New Firemouth Cichlids

[p.hishy]

So instead of a long intro, I'm just going to jump right into this

I was at my LFS today and they had teeny Firemouth Cichlids, less than a quarter of an inch long, they're dinky! I came home with two. My friend was there and he said that for now, they would do good in my ten gallon until they got bigger. I also have a twenty but until they get bigger it's a "no no" from the 'rents (it's in need of something or other...it was our old saltwater tank from years ago.

I have a few questions, here they are.
1.) How big should I let them get before I remove them from my ten and place them in the twenty?
2.) Can they stay in the twenty or should I save up for a bigger tank?
3.) If they will work in the twenty, can I get tank mates and if so, what kind?

edit: I just found something on another site saying that they were peaceful cichlids.

The fish are very peacefull and will not disturb other tankinhabitants, unless they start to breed, in which case it's better to separate the couple from the tank.

 

[thegnu]

As with all cichlids firemouths are territorial and being that small they will probably double their size every month and a ten gallon is very small! As for tank mates they need to be quite big so they don't end up on the menu. Congo tetras, rainbows, scissor-tails (big ones) some of the big barbs and of cause other cichlids like keyholes, port acaras and you are looking at a much bigger tank than a twenty!

 

[Karl1987]

I keep my pair of firemouths in a 200 litre tank.

My male firemouth is nearly fully grown and my small male Pelvicachromis taeniatus bosses him about and hes only a quater of his size. They are all bark and no bite, although when mine did spawn there was a bit of chasing and gill flaring at other fish but nothing serious. Probably the most docile cichlids ive ever kept. I keep mine with harliquin rasboras without and problems which are small enough for the firemouths to eat although I did have them with neon tetras and that didnt last long , they use to hunt them down through the plants at night...

At the minute ive got mine with 2 angelfish, 2 bristlenose catfish,1 Pelvicachromis taeniatus, 9 harliquin rasboras and some clown loaches

Im actually getting rid of my clown loaches this week because theyre to boasterious around the firemouths which is causing them to hide away quite alot and stopping them from spawning again.

 

[p.hishy]

Thanks guys. My mom really, really likes these guys but she keeps saying we have "no room to set up the twenty".

Will they really grow that fast? Doubling their size will only make the biggest maaayyybbeee an inch long, as I said, they're really, really small.

Oh and as for neon tetras, they are the one kind of fish I cannot keep alive to save my life (or their's.)

edit: If I just kept one in my twenty, could I keep a few tank mates with it? I really like the silver hatchets, would it do okay with a few of those? As I said, I'm new to cichlids and I have no clue what I could keep them with.

 

[Karl1987]

Thanks guys. My mom really, really likes these guys but she keeps saying we have "no room to set up the twenty".

Will they really grow that fast? Doubling their size will only make the biggest maaayyybbeee an inch long, as I said, they're really, really small.

Oh and as for neon tetras, they are the one kind of fish I cannot keep alive to save my life (or their's.)

edit: If I just kept one in my twenty, could I keep a few tank mates with it? I really like the silver hatchets, would it do okay with a few of those? As I said, I'm new to cichlids and I have no clue what I could keep them with.

They arent really that fast at growing but if you were gonna get some you would be better keeping them in pairs (m+f) like most cichlids. A 20 gallon tank is a bit small for a pair t be kept with other fish especially if they do breed so you would be best keeping them in their own tank with possibly some sort of an algae eater like a bristlenose catfish.

 

[p.hishy]

Thanks again. I really don't think I can get a tank bigger than a twenty, but could I keep one in there with tank mates? My parents and I are having trouble deciding where to put it and at the moment, anything bigger is out of the question.

 

[raptorrex]

though i have no vast knowledge of these fish, i have 2. 1 @3 inches and 1 @1inch. i have found them to be the most peaceful of fish, displaying no territorial tendency's, indeed they can be quite shy. in my tank they live with, angels, rams, gurami, silver dollars, plecos, glasscats, synos, cory, blue acara, RTS, silver shark and a usd cat. the acara will chase the firemouth, but that is about all the action it ever sees.

 

[p.hishy]

Why thank you for that
Good to know they aren't like the other cichlids...or so I've heard.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Thanks again. I really don't think I can get a tank bigger than a twenty, but could I keep one in there with tank mates? My parents and I are having trouble deciding where to put it and at the moment, anything bigger is out of the question.

I have to be frank here unlike any of the other members so far. Re-home them. They won't grow much in a 10 gallon, and in a 20 gallon they most likely won't reach the full potential, they will end up getting badly stunted in a 10g and some-what stunted in a 20. They will live a short, miserable life (yes even in the 20). If you really love them don't put up a fight like most other greedy, childish members, just do the right thing and give them back to the store, a 10 gallon can hold nicer more colorful Cichlids anyways, and in a 20g

http/www.fishforums.net/Firemouth-Cichlid-t60979.html I personally thin that 30g is still small...

 

[demonmagus]

I would return them, sorry for the negative attitude lol but discuslova is right - you can get some really nice fish for 20 gallons

 

[sswm]

I keep my pair of firemouths in a 200 litre tank.

My male firemouth is nearly fully grown and my small male Pelvicachromis taeniatus bosses him about and hes only a quater of his size. They are all bark and no bite, although when mine did spawn there was a bit of chasing and gill flaring at other fish but nothing serious. Probably the most docile cichlids ive ever kept. I keep mine with harliquin rasboras without and problems which are small enough for the firemouths to eat although I did have them with neon tetras and that didnt last long , they use to hunt them down through the plants at night...

At the minute ive got mine with 2 angelfish, 2 bristlenose catfish,1 Pelvicachromis taeniatus, 9 harliquin rasboras and some clown loaches

I have 3 angels, still quite small in size, and they wont leave my harlequins(have about 15 of them) alone, one of my angelfish actually caught a harlequin two days ago. I thought it was nibbling on a dead one, but when I went to net it out, the harlequin still tried to swim, it was quite a sad scene, needless to say I am going to re-house my harlequins into a spare tank now

 

[Imagesz]

o say you should just return them back to you rlfs becassue that would be just stunting the fish adn that would be wrong

 

[DarkEntity]

Thanks again. I really don't think I can get a tank bigger than a twenty, but could I keep one in there with tank mates? My parents and I are having trouble deciding where to put it and at the moment, anything bigger is out of the question.

You have to think about the potential full adult size of a fish and plan for that. Firemouths can hit 5-6" each so a 20 is a tad tight for 2, id be looking at 125litre (27 Gall) minimum for a pair. On top of that they are very territorial as they grow up, if you have 2 males, you will only have one very soon after. If you only have a 10 gall you should be looking at guppy's(males unless you want babies), small tetra and simiar sized fish, defintaley not Cichlids