Firemouth companion

ddayton21

I'm bored
Oct 25, 2005
330
0
0
38
MISSISSIPPI
hey does anyone have a good suggestion for a tankmate for a firemouth? the answer is usually "another firemouth" but are there any other interesting cichlids that would go well? or possibly some type of schooling fish?

btw its a 30 gal tank
 
I think the Blue Acara is a great idea....as well as many other Aequidens species...the blue eyed cichlid also comes to mind...you are a little limited with a 30g tank, but its doable!
 
There may be some forum members who completely disagree but my 30 gal once had a firemouth, a black convict, and various schooling fish (rosy barbs, tiger barbs, black skirt tetras, white skirt tetras, and serpae tetras) that varied through the years. It should be noted that there were schooling fish established in the tank before adding the cichlids and that both cichlids were added together when they were young and around an inch long. Also, the tank was well decorated. The firemouth claimed one side of the tank and the convict the other and aggression was limited to displays only, neither fish ever had any nips and the other fish were left alone. The two cichlids often flared their gills and shook their heads at each other in a beautiful display. This setup lasted for about 4 years until I moved the cichlids to a 55 gal where they grew larger but behaved the same as they had in the 30 gal. Black convicts with the wild coloration of blue, red, and green markings are worth looking for.
 
hey everyone thanks for the ideas! I was under the impression that blue acaras grew too large for such a small tank. Don't they grow to something like 8in.?
 
if you only have a firemouth in a 30g you could do 1 blue acara, they grow slow and are very nice mostly peaceful fish, used to have a few firemouths in my brothers 55g with cons and a few blue acaras, they were always fine, till they got killed buy the cons when they bred.
 
AquariaCentral.com