Firemouth

[Jennpush]

Hello, I have a 55gal fish tank for almost a year I own firemouth, oscar, placo and jack dempsey recently my firemouth is chasing all other fishes in the tank.. I am not sure what to do any help will be appreciated.... I will attach picture of my firemouth

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The fish might have reached sexual maturity and is staking out its territory.

Make sure the water quality is good.

Have plenty of hiding places for him and to break up the line of sight with the other fish in the tank. If he can't see them, he will be less likely to chase them.

I wouldn't worry too much, the firemouth is the smallest species in that tank and when the others are bigger, he won't pick on them.

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How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?
What sort of filter do you have?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

 

[Jennpush]

Hello, I change water every week 50% i add special water conditioner to take out chlorine. I do gravel clean also every time I change water. Regarding filter i use Marineland bio filter for 50 gal tank. All this aggression started recently I had them all together for a year and everything was fine until last week my firemouth just goes to other fish and picks on them .

 

[Colin_T]

If the fish are all over 1 year old they should all be pretty close to full grown and sexually mature.

Did you do anything to the tank a week ago, maybe rearrange the tank and move stuff around?

 

[Metalhead88]

Hello and welcome.

I'm sorry to say it, but you are very overstocked. Territorial and water quality issues will continue with this current stocking as fish get bigger.

The tank size I would recommend for your current fish are -

Oscar - 55 gallons for 1 oscar with no tankmates. These are large messy fish.
Firemouth - 30 gallons for a pair . A 55 gallon would be great with a few other similar sized cichlids
Jack Dempsey - 55 for a pair. These are also quite aggressive fish as they mature. I would not keep a jack dempsey and an oscar or firemouth in the same tank permanently
Pleco - If it its a common pleco 125 gallons are more. These fish can and will exceed a foot long.

The firemouth is also the least aggressive fish in the tank. They are normally more bark then bite. Is he just chasing? or biting as well? It is not uncommon for cichlids to chase each other around. The problem lies when one is getting the short end of the stick and is becoming stressed or injured.

The firemouths time as king will be short lived. If you had the oscar for a year - He should be 10 inches or so. I find it odd that that little firemouth is chasing around a large oscar. Even the jack dempsey should be twice his size at this point.

Can you post of pic of the entire tank and other fish as well?

Also what are your water conditions. Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, and PH in particular.