firemouth w/ geo problems

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T

TheBroc

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 1, 2014
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CALIFORNIA
I am new to the cichlid game. I bought a firemouth a few days ago and just picked up a geo both around 3" (geo is barely bigger) and the firemouth will not leave the geo alone. chasing it around none stop. what should I do?

move geo to a tank with smaller fish
move geo to a tank with larger fish
move firemouth to tank with smaller fish
move firemouth to tank with larger fish
get rid of one
 
What size tank? Maybe you just need more cichlids or dithers in their tank.

How big are the smaller/larger fish you're talking about?

IME geos are pretty okay with smaller fish as long as they're big enough to avoids being eaten. FM's are typically more bark than bite, but it does sounds like he's stressing out your geo.
 
currently in a 55 gallon tank. other tank mates are 4x bichirs, 6" featherfin cat, 5" clown loach, and 3 angels.

smaller tank is 30 gallons. 6x 2" clown loach, 3" roseline shark, 2" leopard leaf fish. 2" pearl danio (I think)

larger tank 135 gallons. 10" silver aro, 7" SA "gar", 6" CK, 7" lima shovel nose
 
Its common for newly introduced cichlids to bicker and establish the pecking order. As long as there is no physical injuries I'd keep an eye on it for a couple weeks to see if it sorts itself out.
 
Sorry to ask more questions but does the firemouth have a hide? Many people try to control aggression either by adding more fish, leaving the tank as barren as possible or creating hides and using other ornaments to break line of sight. If you don't have hides adding several will hopefully cause the firemouth to declare one as his territory and may make him less likely to patrol the whole tank as often. Hopefully one of the other hides will be taken by the Geo and will give him a retreat when aggression does break out. You can also try adding dithers such as more Geos, large Danios, Silver Dollars or what I think would work best long term for you are some of those Tetragonopterus argenteus Jeff Rapps just got in. They are seriously fast and max out at 6 inches making them a good dither choice for a small tank.
 
I definitely wouldn't put them in the big tank yet, and the pearl danio sounds like it could be lunch someday, so I'd go with koltsix's recommendation of trying to make it work in the existing tank. There is also always a possibility that if you move the geo, the FM might start getting bossy with the angels (or at least the weakest one). So try more territories if your tank doesn't have enough of them, and maybe give it a little time.
 
the pearl danio was a "start up fish" that made it, im not attached. before the geo the FM left the angels alone for the most part. an occasional chase here or there but nothing they don't do to each other already. poor geo I couldn't take it and put him in the 30 gallon. the FM was none stop chasing. even when the geo found somewhere to hide the FM searched for him just him. no one else :/
 
Ahhh the Geo is a new fish, once any cichlid like a FM has established the tank as its territory for any length of time, it is very hard to add new cichlids, because they are a threat, especially another earth eater type= direct competition. (and the genus Thorichthys is basically the Mexican equivalent to S American genus Geophagus.
It is always best to add all cichlids at once if possible, giving each the same starting point.
Once a cichlid establishes itself, any new one is at a distinct disadvantage.
You could try to rearrange the entire tank, as a way of blurring territorial lines.
 
I would say if it is only slightly torn fins, leave them alone and see if it works out. Also, like other have said make sure you have enough "stuff" (plants rocks, driftwood) in the tank. You could also try taking the FM out for a day or two to let the geo settle in. As long as the FM is not inflicting serious damage though, and the geo isn't in hiding long term I think it will work out. I added a Bolivian ram to the tank my firemouth is in (the ram and FM are the same size) and the fire mouth chased him for awhile but there was no real damage, and now after about three weeks the ram never hides, and the FM pays him no mind.
 
So awhile ago I was sick of the fm bullying everyone. Even a larger CL and much larger featherfin cat. So I put his ass in with the big fish. He is no longer aggressive. Just swims around and eats now. Everyone leaves him alone. I even added a 15" bichir
 
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