New to cichlids! Blue Acara and Firemouth?

[ElizabethFrancis]

Hi everyone,

I am new to cichlids, with relatively little experience with aquariums in general so I appreciate any advice. My parents had African cichlids when I was growing up and I’ve been wanting to get cichlids for a while- well, I finally did.
I went into my local pet store and was drawn to a dynamic Electric Blue Acara. Based on the information I got from a store employee, I ended up purchasing him(?) and his tank mates- the rational was that since they all were together at the pet store, they would hopefully all be happy together in my aquarium.
So now I have 2 electric blue Acaras and 1 firemouth. They seem to be getting along fine, but I’m wondering if anyone has experience with these fish and if they had any issues with aggression or any tips in general. None of the fish are sexed, but I’m hoping to figure that out as they get older. Some of my concerns are that the 2 Acaras would pair up and become aggressive or that the store employee gave me bad advice in selecting the fish and I shouldn’t have this combo together. It seemed brilliant to just get the fish from the same tank in the store, but when I google this combo, not many people choose to go with it.
I have lots of rocks and plants and hiding places for them, and they seem to kinda all stick together as they swim around.
Ultimately, I want my fish to live long, healthy, happy lives, and meanwhile I’d like to learn as much as I can about my fish, and cichlids in general, so I can continue to keep them as a hobby throughout my life. So my questions are:
1. Is this a good combo?
2. If it’s not, what do you recommend?
3. Will I see aggression? Who should I watch out for?
4. As far as fish mating, I have no knowledge. How will I know if they are pairing up/how do I sex them accurately?
If anyone has had this combo I’d love to hear your thoughts and any advice or tips are always welcome! Thank you!

 

[Rocksor]

What size is the tank? Under 40g? How long has this tank been cycled?

 

[ElizabethFrancis]

Hi everyone,

I am new to cichlids, with relatively little experience with aquariums in general so I appreciate any advice. My parents had African cichlids when I was growing up and I’ve been wanting to get cichlids for a while- well, I finally did.
I went into my local pet store and was drawn to a dynamic Electric Blue Acara. Based on the information I got from a store employee, I ended up purchasing him(?) and his tank mates- the rational was that since they all were together at the pet store, they would hopefully all be happy together in my aquarium.
So now I have 2 electric blue Acaras and 1 firemouth. They seem to be getting along fine, but I’m wondering if anyone has experience with these fish and if they had any issues with aggression or any tips in general. None of the fish are sexed, but I’m hoping to figure that out as they get older. Some of my concerns are that the 2 Acaras would pair up and become aggressive or that the store employee gave me bad advice in selecting the fish and I shouldn’t have this combo together. It seemed brilliant to just get the fish from the same tank in the store, but when I google this combo, not many people choose to go with it.
I have lots of rocks and plants and hiding places for them, and they seem to kinda all stick together as they swim around.
Ultimately, I want my fish to live long, healthy, happy lives, and meanwhile I’d like to learn as much as I can about my fish, and cichlids in general, so I can continue to keep them as a hobby throughout my life. So my questions are:
1. Is this a good combo?
2. If it’s not, what do you recommend?
3. Will I see aggression? Who should I watch out for?
4. As far as fish mating, I have no knowledge. How will I know if they are pairing up/how do I sex them accurately?
If anyone has had this combo I’d love to hear your thoughts and any advice or tips are always welcome! Thank you!

What size is the tank? Under 40g? How long has this tank been cycled?

It is a 20 gallon tank. I set it up on Saturday, and put the fish in on Monday. They tested the water at the pet store for me.

 

[ElizabethFrancis]

Right now, all three fish are about 1 1/2 to 2” long each. I’m planning to upgrade the size of tank to upwards of 50 gallons since I have the space and ideally would like to have more fish. I was hesitant to start that large since I’m new to aquariums, but from what I’ve been reading online, it’s actually easier to maintain a larger tank. Guess I’m also learning as I go.

 

[Rocksor]

You need to cycle the tank, and get the API freshwater master test kit, Seachem Prime. It can take weeks to cycle a tank. Since you already have the fish you need to keep the ammonia and nitrite below 0.25ppm (higher than 0ppm) through water changes. Test ammonia and nitrites everyday, and be prepared to do 50% or more water changes everyday.

 

[HybridFinatic]

1. Is this a good combo?
2. If it’s not, what do you recommend?
3. Will I see aggression? Who should I watch out for?
4. As far as fish mating, I have no knowledge. How will I know if they are pairing up/how do I sex them accurately?
If anyone has had this combo I’d love to hear your thoughts and any advice or tips are always welcome! Thank you!

First of all, Like said above you missed the most important part of getting your first aquarium. You have to cycle the tank. You are going to have to change the water everyday to keep the ammonia and nitrite down which can be deadly to your fish at any level. I reccomend you ask your local pet store or someone you may know who has an established aquarium for some cycled media to throw in your filter. If you can’t do that your going have to go the bottled bacteria route and do that and water changes daily. I also recommend you just research the nitrogen cycle on this forum and ways to cycle and aquarium and about a water changes if you were even aware of them. To answer your original question. No from my experience those two are not compatible. Firemouths are Central American and Acaras are South. You could rehome either species and look into some other central or South America’s. You could go with a group of firemouths and add platyes or some other dither. Just do more research before you trust the advice of any fish store employee. You have to have knowledge first to know if they are right or wrong. You did make the right decision joining this forum though. You can learn everything you need to know about the hobby here.

 

[ElizabethFrancis]

Okay. So I just ordered the API test kit. I’m going to read like crazy so I get the water quality thing down and make sure my fish don’t die.
I’m bummed about the fact that the store didn’t tell me about this. But it’s my responsibility now. Thank you both for the advice.
If I start a larger tank with the cycling process and move these guys to that, would they be okay?

 

[Rocksor]

Okay. So I just ordered the API test kit. I’m going to read like crazy so I get the water quality thing down and make sure my fish don’t die.
I’m bummed about the fact that the store didn’t tell me about this. But it’s my responsibility now. Thank you both for the advice.
If I start a larger tank with the cycling process and move these guys to that, would they be okay?

A larger tank will help prevent the ammonia from rising too quickly. I forgot to mention to also get Seachem Stability, since it will help colonize the tank with bacteria that eat ammonia and nitrite. I would get enough to dose daily for at least 1 week. Seachem Prime, a water conditioner, will protect the fish from toxic ammonia, by turning it into non-toxic ammonium for up to 48 hours. The ammonia test will still show ammonium as ammonia since it reads total ammonia. There's another in the tank test called Seachem Ammonia Alert which will show when you have toxic ammonia.

 

[ElizabethFrancis]

A larger tank will help prevent the ammonia from rising too quickly. I forgot to mention to also get Seachem Stability, since it will help colonize the tank with bacteria that eat ammonia and nitrite. I would get enough to dose daily for at least 1 week. Seachem Prime, a water conditioner, will protect the fish from toxic ammonia, by turning it into non-toxic ammonium for up to 48 hours. The ammonia test will still show ammonium as ammonia since it reads total ammonia. There's another in the tank test called Seachem Ammonia Alert which will show when you have toxic ammonia.

Thank you so much for your help! I actually ended up running to the store and got the EPI test for my tank. I went ahead and tested everything, and everything was good except my ammonia level was at .50ppm.

So, I’ll do a daily water change of up to 50% plus add the Seachem ammonia alert daily?

 

[Rocksor]

add seachem prime daily, and then 1 hour later add seachem stability