Firemouth Breeding

[falcon1]

So as a result of a tragic accident (my beautiful rescue oscar jupmed out of the tank

) I have a nearly  empty fish tank. I have wanted to try breeding fish for a looooong time, but I want to keep south american cichlids as well. So right now firemouths seem like a good plan. My only concern is wether the fish wouldpair off or not. I could keep convicts, and I understand they are the easiest to breed of the cichlids. I have been, and will continue to surf the forums for any helpful info but if anyone could help out with any info on breeding south american cichlids that would be great. My tank is a 40g bowfront.

 

[TooManyChoices]

Best way to get a pair would be to get about 6 juvenile fish from different places (reduces the chance of inbreeding) let them grow up together until a pair forms and remove the rest. Alternatively get convicts which are pretty much guaranteed to breed if you have a male and female.
 
Occasionally, you can pick a breeding pair out from a group of fish, and maybe ask a competent staff member to catch that pair. I've seen pairs of blue rams, kribensis, convicts, jewel cichlids, and a few others in shop tanks.  

 

[falcon1]

So with convicts you don't need to worry about them pairing off? If I get a young couple of firemouths, a male and female, would it be likely they would pair? Or could I try 2 males and 2 females in the 40g and keep both?

 

[falcon1]

Or could I go convict pair and a JD?

 

[TooManyChoices]

Convicts are liable to probably kill anything in that size tank when they breed. Convicts seem to pair with whatever they're offered. If you get a male and female and they don't pair, that's really unlucky.

Firemouths are hard to sex when small so the chances of getting two and those two being a compatible pair is very slim.

Tanks definitely too small for a pair of each.

 

[falcon1]

Ok. I'll weigh it up