# new to firemouths



## brandon O (Oct 23, 2010)

i got 3 young firemouths yesterday and put them in a 29 with 2 kribs


----------



## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

Don't know that they will last long-term with the two kribs. Especially if you end up with a pair of Firemouths. Do you have plans if they pair up?

Also do you have any questions or are you just looking for our thoughts?

-Cage


----------



## brandon O (Oct 23, 2010)

i could take the kribs out?

ya if you have any thoughts let me know i don't really know much about them


----------



## brandon O (Oct 23, 2010)

and do you mean the kribs won't last long or the firemouths won't


----------



## sirdavidofdiscus (Dec 8, 2006)

Firemouths will kill the kribs eventually. and if the firemouths pair up, with 3 you have a 75% chance of that happening, you will lose the odd fish out. You'll need at least a 4ft tank with lots of hiding spaces for the 3 to survive with a pair. the 29 would be okay for a mated pair of firemouths for life, MAYBE. Unless one of them is a real jerk then even that won't work.


----------



## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

In my experience firemouths have been really nasty I have re homed all attempts before they reached 3 inched due to high agression toward other fish. This scenario has been in a 75 gal tank everytime with jack dempseys 2 to 3 times the size of the firemouth. Good luck!


----------



## dright21 (Nov 12, 2011)

Where do you guys get your Firemouths from because mine is a pansy. I have a Firemouth with 2 Cons (Not breeding) a Salvini and 5 Tiger Barbs and he is absolutely the wimpiest fish in the entire tank, he just hides and only comes out to eat sometimes. He chases the smaller fish like my Female Con and Sometimes my Salvini but if they flare at him, he runs away like a little baby, *** never seen an aggressive Firemouth but thats just me lol I wish I could find one though lol


----------



## jeaninel (Nov 1, 2009)

The Firemouths I've had have been mostly bluff. They will flare and chase other fish a bit but never do any harm. Right now I have a very placid FM in with some severums. I think it's a female. In another tank I have what I believe is a male FM and he does a lot of showing off but never more than flaring and short chases of the other fish away from his territory.


----------



## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

I'm not saying that the FMs with tear the kribs apart. I would say that one of the FMs are going to end up seeing them self as a dominant cichlid in the tank. They will then start to chase and stress out the kribs. It will be worse if the FMs pair off.

-Cage


----------



## brandon O (Oct 23, 2010)

stuck the pair in a 10 gallon


----------



## brandon O (Oct 23, 2010)

how o you tell male from female FMs


----------



## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

You need a larger tank for the pair, like a 30 gallon. Also it is not easy to sex fm's. I would recommend posting so pics and then we can give you our opinion.

-Cage


----------



## brandon O (Oct 23, 2010)




----------



## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

those pics look almost the same.

Like somebody said they are difficult to sex.. nearly impossible. I personally just waited till mine paired up so it's easy to tell. usually the males have a more point anal fin.

I think in your pics (in order from top to bottom), female, male, male. All the colours are very washed out though. It would make sense for the dominate male to have more of a red belly.


----------



## FishyDave (Jun 17, 2011)

hard to tell with those pics but I do agree looks like female, male, male from top down


----------



## brandon O (Oct 23, 2010)

i have more pics here
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=


----------

