added a firemouth last night

Maybe try moving around any tank decorations so the fish will establish new territories. Try and see if that works.

I have a tank with a Jack & a Firemouth about the same size. When I first introduced the FM he was getting picked on by the Jack but as time went by the FM started standing up to the Jack. It took maybe 2 weeks of jaw locking and flaring up but now my firemouth rules my Jack. The Jack doesn't even stand up to the FM anymore he just retreats. They are both males but the FM is much older, he's maybe 6 or 7 years old and my Jack is maybe 1 1/2 years old.

Anyway this is what happened in my tank but I also have a female GT that is the bouncer of the tank so my dynamic is different. I woldn't worry too much about it, this is typical Cichlid behavior and one of the reasons we love them.

Originally posted by Drake Titan
this is my first cichlid tank so I'm a little worried....but I guess I don't have to be!

I'll try moving the decor around also

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I moved the decor around every time I put in the new fish. If I ran out of idea, I just removed the aggressive fish and let the weak one gets strong and establishes a territory before I put the aggressive fish back in. It worked on my other tank on the first try. Now I'm trying this method on the new tank...let my JD, GT, and female Con gets stong before I release my aggressive Con (who is living in another tank all by himself). Still testing on this method.

I can attest to the firemouths eventually standing up I had one that I thought was a total wus and would never make it, but he fears nothing now, and he chases my new JD that is the same size as he is.

im going to say the JD is more of a wimp. I have before had a different opinion on the, but after hearing confessions here and seeing with my own eyes how much of a pansy my jack is. I don't think You'll have many problems out of them.

jsut keep an eye on thm to be careful the FM doesnt get nipped at too much. and if it does get bad u can take out the JD for a while maybe a day or so, rearrange the tank and put him back in, in order to let the firemouth establish his territory and become comfortable without the hassle of the JD. then put the JD back in and in a few days after they both get comfortable they should be fine.