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I was just wondering if a pair of firemouths can be kept in a 29 gallon tank along with a dwarf pleco and 3 yoyos.

I know the yoyos use up basically all the space on the bottom and would probably appreciate some more space, but they seem pretty happy as it is.

The firemouths are both males, so i know as soon as they grow a tiny bit more i'm gunna have to find some females that my most colorfull male will mate with.

Personally, I wouldn't as it is too small for them. At a minimum they should be kept in a 55 gallon.

Firemouth's will get to around 6 - 7 inches and the 29 gallon is just too confining.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

would a single firemouth work out better then?

i know i was recomended the firemouths to a 29 before, but my other fish have changed a bit.

You can probably get away with it, but I just think that a 29 gallon is a bit cramped. Not that it wouldn't survive, but I don't believe you can expect it to thrive to it's fullest potential.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

I think that a 29 is plenty enough room for a pair of FMs. Although they may reach that size, females tend to stay a lot smaller than that, more around 4-5". If you do increased water changes, and keep an airstone in there for increased oxygen, it will help with keeping two. Having multiple caves in the form of stones and terra cotta pots works out great to create territories for the FMs and hiding spots for your loaches and dwarf plecos.

My personal thought is this - the 29 would be OK for the pair of Firemouths, but NOT the pair of Firemouths AND the other fishes you mentioned. Remember they're territorial Cichlids, and strife will ensue when breeding time comes around, especially with the Loaches, who will regard the temptation of some fresh caviar as irresistible. Remember that the Loaches have suborbital spines for defence when attacked themselves, and the resulting battle could get very nasty quickly.

Why do you think I'm holding off getting Cichlids until I have the space? I want my Cichlid keeping to be successful, which means planning ahead, minimising potential problems by dealing with their likely causes at source before spending a penny on the fishes, and in the case of most Cichlid species, this means giving them space and relatively few unwelcome intruders to disturb their family lives. Of course there are some species that NEED dither fishes due to special circumstances applying (Black Belts are one such species) but in the main, Cichlids are likely to be MUCH more trouble free maintenance wise if they have space and relatively few intruders on their patch.

Having said that, there are tricks that work very nicely with respect to parent Cichlids. One favourite one from the Innes book is to find some nice crunchy aquatic insects graded for size that your Cichlids can munch on. Even insects that aren't necessarily a threat to the eggs or fry will be treated as such, and dispatched ruthlessly. This gives your parent Cichlids the double satisfaction of destroying enemies of their babies, and bagging a tasty meal at the same time. The bigger the Cichlid, the bigger the insects it can handle - Dempsesy will munch dragonfly larvae with ease, and a big pair of Jaguar Cichlids will take on Great Diving Beetles and other large, predatory beetles that are normally a serious threat to aquarium fishes. You might lose some fry along the way if you drop in some of the predatory insects, but with the average Cichlid spawn comprising anything between 200 and 2,000 eggs, there's no way you're going to raise all of those to saleable size (especially in the case of large species such as Jags) unless you have an enormous fry nursery.

If you're thinking of integrating Firemouths with other fishes, then a 29 won't do. Put that project on hold until you have a 55 or larger, and then choose the species being integrated with care.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002