Firemouth And Convicts

[bikerfish]

Hi All sorry me again
Due to something nasty in tank I have had to totally strip it down and start again

 
My tank is 240lt and 4ft so would like a stock question pleaseeee
I like firemouths  and convicts together ? I do not want to breed convicts so if more than 1 then would have to be female as heard they breed like rabbits and are a nightmare when spawn ?
 
What would be best as to how many of each ?
 
Or 1 of each and another type of cichlid in with them and possibley a group of tiger barbs ?
 not sure and have to wait for tank to cycle
 
I also like tiger Oscars,  electric blue jack Dempsey , jewel , and texas cichlid , keyholes cichlid
 
any advice would be great also would it be best to put the convict in last ?
 
cheers for reading
cathy

 

[wrightt3]

Convicts are very aggressive will easily dominate most tanks during breeding so a single male or female is the way to go in a community.
Firemouths on the other hand are fairly skittish so they do best in pairs or small groups.
Oscars and texas cichlids grow too big for a 240l so I would avoid these but a single jack Dempsey should be fine.
Keyholes are wimps in the cichlid world and would get bullied by all the fish mentioned. They do better in peaceful communities or with other peaceful cichlids such as angelfish or rams.
I would do a central American setup with a stock like this:
-1 Jack Dempsey (I prefer regulars but an EB would be fine too)
-2 Firemouths
-1 Convict
-6 Blind cave tetras as dithers
 
It is usually best to add all cichlids at the same time. Otherwise, the fish that were added first will establish a territory and will bully any fish added after them

 

[bikerfish]

Hi Cheers for answering
I will go with that , I will add the tetras first as tank starting over again and give the filter  chance to build up some more bacteria and give it 3-4 weeks before adding the cichlids so hoping all in for Christmas

 
I shall be going for snails instead of a brn to cut down on some of the mess
cathy

 

[wrightt3]

The JD will probably eat the snails so I wouldn't bother.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi Had a feeling you was going to say that
cathy

Hi sorry another question , instead of the jack Dempsey , what about a blue acara?
cathy

 

[star4]

Personally you would be better off with a blue acara, more suitable size for that size tank than a JD. I dont know why people recommend JD's are ok for smaller tanks, they are huge fish.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi Cheers for answering I love them all , these have given me some good ideas for when tank is ready  
cathy

 

[DrRob]

The firemouth will eat the snails too. Spotless my Thoricthys tanks once they reach the size to munch.

 

[wrightt3]

Personally you would be better off with a blue acara, more suitable size for that size tank than a JD. I dont know why people recommend JD's are ok for smaller tanks, they are huge fish.

To be fair, its not really a small tank. Not massive, but its still fairly big.
Also, EBJDs (which the OP is more inclined towards) are generally smaller and less aggressive than regular JDs so IMO 1 would be fine. Saying that, I wouldn't recommend them for anything smaller.
Compared to most central American cichlids, I wouldn't really class a JD as 'Huge' though.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi I looked at the blind cave teras  and they would freak hubby out as albino coreys were bad enough and I had to rehome them as he works from home a lot and he is next to the tank
Would a shoal of 8 tiger barbs work with  EB DEMPSEY  or BLUE ACARA, FIREMOUTH and a CONVICT ?
cheers for your help
cathy

 

[wrightt3]

Acaras and JDs are different sized fish so you will need to make your mind up on which one you want. I'd do a bit of further research because as you can see, there are different opinions as to whether a 240l is suitable for a JD or not.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi cheers for answering
I think the jd will be to big for my tank , I still like the Tbar as well so will be looking into them . I think the Tbars are slightly smaller
Def going with the 2 firemouths and 1 convict .
Cathy

Hi also I do not have substrate now but it is like small clay balls , but was told this was ok cichlid
cathy

 

[star4]

t-bars are smaller and very nice fish, I have had them with Elliotti (same family as firemouth) without problems, not sure on the convict with them though.

 

[wrightt3]

t-bars are smaller and very nice fish, I have had them with Elliotti (same family as firemouth) without problems, not sure on the convict with them though.

I've heard that when kept together, t bars and convicts can crossbreed. They would be a nice alternative to the convicts though.

 

[Jammyhunt]

What about 2 fire mouths one blue acara and one red head seruvem would that work in a 359 liter tank? Would the be room for a ebjd to ?