Firemouth is the bully

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Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 24, 2014
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United States
Hey guys, I need some help. I have had my cichlids for close to two years and I have always had bullying among my cichlids; chasing, fin nipping which can get excessive and being very territorial. I have put them in a larger tank (they are in a 75g instead of a 46g), rearranged decroations, bought new decorations. I'm not sure what else to do. There are just 4 cichlids including the Firemouth in the 75g with caves and tall fake plants. My Sunshine Peacock already lost one eye to either the Flavescent or the Firemouth. The Sunshine is smaller than the other cichlids and gets bullied the most. The Firemouth picks on the other cichlids, the Flavescent Peacock picks on the Sunshine. The Sunshine doesn't pick on anyone. Any advice?
 
I don't have another tank to put him in. The Flavescent gets picked on as well but not as much. Is this behavior normal for Firemouths?? I know there's going to be a fish hierarchy but I can't seem to decrease the bulliness.
 
Maybe try some dither, like a school(10+) of tiger barbs.
 
You sure it's not something else? In my experience firemouths have always been all talk, never any show. Nothing like a GT or convict which will harass to the point of damage. My firemouth is the current king and about a year and a half old. He's had a lot of tankmates, and anytime he was the aggressor it was never serious. He'd just flare up and chase for a second and thats it.

You could also try a "timeout". Net him out and put him in a bucket for a bit, or a different tank then re-introduce him.
 
Throw in tonnes of plants, creates more sight breaks

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A large firemouth can take down anything "smaller"... I had Trimacs being chased around for a time in a rearing tank by larger more dominant Firemouths with their fins being torn so in my experience Firemouths aren't always the push-overs some people might think. Its always difficult to get the right balance with any cichlid but heres a few examples of mine that have worked in the past as tank mates.....

(1) 3 breeding pairs of Firemouths
(2) large M A Labiatus and 3 M Neetroplus Nematopus
(3) Male Istlanum and 2 V pearsi
(4) EBD and a M Firemouth
(5) Pair of Firemouths and A G steindachneri
(6) EBD and pair of T Ellioti

Its all about balance and respect in the cichlid world... Firemouths like to be dominant or certainly feel that way and if anything upsets that or THEY get bullied they get unwell and die, easily.
 
I have a good amount of fake plants (5 of them) that are 12in and taller. I bought some of the marineland 3ft artificial bamboo, put those in and that did cut down on the aggression from the firemouth and flavescent. I noticed a ton of the food was getting stuck on the top of the plants because they are 3ft, I have a 75g. Half the decoration toppled over and created like a lilly pad effect because the other half of the decoration was bent over. So, I cut the fake bamboo down in heighth, now it seems the aggression from both cichlids is back up. Idk why this firemouth is so territotial! The flavescent is larger than him, the firemouth chases the cichlids throughout the tank but more sticks to one half of the tank. I am thinking about getting rid of the firemouth but if I do that than the fish heirarchy will be disturbed and the flavescent will bully the sunshine peacock a lot more like he did in the past. I'm not sure what to do.
 
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