55 gallon cichlid tank

[donthejaun1268]

So ive seen a similar post about this. Im a beginner my tank is 4ft long 21 inch high and from front to back glass its 12 inch. My question is can I keep 2 firemouths and a electric blue dempsy in here longterm? If not any suggestions its a 55 gallon

 

[Jexnell]

If it was my tank, I would skip the Dempsey, and add more Firemouth. Firemouth are like Tetras as in they like to be in big groups. Then add in some livebearers like Swordtails or Plattys. Then a bottom fish like Cory's or even Pictus cats. Maybe a bushynose nose pleco and some nerite snails. With this setup you will have a nice active tank.

 

[tlindsey]

So ive seen a similar post about this. Im a beginner my tank is 4ft long 21 inch high and from front to back glass its 12 inch. My question is can I keep 2 firemouths and a electric blue dempsy in here longterm? If not any suggestions its a 55 gallonView attachment 1566397

Welcome aboard
You're thread should be posted under the forum Central and South American Cichlid. You will get conflicting answers. I personally would add a couple more Firemouth's.

 

[donthejaun1268]

If it was my tank, I would skip the Dempsey, and add more Firemouth. Firemouth are like Tetras as in they like to be in big groups. Then add in some livebearers like Swordtails or Plattys. Then a bottom fish like Cory's or even Pictus cats. Maybe a bushynose nose pleco and some nerite snails. View attachment 1566404With this setup you will have a nice active tank.
View attachment 1566405

This will be good for longterm? Im planning on a 75 one day but wanna run this one for some time being a beginner. How many firemouths? And how many of the other tank mates you suggested i like to sound of the set up

 

[donthejaun1268]

Welcome aboard
You're thread should be posted under the forum Central and South American Cichlid. You will get conflicting answers. I personally would add a couple more Firemouth's.

Welcome aboard
You're thread should be posted under the forum Central and South American Cichlid. You will get conflicting answers. I personally would add a couple more Firemouth's.

How many 3 maybe 4? If so any other tank mates that wont cause a conflict? And only males or only females

 

[donthejaun1268]

Welcome aboard
You're thread should be posted under the forum Central and South American Cichlid. You will get conflicting answers. I personally would add a couple more Firemouth's.

Another question should all Firemouth's be the same gender?

 

[Jexnell]

The setup should last for a good long time before possibly needing to move them to the 75. Firemouth are not know to be fast growing. There are reports of males getting 10 to 12 inches but that's years down the road.

How Firemouth work, the males will split the tank into territories. The females travel around in a pack checking out each male till they find one to breed with when they are ready. So having more is better as it spreads any aggression to more fish. Firemouth are more show than actually fighting. Lots of gill flaring, some back and forth pushing. Thier mouths are rather small so not much actual biting.
As far as numbers. I would anywhere from 6 to 10. Same with the livebearers. The livebearers will reproduce like crazy, some will get picked off by the Firemouth, but make sure there is some plants for the fry to hide in. A surface plant like water lettuce and or some Vals will help the livebearers fry make it to adulthood.

This tank is just a 40b but I started with just 7 Vals and 6 Plattys.


It had a Finnex planted plus 24/7 light, and got some direct sunlight late afternoon's. No ferts used, no CO2 just sunlight and an army of plattys and convicts feeding them thier waste. I did use Caribsea planted plus substrate, so that come with some ferts, no other feets added.


This is what I started with.



At 6 months I had to pukk out all the non Val plants, remove half the vals and replanted. I had some Vals that were 6 foot in length.

 

[donthejaun1268]

Beautiful tank. And you're saying 4 to 6 firemouths? Say I dont end up wanting another tank would 2 or 3 females be fine. Or will no males and breeding abilities stress them out.

 

[Jexnell]

Here's the thing, you can't really sex firemouths when young. They are too simular in appearance to tell visually. You can try and vent them, but again so small you really can't tell them apart. If you really want just females, you will need to get a bunch, wait till they get some size then remove the males. But here is the catch, you won't get natural behavior from just females. They will group up and continuously swim around looking for the males more than likely. This is why I mentioned pictus cats as a bottom fish. They will gladly remove fry for you. Best of both worlds. You get a more natural behavior, but don't have to worry about what to do with all these Firemouth fry. Mother nature is mean, but she keeps the balance.

 

[donthejaun1268]

Here's the thing, you can't really sex firemouths when young. They are too simular in appearance to tell visually. You can try and vent them, but again so small you really can't tell them apart. If you really want just females, you will need to get a bunch, wait till they get some size then remove the males. But here is the catch, you won't get natural behavior from just females. They will group up and continuously swim around looking for the males more than likely. This is why I mentioned pictus cats as a bottom fish. They will gladly remove fry for you. Best of both worlds. You get a more natural behavior, but don't have to worry about what to do with all these Firemouth fry. Mother nature is mean, but she keeps the balance.

I think i see what you're saying get 5 or 6 at first then let them grow. I'll be able to figure out sex by then. Then I csn remove the ones that may be over populating the tank and keep maybe 2 females and 1 male or 2 females and 2 males? Then when they grow get some pictus cats to take care of the fry that come from breeding