Stupid firemouths!

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L

lilmixedboy

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jan 12, 2007
235
0
16
maryland
im having a problem with firemouths. THey keep dying. this has happen two times. first i got 2 firemouths and two cons in a 29. then the firemouths died. the cons were peaceful and werent chasin them. now i got a setup ina 55 wi t h 2 firemouths and two cons. in both setups the firemouths died. two firemouths died this past week. the cons were doin fine both setups. are firemouths sensitive like discus or sumthin.they were gettin harrased by my cons which i think are females. but it seems they lost their orange on their bellies. i heard at a young age males can have orange on their bellies(they are less than 1 inch).if any one has experience with this help me.

ps ph is about 7.0-7.2 last time i checked.

thanks guys from .... MY
 
i think they are a lil' more sensetive than most other cichlids, but not as fragile as discus and angels, i had one grow out to about 5 inches, switched him to a different tank and two days later he was dead
 
Yeah might be the cons are harassing them at night or when you're gone etc. but I've never had cons so I can't really relate

But..I'm really wondering about your water conditions too. How often do you change it? My FM is doing very well with a GT and JD much larger than he is. I change my water every Sunday

Is it only Cons and FM's or do you have other species in the tank too? Might be someone else in there
 
The guys seem to be thinking what I thought, was there any sign of fraying fins or battle scars??

If not, what are the water params??
 
yeah i would get 2 more firemouths pick the most colourful on the fins and put them in the 29 0r the 55 gallon tank alone and put the cons in the other and see if this helps. i have 1 adult and 1 juv ther fine and the adult sticks up for him/her i did have 2 juv put died due 2 lack of oxygen(i thnk)
 
yea i water change; his fins were nipped alot. the occupants are 4 barbs(the ones like tiger barbs but with out stripes) a pictus catfish

and wut i thought were female cons. they had a lot of orange on their bellies at the store. the cons are really small. from wut i heard male cons can have orange on their bellies when they are young. is this true?

i will try to get pictures up maybe now or when i get i get off work.
 
In my experience my firemouths were very hardy. When my heater stayed on all night one time they were two of the very few survivors. They dug themselves down into the gravel to try and reach cool temps. They were very torn up but came back fine. Those were the only two I ever had and I had them for about 2 years probably. Not real aggressive but handled all of my parameters fine when I was a less experienced hobbysit (i.e. I'm sure my nitrates were normally high :( )
 
hi your tanks too small for both in pairs,maybe singly they would be better.Also if your con's are bigger than your firemouth's then they would def be harrassing them even if you don't see it! The more space you can give them the better and the more peaceful they will be:)
 
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