vent problem? info please on my firemouth

grannylvsfish

have you been bad this year ??
Dec 6, 2006
3,124
1
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Montana
This is a pic of my fire mouth, I have had him since beginning the tank in November, and here is the tank specs.
29 gallon
2 back filters ( wisper) and Penguin) temp 82 degree's all testing come out normal, water change done each week ( 35 to 40 % ) gravel clean each time.

Ok, here is the deal. my fish all of a sudden is red ( yes I know they get red when they mature) but over night?? And her vent looks funny. I did a water change last night, spiffed up the tank ( some things have algea but I keep it this way for my pictus cats) Here is a picture of her.
She is eating well, and is doing great, can fish acually have eggs with out a male? Should I get her one?
She turned red over night ! She had no red on here last night and hen I come home from work, she was colored. Now that is awful weird !
tell me, is this normal? and you can see her vent in the pic. I can not get close enough to look, my eyes are real bad :(

a pic of vent.JPG a vent 2.JPG
 
no, no change. we do blood worms, and flake and brine shrimp.
Also can you tell if this is a male or female?
 
Perfectly normal.. Infact I wouldn't have been surprised if you said she or he changed colors right in front of your eyes in just a few seconds or minutes :)

Thorichthys meeki are like most smaller cichlids, very intense colored cichlids when ready to spawn or spawning..

Cichlids in general do change colors Drastically right before the owners eyes in most cases :)

If you get another ... You might lose your Pictus.. as they tend to be a little fiesty when breeding .. Kinda like Convicts..

As for the vent .. If you look closely you might actually be able to sex the fish :) I would however watch for eggs as it is not unheard of for a fish to lay even without a male .... it is 1000 times more common with a male..

Just enjoy the show would be my suggestion :) and should you decide you want to experience spawning and babies :) Go buy a few more and watch for them to pair off... Then take the ones that are not of the pair back.. I would also pay close attention to the pictus if you do this. Cause you may have to take them back as well so they don't die..

Oh one more thing.. When the babies come I probably wouldn't try trading them in at the lfs as they usually don't take em.. Sometimes they do for free..
 
thank you so much for the info. I love my Firemouth, he/ she is my favorite ! I did notince he/she becoming agressive these last few days, not sure why, but he is picking on an angle and a ram.
 
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