Some Aggression Between Firemouth And Convict

[Raechal]

So my 150 gallon is doing fine. The oscars are getting along with everyone but the firemouth seems to always be chasing the convict and trying to nip at him. He hasn't caught him yet as the convict is way faster than the firemouth but it still worries me a bit.

They are all about a inch in length. They all eat and there is no fighting at meal time. I re-arranged the plants and flattened the sand down so there were no holes that anyone dug still around. I made a rock cave in the left corner of my tank and when the convict swims over near the rock cave the firemouth won't go past a certain point in the tank.


I don't want the firemouth to constantly pick on the poor convict. Is this normal or is there anything else I need to do or can do to try to stop the chasing?

The oscars were the first to be in the tank, then the firemouth, then the convict about 3 days ago or so.

I am not sure what else to do.

 

[juanveldez]

basically it sounds like the FM has staked out a little bit of the tank as his own and it is the same area that the con has staked out. with a 150 I wouldn't worry much. there will be plenty of room for them both.

 

[Raechal]

The left corner of the tank has the rock cave that the convict seems to have claimed and one plant about 10 inches from the cave is where the firemouth usually hangs out at.

I am going to add a few more plants and some more rocks and hiding spots tomorrow. do you think this will help?

 

[juanveldez]

it will. lots of caves, driftwood , and plastic plants will help lots, when I had my 55 going before it cracked I had it pretty much set up that 1/4 of it was rock from the bottom leaving a bit of space for open swiming. lots of caves and hidy spots will lessen agression.

 

[juanveldez]

it will. lots of caves, driftwood , and plastic plants will help lots, when I had my 55 going before it cracked I had it pretty much set up that 1/4 of it was rock from the bottom leaving a bit of space for open swiming. lots of caves and hidy spots will lessen agression.

 

[Raechal]

thank you!

 

[Davo86]

thank you!

Agreed with Juanveldez,
from the last pics that i saw the tank was very open so there were very few boundaries in which territories could be claimed. by adding more decor this should reduce lines of sight and therefore reduce aggression

 

[Jaric]

it will. lots of caves, driftwood , and plastic plants will help lots

Agree 100%. They're just squabbling over territories. Adding more should make it less of an issue.

On a side note, who else was suprised when they read it was the convict getting picked on and not the other way around?

 

[Raechal]

it will. lots of caves, driftwood , and plastic plants will help lots

Agree 100%. They're just squabbling over territories. Adding more should make it less of an issue.

On a side note, who else was suprised when they read it was the convict getting picked on and not the other way around?

I was surprised when I saw it. I was very scared to add the convict to the tank as I thought he would be the bully of the tank. I moved all the plants around before I even added the convict. The convict was pretty shy and the firemouth just kept picking on him. I watched the tank for awhile last night and I can now definitely see it is just a fight over territory. The firemouth has a plant near the rock cave where he has claimed and I just now saw the convict flare his gills and boy did his colors darken and brighten. So after work I will be visiting the LFS for more plants and hiding places. thanks guys!

 

[juanveldez]

lol obviously nobody ever had to deal with FMs.... I am not surprised one bit. my big male FM could usually care less he just shows up when theres a squabble but the dominate female FM shes a right bugger

 

[Jaric]

lol obviously nobody ever had to deal with FMs.... I am not surprised one bit. my big male FM could usually care less he just shows up when theres a squabble but the dominate female FM shes a right bugger

Heh, guilty as charged. I've heard stories of convicts backing fish as large as a full grown Dempsey into corners before. One guy on another forum claimed his convict would pick on his oscars.

I'll keep that in mind with the firemouths. Never figured them as overaggressive for some reason.

 

[juanveldez]

don't get me wrong I have had convicts in the past as well and my male con would charge the glass just as much as my RD. they are definatly an agressive fish in their own right. but I have to say that my FMs are just as agressive, so there is no surprise there that the con and FM are battling. but with lots of little hiding spots for the both of them and the size of the tank I would say that it would minimize the war between the two fish.

 

[Raechal]

ha. I have never had firemouths or convicts before but have had oscars and parrot cichlids. My parrot was MEAN. Would try to bite and attack me everytime I stuck my hand in the tank. Especially when I would put my hand near the oscar.

She would try breeding with him and they would do a little breeding type ritual and she would lay eggs but they were never fertilized. She attacked the glass any time anyone came up to it. she was crazy!