Firemouth Tankmates ?

[Faythee]

I wanted a cichlid for my community tank and read up on the Firemouth. Well it is NOT working out. This one is rather agressive. I went and bought a 29 gal. bowfront tank today to set up this weekend. I am thinking it would be best to add other fish BEFORE I add him. He is temporarily housed in a 10 gal. He is mid-way full grown, between 3 & 4 inches. I considered putting a mate in there for him. They have same size at store. But am afraid they will kill each other. How do they react to each other ??? Or I could add maybe a bottom dweller and one other fish of some sort. I have no clue how to go about this. They have Jack Dempseys same size as well but that may be too large for my set up. Any ideas ? I am clueless

 

[shroob]

If you mean have a mate in the 29 gallon then yes I would try it. What you could consider doing is buying say 4 FM (rather than just 1 and hoping its the opposite sex) and hope to get a pair out of them, though if your FM is considerably larger than the ones you buy it might not work. With this method you have a better chance than just buying 2 fish. Be ready to seperate any fish that looks like its getting too beat up, once a pair has formed its unlikely they will tolerate a third wheel in their tank.

A tip is to just before you introduce the new fish, to rearange all the decor in the tank, that way the existing FM will not have any 'territories' to protect and everyone is on an equal footing as it were.

 

[Faythee]

Thank you. Problem is I don't like to return fish to the store. Why I bought a whole new tank for this fish. If I were to add...say 1. If it ended up being 1 M and 1 F, but do not pair up...will they still live happily in the same tank ? Or what if it ends up being 2 F or 2 M ?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if you've an aggressive cichlid there's a chance he'll be the same with whatever you put him in with. you either need to face up to sending some fish back to the store, or get something equally aggressive that can stand up for itself. you could get a group of con's cos theyre are fiesty and if you had a group of them there shouldn't be any one fish that gets picked on. only problem is if the cons breed they may be too fiesty for the FM!

 

[shroob]

Well, I would say 2 females may work, but I would have thought 2 males will fight.

If you get FM of the opposite sex, then theres a chance they could pair up. They probably will in time I would have thought, but expect it to go through a rough patch, especially at first. Though there is a chance they won't pair up, not sure on how big of a chance this is, every fish is individual so it may simply not want to pair up with that fish.

 

[Faythee]

Okay Y'all...Guess I am coming to the harsh reality that I may need to return the firemouth

I have a bait bucket I use for shrimp with a bubbler. Can I put him in that to transport ? Has been used for saltwater.

I did see today some pretty cichlids, very small, that only get to be 4". Maybe I would be better off getting 4-5 of them instead. Care level was "intermediate" LOL. Now I can't remember the name Will go back and do some research. I really have an interest in the cichlids. Any suggestions for a 29 gal. tank ?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Okay Y'all...Guess I am coming to the harsh reality that I may need to return the firemouth

I have a bait bucket I use for shrimp with a bubbler. Can I put him in that to transport ? Has been used for saltwater.

I did see today some pretty cichlids, very small, that only get to be 4". Maybe I would be better off getting 4-5 of them instead. Care level was "intermediate" LOL. Now I can't remember the name Will go back and do some research. I really have an interest in the cichlids. Any suggestions for a 29 gal. tank ?

just about anything that will hold him, some water and some air and tightly seal will be fine to transport him to the shop

i think a nice set up for a 30gal is something like a small group of apistogramma, a pair of ram's then some pretty schooling fish and some cories. Then you've got some cichlids, and apistogramma and rams can still be fiesty and full of personality, but due to the size they're a lot easier to find tankmates for than larger american cichlids

 

[tahneen]

In a 30g you have a couple options #1 >>>> get a couple of rams and some small tetras or 3 anglefish
#2 >>>> a pair of cons are always fun to keep and have a couple dither fish
#3 >>>> a couple of yellow labs very nice fish >>>>> african
but the options never end those are just what id do so I hope u make up ur mind stup the tank and get some pics!!!

 

[Faythee]

Thank you Tahneen and Miss Wiggle. Those are all great ideas !

Well tonite I came up to the tank and firemouth and I checked each other out for a while and he made all kind of cute moves for me...LOL....sooo I am wondering

Since he does not mind the danios at all. Maybe I could keep him alone with a shoal of 6 fish and a bottom dweller or oddball ? Some non-threatening fishies.

Any ideas on a shoal and bottom dweller ?

Thanks

 

[tahneen]

I think if you want a bottom dweller a couple yoyo loaches would do
my firemouth was nasty but he never minded the loach and yoyos are very fun to watch its my favorite fish and should do well and peronally I think you should still try him for a mate or u could get a con of the sam size
cons arnt mean at all unless they are breeding
to see if he is a male look for lots of coloration and his fins will be elongated