bamweevil Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Having just lost my favourite fish to accident chasing a mossie, I am now unfornately looking for a replacement. I like the sound of what i have read of the firemouth cichlid. My query is are these fish suitable for a person who is still relatively new to freshwater fish (tropical) had goldies before they grew to big for tank, curently just got a little tank of tropicals 55litres. Which leads me to my second question would a 215litre tank be big enough for one or are they better as a pair. I am also confuse by information i have found are they a community fish or not. thanks for any help recieve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 FM's are pretty placid generally unless they are breeding or wanting to breed. im unsure if they would try to eat smaller fish (like neons etc) once they got larger or not. they get about 15-17cm tops i think so a 215L would be fine for a couple depending what other fish you had in there. i think you could go 4 or so in a 215L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 I have about ten Firemouths here. Generally I find their best nature comes out when singular (with other cichlids in the tank, although I do have one pair that is really good together. I always have at least one in a cichlid tank. 215 litre tank will be plenty. They're not a delicate fish, so no problem. I've got an adult Firemouth with a young Oscar and an adult Severum in a 200L tank in the lounge, all happy. I would recommend you get more than one, or get other cichlids in the tank too, that way you'll get to see the Firemouth display Dont put them with convict cichlids as the convicts just kill them. Firemouths only get aggressive when they have a territory, otherwise they're just poofters. I grew up a bunch of them with Platys and angel fish, only had to remove them from that tank because they found out the Neon Tetra fit in their mouth. Takes a long time for them to grow out, about a year or two? I've always had a soft spot for them. Mine have been happy in anything from 22C to 32C and pH of 6.5 through to 7.5, really not picky. They *LOVE* frozen bloodworms (available from LFS) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Oh and the only reason I'd say they're not a community fish is because if it fits in their mouth they'll eat it. 99% of the Firemouth is all talk, they rarely actually bite anything, my angel fish cause more damage to other fish than these guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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