Hey. New to the forum, lots of great info here. I used to keep cichlids years ago but took a break for about 4 years. I had bigger tanks back then and kept the more commonly found cichlids... oscars, jd, red devil, gt, etc. I recently got back into it and have a 55 gallon with a 2" Firemouth. I believe it's a male. Oddly firemouths are one of the cichlids I never kept back in the day. It's in there with some giant danios and a small red tail black shark. I know these questions probably come up all the time but I am looking for a possible tankmate, another cichlid. I was considering ordering a blue acara and maybe a honduran red point from Jeff Rapps. I have read the hrp's are more docile than cons and the acara is rather easy going as well. I've never kept any of these and none of my local stores sell them. Any input on how this might pan out? I thought the three would be a cool combo but if one or the other would work better with my firemouth that would be fine. It's just for the shipping I'd rather get one more fish if it will work in my tank than pay all that for one fish. Oh and the firemouth so far seems pretty chill. Gets a little territorial during feeding but that's it. Thanks for any advice
Firemouth compatibility
- Thread starter criswell
- Start date
Firemouths aren't generally aggressive. They are mostly bark and little bite. Either the acara or the HRP will work very well, but both are tricky to find a good specimen. Blues are commonly interbred with green terrors and you get something in between as far as aggression goes, but its very hard to tell the hybrids from either GT or blue acara parents until it gets 4"+. The HRP is also commonly interbred with convicts. Again, aggression tends to land somewhere in between. And again, hybrids can be difficult to recognize until they are larger.
Now having said all that, I trust Jeff with all his stock. His supplier is excellent and his upkeep of fish is fantastic. I personally would choose the HRPs as they are a little smaller than acaras (only by 1-2") and you could easily keep two of them in with the firemouth. Even if you end up with a pair, the fry are highly sought after and spawns are small (60-80 eggs compared to 200-300 that cons have), so you would have no trouble unloading any survivors. A breeding pair would also take up no more than 25-30 gallons of space, which would leave more than enough room for the firemouth.
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Thanks. Very helpful info. I do really like the looks of the HRPs. I've never kept a pair of anything simply out of not knowing what to do with the fry. I may go that route. I really liked the Australoheros Oblongum he has but from what I've read I'm worried it would get harassed by the firemouth.
Their smaller size and placid personality can make them susceptible to any possible aggression the firemouth may display. However if you keep plentry of hiding spots that they can fit into, but the firemouth can't, then you should still be able to keep 2-3 of them with no problems.
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