Firemouths

[mark7616]

Just how agressive are firemouths? Mine has gone for my oscar, jd, silver dollars and plec

 

[jimw13uk]

Its unusual for Firemouths to be that aggressive - they can be aggressive with each other but i've kept them for years and never had them aggressive with anything else. But they are Cichlids so anything is possible with them.

What size tank are we talking cos I suppose if they are overcrowded then they could be forced into confrontations which may make them aggressive

 

[mark7616]

150g its in its not damaging them just sort of nipping them but out of overall size its the biggest if you know what i mean where the oscar is 3" but will reach 14 the firemouth is 3" but will reach 6" not sure what it could be.

 

[rixy]

remove the firemouth for a few days/weeks and put him in another tank.then,add him back to your 150 gallon and see if it makes any difference.

 

[cheesy feet]

if he's only nipping i wouldn't worry about some scrapes.it's what cichlids do!in a 150 gallon tank with 3' fish they should be able to get away from each other easily?!

 

[Nevergone815]

if he's only nipping i wouldn't worry about some scrapes.it's what cichlids do!in a 150 gallon tank with 3' fish they should be able to get away from each other easily?!

I agree

 

[raptorrex]

you could try a naughty tank. my acara went through a spell of torpedoing fish, so i poped him in one of those floating breeder tanks, each time i caught it. cant say it was that that did the trick, but he stopped after several trips to the tank. though i admit, i have never seen my firemouth being aggressive

 

[Nevergone815]

you could try a naughty tank. my acara went through a spell of torpedoing fish, so i poped him in one of those floating breeder tanks, each time i caught it. cant say it was that that did the trick, but he stopped after several trips to the tank. though i admit, i have never seen my firemouth being aggressive

I always put my bad fish in a "time out" Like if they are smaller and in a nice big tank full of tankmates, I put him into like a 10 gallon (20 gallon for bigger fish) with no tankmates or decor and let them stay there for a day. Then I try putting him back in the next day. If he is still bad, then he goes right back into "time out" Eventually they usually learn... if they don't I buy a new tank and put them with my other fish who "won't learn"

 

[demonmagus]

I know this sounds silly but are fish clever enough to associate bad behaviour with punishment? At first I thought, no way, but now I don't know

 

[cheesy feet]

Well it's probably 1 in a million if theres any.They probably were stressed each time you caught them and forgot about their grudge ahaha.

 

[Nevergone815]

I know this sounds silly but are fish clever enough to associate bad behaviour with punishment? At first I thought, no way, but now I don't know

I think people really underestimate the intelligence of animals . I think they can learn that if I do this, then I will be put in these conditions and I don't like it, if I'm good, then I get to stay in the nice tank . I think it highly depends on the fish and if they are "smart enough" to figure it out or not be too stubborn. I've had success keeping many fish together that really shouldn't be kept together via this process. The only one I can't break is my Red Terror girl as she was 6-7" when I got her and she is stubborn as all sin !

 

[raptorrex]

in a recent scientific study it was said that "tropical fish" (whatever that means) have the same intelligences as a horse!! not as much storage true, but basic intelligence. now horses learn some fancy tricks, cant see why a fish could not learn when it gets into trouble. i know Crayfish that bang on the tank to get fed, chocolate cichlids who bump the side of the tank to the same effect (if they are not fed they torpedo the tank lid till they do).

 

[cheesy feet]

yeh, parrot fish are real intelligent.If only they could talk

 

[Mystix212]

Cichlids are ranked amoung the smarter fish so its no wonder when you hold a box of flakes in front of them they go nuts.
I love hand feeding cichlids.