Firemouth in my tank???

[NinjaSmurf]

Okay, still chasing my tail on this, and I'm sure you're all sick of me by now, but I am now really thinking about going for a pair of firemouths for my thirty gallon. Now, the pictus has to stay in there, unless I should feel the need for cichlids outweigh the need for a fish that does nothing but act like an idiot... I digress. Anyways, I was thinking that if the fires breed the pictus could eat the fry, however I know that cichlids are usually very good parents, so would I be looking at a dead pictus? Also, the other fish in the tank can be moved to a future ten gallon (I'll do that before getting the fires), so no need to worry about them. I was thinking about the rams, but they sound more sensitive than firemouths, and fires are a little bigger, so I'm leaning towards them... Would there be any other fish (top dwellers, since I've read the fires are more bottom/middle and I have a tall tank 2ftLx1ftWx2ftT) that are of reasonable size that won't be a problem with the fires?

Or should I just stick one firemouth, or go for the rams anyways? Or something else? No apistos, since the I think the only place I can get them is over three hours away and they don't give refunds or guarantees on them. I know angels, but they just don't appeal to me anymore for some reason.


Need a fish with personality, for the love of god!!

 

[Vip]

I think the 2 rams will be fine in that tank along with the pictus, from what i know they are a strong catfish and could handle a pair of FM's, if it gets to out of control you could always just put a divider in the tank.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

That sounds good. Um, new thought, is there some sort of cichlid that could go in there if it's just by itself, i.e. only with the pictus, or no pictus at all, other than the apistos, fires, or rams? Someone said parrot, but I don't know if that would be good...

 

[Ben]

1 convict?

 

[NinjaSmurf]

That might work. I can get a convict cheaper than anything else. I think. I still have to find out fire prices from the fish store, I don't know if they have to charge extra for special order or something like that yet.

 

[digital_run]

You said your pictus does nothing but act like an "idiot". If by this you mean he just hides all day...then its just natural because of a lack of fellow pims. Personally i wouldn't add a Convict as they can be quite aggressive and usually cause more problems than good in community settings. Also the addition of an aggresive cichlid might make your lone pim hide more than usual. Why not add a pair of Keyhole cichlids or Rams. While the minimum tank for a Firemouth would be a 30 the bigger the better IMO.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

The pictus doesn't hide (though he has been acting strange the last few days but I don't know why) he flys around the tank without actually doing anything. He doesn't check anything out or just cruise in the current, he just flips out constantly. I'm not entirely sure that I'll keep him anyways. I found out the price of the fires, it would be 3 bucks each. I'm waiting on the price of two other fish, so I'm still sort of hanging on making up my mind. I might get rams if all else fails.

 

[fufanu360]

i dont think i pair of firemouths would be much fun! unless they are the same sex, it still wont be fun lol, they are the nippiest little things you'de every imagine. quite the personality tho i like em