them, my firemouth killed my bolivian rams when he was in his first tank, and was snarky enough to constantly pick on my green terror and severum, twice his size, when I moved him to the 75 gallon.