Firemouths and Jewel cichlids

[Elisabeth83]

Alright tank is ready for them so I'm off to my lfs. I'll pick out 4 of the biggest brightest ones.

I can't wait I could hardly sleep last night

Thanks everyone for the help

 

[BlueIce]

Try and go for one species. i.e. 4/5 couloured ones, as aposed to colours and dulls as they will fight

HTH

DD

are you saying that they will fight because some are dull in coloration and some are not? I've had both mixed in the same tank and can say that coloration had no effect on aggression towards a particular fish.

I do know that in a tank that size that the likely hood of more the one surviving is slight.

I raised them in a 90g and managed to keep 4 from killing each other and had one spawning pr. I had a LARGE green terror in with them and neither bothered each other.

I also managed a spawning pr in a 55 with swordtails and platies. In my humble opinion...a 30g is just much to small for jewels.

 

[Elisabeth83]

I got just back and brought home 4..2 of them are dark red and the other 2 are red with yellow.

I'm going to keep them in a 30 gallon for now but I've got a 55 gallon with platies in it. I might move them out of the 55 gallon once the jewels get bigger and put the jewels in the 55 gallon instead. If I do that and keep a pair in a 55 gallon is that the only cichlid I can keep or could I add another pair of something?? Or if I am very lucky and these 4 actually pair up 2 and 2 could I keep them altogether in the 55??

I've read on lots of sites though that 1 pair of jewels do very well in a 30 gallon?? I dont know from experience though as I've never owned them before.

 

[BlueIce]

I've read on lots of sites though that 1 pair of jewels do very well in a 30 gallon?? I dont know from experience though as I've never owned them before.

I believe a pr would do fine in a 30g.But from what I gather you aren't talking about a pr,you are talking about several fish.
Perhaps it will work and you'll get a pr.Personally ,I would rather use a 55 or larger to sort out a pr from a grouping of jewels.
In any case,good luck...

 

[Elisabeth83]

I've read on lots of sites though that 1 pair of jewels do very well in a 30 gallon?? I dont know from experience though as I've never owned them before.

I believe a pr would do fine in a 30g.But from what I gather you aren't talking about a pr,you are talking about several fish.
Perhaps it will work and you'll get a pr.Personally ,I would rather use a 55 or larger to sort out a pr from a grouping of jewels.
In any case,good luck...

No I'm talking about only keeping a pair in the 30 gallon. I bought 4 of them so I'd have better chances of a male and female pairing off. Once 2 have paired up the other 2 are going back to my lfs.

I only asked before what was the best way of keeping jewels and firemouths now that I know it's best to keep them by themselves I wont be mixing in any other fish. The jewels will have the 30 gallon all to themselves

edit: If I notice any are getting picked on or something is wrong I will move them all into the 55 gallon. They've been living together at my lfs with about 8 other jewels for quite some time though in about a 15-20 gallon tank so I think they should be ok together for awhile longer. They are all about 2 1/2 inches..the biggest is maybe 3 inches.

 

[freddyk]

They've been living together at my lfs with about 8 other jewels for quite some time though in about a 15-20 gallon

Never, ever use the fish store as an example!! They acheive there tanks by stuffing a lot of fish into a small tank with no decoration - they can't make territories and there's too many fish in too small a space to cause much trouble. This is all done on a temperary basis - they're sales tanks, not aquariums.

 

[Elisabeth83]

They've been living together at my lfs with about 8 other jewels for quite some time though in about a 15-20 gallon

Never, ever use the fish store as an example!! They acheive there tanks by stuffing a lot of fish into a small tank with no decoration - they can't make territories and there's too many fish in too small a space to cause much trouble. This is all done on a temperary basis - they're sales tanks, not aquariums.

yeah your right..never thought about it like that (walks away embarassed ) )

Ok so should I leave them in the 30 gallon or is that just a death trap?? I thought it was ok until I got a pair?

 

[Elisabeth83]

I'm sorry if I am asking dumb questions or doing things wrong. It's the first time I've kept cichlids and I truely am trying to do everything right.

That said I'm wondering what I should be looking for to see that a pair is forming?? I haven't been able to find any information on that.

Would it be best to move them to my 55 gallon at least for now until a pair forms? that is if I get a pair Then if I do get a pair I can move them back to the 30 gallon?

 

[Elisabeth83]

I actually think I might already have a pair. The 2 reds are hanging out with eachother and a lot of the time when the yellows are near them they chase them away. They arn't chasing eachother away they are actually swimming togther...kind of protecting this one low plant thats in there. I actually thought they might be a pair when I saw them in the store because they were together there too. Both at the top whereas all the others were more at the bottom.

Maybe it's best if I return the 2 yellows?

heres a pic I took of them...theres 3 in the pic but I have 4..now you can see what I mean when I say reds and yellows see the bottom ones tail? it's yellow whereas the 2 above are red...I'll be sad to get rid of the yellows. I love their colors.

edit: from everything I've read it sounds like the 2 reds I've got are a pair. This is a really good article: http/www.cichlids.com/wiki/index.php/Hem...mis_bimaculatus. I called my lfs and they said I could bring the 2 yellows back.

 

[freddyk]

There are no dumb questions, so you're ok! You can certainly try seperating them, but if you have the two tanks you might want to make sure before returning the others - see how they do when they're the only ones in the tank. Sounds great so far - and glad to see you're doing you're own research too - you will do well

As far as the tanks go, the 30 is fine, the 55 is better. If you have the 55 and are willing to donate it to the Jewels, then go for it.