i guess it depends. my buddy had a fm that was about 3.5in and he bought another one and when that one was about 2in they started breeding. i have heard 4-5in before breeding. so i am not 100% sure. i have 2 that i am trying to breed.
At what lenght do firemouths breed?
- Thread starter cichlidsguy
- Start date
Sorry, didn't see this.
Firemouths are sexually mature at 2.5 inches and will begin pairing at about 2" That is basically about 1 year old.
With that said, please let me elaborate. Broods from fish this small are usually less than 50 eggs and survival is usually less than 20%. As the fish mature and reach the 4" mark they really become more viable in terms of larger broods and survivability of fry.
Obviously, the better the water quality the easier it will be to succeed. Water params should be pH above 7.0, Hardness above 150ppm, temps between 74F and 82F.
Diet is most important in that larger amounts of protein should be used to ripen the females pre-spawn. This will increase roe and fry will have richer nutrients during development phase from egg to wiggler. Pre-soaking foods in vitamin supplements helps also.
Once fry are free swimming, liquid fry foods in dense concentrations for the first few days is advised, then graduate to Baby Brine Shrimp(live or frozen), then once they are bigger add crushed flake.
If you have 2 fish, one will be dominant. One will be larger and more aggressive. It is quite possible you have a pair. If they begin to dig a pit, then that is the first sign of breeding. The male will dig the pit while the female cleans the surfaces of the rocks near the pit. Once this begins you should have a spawning event within 3 weeks time.
I hope this helped, Rich
Firemouths are sexually mature at 2.5 inches and will begin pairing at about 2" That is basically about 1 year old.
With that said, please let me elaborate. Broods from fish this small are usually less than 50 eggs and survival is usually less than 20%. As the fish mature and reach the 4" mark they really become more viable in terms of larger broods and survivability of fry.
Obviously, the better the water quality the easier it will be to succeed. Water params should be pH above 7.0, Hardness above 150ppm, temps between 74F and 82F.
Diet is most important in that larger amounts of protein should be used to ripen the females pre-spawn. This will increase roe and fry will have richer nutrients during development phase from egg to wiggler. Pre-soaking foods in vitamin supplements helps also.
Once fry are free swimming, liquid fry foods in dense concentrations for the first few days is advised, then graduate to Baby Brine Shrimp(live or frozen), then once they are bigger add crushed flake.
If you have 2 fish, one will be dominant. One will be larger and more aggressive. It is quite possible you have a pair. If they begin to dig a pit, then that is the first sign of breeding. The male will dig the pit while the female cleans the surfaces of the rocks near the pit. Once this begins you should have a spawning event within 3 weeks time.
I hope this helped, Rich
well i would think that fish like those mature much faster than a year.they are related to cons and cons mature pretty fast.i think most small south/central american chiclids are the same way.with the right tank space and nutrition,they should grow pretty fast.but are you sure that you have a male and female?i think just to be sure,you should post a picture of both fish so that we here on MFK could give you extra esurance
Heres a picture of what i think is my female firemouth!!!!!i put of the male picture later,but in the mean time he looks maybe a little bit bigger and darker....sorry for the crappy photography i used my CELLPHONE!!!!!
http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x247/cichlidsguy/?action=view¤t=attachment.jpg
http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x247/cichlidsguy/?action=view¤t=attachment.jpg
This is the best I ccould do with your pic...
The finnage is pretty chewed. I blew up the back of the dorsal...
At this point there is no way to differentiate if it is a submissive male or a female.
My recommendations are to allow them to stay together, increasing water changes to help in preventing secondary infections and promote breeding behavior, and continue observing the fish. If they swim together and any pits are forming in the substrate I would say it is a safe bet they are male/female and have paired.
If the larger fish holds a territory and continually challenges the other fish and chases it away then I would say you have 2 males.
HTH,Rich
The finnage is pretty chewed. I blew up the back of the dorsal...
At this point there is no way to differentiate if it is a submissive male or a female.
My recommendations are to allow them to stay together, increasing water changes to help in preventing secondary infections and promote breeding behavior, and continue observing the fish. If they swim together and any pits are forming in the substrate I would say it is a safe bet they are male/female and have paired.
If the larger fish holds a territory and continually challenges the other fish and chases it away then I would say you have 2 males.
HTH,Rich
Mr.Firemouth;1095333; said:
well they sometimes stay together and other times the bigg one chases it away.they are in my 20g long i was thinking maybe adding some different fish like 2 or something to lower the agression for now!!! not sure though
