New Starter Cichlid Tank

[BRANDX]

I received a new 10g starter gift tank. Just from the forum it looks like I may be in for trouble. 4 South American chichlids all 1.5" to 2.0". 2 convicts, 1 firemouth, 1 jack dempsey. I'm new, I haven't discerned the sexes of the fish. Currently, the firemouth completely dominates the tank, the convicts only bother each other (they are the smallest), and the Jack seems very docile, except when food hits the water (still not aggressive, but he out eats the the other 3 put together)

I really like these guys, all very distinct personalities, but from the forum it looks like this little dream can't last, true?

 

[saboy]

oh nooooo, you are gonna need to upgrade very soon, proby to a 100 gallon if you want to keep em forever !

 

[jayjay]

oh nooooo, you are gonna need to upgrade very soon, proby to a 100 gallon if you want to keep em forever !

so very true! sorry but a 10g for aggressive chiclids just isn't going to do it. don't even think you'll be able to keep 1 convict in there and hell will break loose if you get a pair of convists (male and female)

sorry for being so negative, but you will either have to buy the 100g tank suggested or trade all those fish in and go for something else preferable small and community if you want other fish or you could have 2 dwarf puffers.

 

[BRANDX]

Wow! 100g...that's like getting another car! What kind of time frame do I have, do ya think? Like 33g or 55g this year? Maybe bigger next? or are we talking weeks, months...

 

[jayjay]

well i'm thinking no more than 2 months most likely less. again sorry for being negative but when they grow they are likely to kill each other.

 

[Katchan]

My 2cents

Grab a 55g darn quick. If the the connies (convicts) are fighting already good chance they are both males, good chance one will die, return or swap if possible. with one male there's a good chance he would be less violent, than in a m/f pair (no breeding to defend) so would work out well. The firemouth, no real experience but may fare better with a mate. The JD I'd leave single.

As for other fish in a 55G (probably bare mininum for what you have, may need another upgrade in 12-18 months) chuck in a common or sailfin pleco and maybe something like a blue acara (may be a bit close to the JD in colouring so fights are a possibilitythough mine are fine) or festivums or salvinii. Just thoughts

KC

 

[BRANDX]

Dinner with friends tonight, giving me a 15 gal. Same four fish. for the time being to minimize risk how would you split them? Oh, and I added my wife's tank to my signature. Wasn't going to bring it in to the forum but we just had a molly fry tonight! Tank is only a few days old, kind of a strange experience.
Anyway, Ideas on a 10g and 15g split for the cichlids?

 

[jayjay]

your getting a 15g and keeping the 10g right?

well you'll still need to upgrade to a larger tank(s)

for now i would put the convicts it one tank and move the firemouth and JD personaly but you won't be able to keep those fish like that for very long.

 

[Katchan]

If you want to keep both convicts alive, I'd seperate in different tanks since they are fighting. Add the firemouth to the 10, the JD to the 15, bingo you just bought yourself 6-8 weeks (max IMHO). Ideally add a bit of rocks/driftwood break-up the tanks, help stop fights.

Also dont want to rain on your parade but since your asking for advice but I wouldn't be suprised if the molly baby is dead by the time you read this. The sword tail probably needs at least a 15, molly's the same. Neons are fine in 10 gallons and above in groups of 6+, hatchets, no experience, may be ok in 10's but may need a 15 again a schooling fish so atleast 6+. Personally if I were you, I'd get a 55 or similar as soon as buget allows, then add the swordtail, molly and hatchet to the 15G, adding some more hatchets, a small bristlenose catfish/oto's and a dwarf cichlid or similar if room add another sword or molly or 2. With the 10 gallon add the neon, get another 5-6 friends, add a dwarf cichlid, maybe something else. Then use the 5gallon to raise fry if you pair up the molly and/or swordtail. The 5 could also be well used for a betta. just my $1.02 worth

KC

 

[BRANDX]

Right you are Katchan! on at least one detail...but, I have to run tonight, I'll fill everyone in later. Have more tank possibilities popping up...

PS thanks for the input everyone, very much appreciated!

 

[Nevergone815]

yea i agree with Katchan. getting a 55 gal asap will give you about another 12-18 months to invest in a larger tank (100 gal) the best thing to do is when you get the tanks situated, don't worry about adding new types of fish, but worry about getting your schooling numbers to the right levls. also, the big thing with livebearers is to make sure you have at least 2-3 females for every male. this spreads out breeding agression by the male on the females. also, swordtails and mollies can do fine in 15 gal, but each would ideally like 20 gal. also, mollies do better i slightly brackish water. the trick is that you need to seperate to convicts. personally i would return the jack dempsey to a lfs as they grow large and this would maybe if your lucky let you go down to a 75 gal. that would save you a bunch of money. i noticed through other people that convicts are generally only agressive towards other convicts. but i have never kept them yet myself. the firemouths i heard can be quite a spitfire, but again i've never kept thek. i do know, though JD are generally peaceful as you have mentioned with yours, but with size will become a bit aggressive especially in a small environment.

my recommendations to you would be...

for the 10 gal put the JD and 1 convict

for the 15 put a convict and the firemouth ( i heard that firemouths can be really aggro so this would give more room so they don't get agressive as often with each other.)

as for future with the fish you have... you have options depending on what you like... i would...

use the 15 gal for the swordtail, molly and get 4 ore neons to add to your one.

use the 10 gal for the molly, and get 4 more hatchetfish to add to your one.

i say to use the 10 for the molly because they aren't as active as swordtails.

you could also do...

15 gal, swordtail, molly, 5 neons
10 gal, hatchet fish, 1 small pleco or 3 cories.

you got a mess here and i'll try to help the best i can. pm me if you want for further help so i can talk one on one and i'll help you work this out. i literally spend hours trying to figure out the best scnarios for fish and tanks. i did this one (thought wise) in a matter of minutes, but with time i can think it out a little better.

it's getting late and i have finals (college) tomorrow so i'll check bac after the finals!! good luck with it all.

 

[scrappy]

Deffo need a bigger tank asap, Jacks grow very quickly, in 6 months he will be 5" or so. Firemouths grow a little slower, but still get to a decent size. As for aggression, the Firemouth will cope with the Jack quite easily and are generally quite quick little fellas. Mine live with Green Terror, Salvini Cichlid, Blue Acara, Gold Severum, Syno Eupterus, YoYo Loach, Blue Loach & a few Corys and although they can have minor squabbles at times its mostly over food at feeding time and it dies down very quickly after they fill up on foods.

Heres my Jack:

And heres my Firemouth:

 

[nate95m]

I received a new 10g starter gift tank. Just from the forum it looks like I may be in for trouble. 4 South American chichlids all 1.5" to 2.0". 2 convicts, 1 firemouth, 1 jack dempsey. I'm new, I haven't discerned the sexes of the fish. Currently, the firemouth completely dominates the tank, the convicts only bother each other (they are the smallest), and the Jack seems very docile, except when food hits the water (still not aggressive, but he out eats the the other 3 put together)

I really like these guys, all very distinct personalities, but from the forum it looks like this little dream can't last, true?

My advise would be to get,at the very least a 75 gallon tank.But you would be better off with a 100 or 120.

 

[BRANDX]

Thanks for the posts, everybody,

I have split the fish into a couple of tanks (see signature)
Scrappy, Great pics of your fish!!

Don't know how to close down an old thread, or how to use all the tools on the site, but in case anyone surfs these older posts here's a response for you.

ciao,

 

[scrappy]

To answer your PM BRANDX, my Jack Dempsey is currently around 6.5" or so and ive had him since he was a Juvenile at a lowly 1.5" and that was just under 2 years ago. My Firemouth is around 4" again had it since Juvenile and he was larger then the Juvenile JD at the time at around 2" and he was bought within weeks of my purchase of the JD.

This may help altho its difficult to tell size from photos as distance from the glass is a factor, but you can tell the fish has matured, obviously the top picture is a recent picture of my JD, the lower picture is an older picture taken a while back when it was a lot smaller and on a different camera so the quality isnt as good.