Firemouth and a JACK?

[Hunter2001]

Anybody ever keep a Firemouth with a Jack Dempsy? If so, how did they get along? I currently have a small Jack and A Firemouth in a 55 gallon. I plan on adding another Firemouth, I think they are beautiful fish.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS

 

[Slappy*McFish]

I've kept them together with minimal problems. Just provide them with enough space to form their own territories. A 4' tank at least. Try to get a female Jack and male Firemouth, if possible. That's the combo I had. A male Jack may be more than even the toughest Firemouth can handle. When I bought my Firemouth, I looked for the most aggressive male in the tank.

 

[YoFishboy]

That's a "classic" combination that works pretty well, given space, as slappy stated. The other trick to use with cichlids is rearranging the rock work when adding new fish to "level the playing field" a bit.

 

[svtcontour]

I had a 4" firemouth and a 7-8" jack in the same tank (100 gallon) and no prob. Heck I had a 4" angelfish in there too and no troubles. I think the problem arises when fish are squeezed together with no place to go. The angelfish would sometimes be almost side by side with the jack...nearly leaning on it and there were no issues.

 

[joephys]

From what I have read, most cichlids aren't really aggressive fish, its just that they are a little territorial, and in an aquarium they can't get away from eachother. In the wild, they don't fight much at all.

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

im kinda one of those weirdo old timers...Species tanks are WAY more interesting...In my opinion, a pair of firemouths are lovely and dont need another cichlid to interfer. Perhaps the Dempsy could live somewhere else? i used to keep firemouths and their behaviour is really interesting without other species to bother them.