Firemouth harassing Salvini

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Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 20, 2011
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Today I introduced 3 baby Salvini (1 inch) to my 120 Gal, I wanted to add some color, but the 4x 3 inch Firemouths have been harassing them all day. They're really annoying... even with the lights off they don't stop chasing each other or the poor Salvinis.

The breeding pair of Blue Acara (male 5 inches female 3) took one corner of the tank and they don't really bother anyone as long as they stay far away from their fry... but the firemouths are rather aggressive.

The stock is 2x Blue Acara, 4x Juvenile Firemouth, 4x Small Clown Loach, 3x small Salvini

Will they kill the Salvini? And how fast do Salvini grow?
 
Yes, it seems they will kill the salvini if you let this go much longer... I had a 1 inch salvini in with a 1.5 inch firemouth and the firemouth killed it within 3 days... I'd definitely at least keep a good eye on them and set another tank up in the mean time just in case
 
Okay. If tomorrow the Salvini are still being chased I'll remove 2 Firemouth and give em to the LFS. Had a really hard time finding the Salvini to have them die now.
 
Did you rearrange the decorations before adding the Salvini?
T akethe firemouths out, rearrange then put them back in.
 
Don't mess around with it too much unless the Firemouth are actually going to kill the Salvini. Rearrangements and constant changes will just make the Firemouth continue to assert dominance, let the Salvini slot into the bottom of the pecking order.

Hopefully it doesn't remember the beating it's taking at the moment, otherwise you'll end up with four dead Firemouth in the future.
 
I had a FM kill a larger sal before. That was in a 55g, but you have a much larger tank. Make a lot of hiding spots, and that should help.
 
I have a lot of hiding spots

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But it was just too much. The 4 psycho Firemouth were chasing each other 24/7... I don't know where they get their energy from lol. I took out 2 of them and the difference is huge... now the salvinis are chilling and the 2 Firemouths focus on each other.
 
If you still have problems, make sure the hiding places are small enough that the Sals can get inside them and the FMs can't. Also, I would do some rearranging. It can help.
 
Regalblue;5032415; said:
Did you rearrange the decorations before adding the Salvini?
T akethe firemouths out, rearrange then put them back in.
Click to expand...

If the firemouths are bigger (which they are - by a LOT), this probably isn't going to work. Firemouths are complete jerks to anything the same size as them, or smaller.

May be best to just rehome the firemouths...
 
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