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I have two firemouth cichlid's, I believe one is male and one female, but I have them in a tank with an oscar. So if I have baby firemouth's will the oscar eat them?

that 1 depends on a few things,first off,most of the oscars ive had dispite there large size,arnt reall aggresive,they will eat fish that will fit in there mouth,but a pair of firemouth parents should be able to keep him away from there fry,but if the oscar gets the chance,he will make a meal of the fry.but the pair of firemouths i had were great parents...how big are the 2 firemouths,and how big is the oscar?i ask because if the oscar is 12 inches of eating machine,and your firemouths are only small,both firemouths,and the fry will end up on the menu...lol

Likewise, given the size disparity between the two species when fully grown, I'd consider very seriously keeping those two species in separate aquaria, particularly once the Oscar starts to acquire some serious body mass.

Firemouths top out at around 5 inches, and, like most of the other Thorichthys Cichlids, possess a temperament that can lead to fireworks in the wrong setup. Place them with fishes that won't pick fights with them, but are similarly robust and capable of looking after themselves, and of a similar size, and it's possible to integrate Firemouths into a fairly broad range of setups, including mixed Central American Cichlid setups and setups involving fishes other than Cichlids, provided that the aforementioned care is exercised when selecting tankmates. The trouble is, particularly when breeding, Firemouths can become VERY feisty, but sometimes have a habit of starting fights that they can't finish. In other words, they make the mistake of squaring up to something a LOT bigger and more powerful, which promptly beats the Firemouths up. Which means more care and attention with tankmate selection.

A fully grown Oscar, however is a 14 inch tank buster that usually needs a 90 gallon tank just to itself as an adult. Preferably, you should be thinking about a 125 gallon tank or bigger for long term maintenance, because [1] Oscars have colossal appetites as adults, with an equally colossal ability to pollute the water with what comes out the back end, [2] they have large territorial requirements, and [3] they're aggressive enough to enforce those territorial requirements by exterminating lesser opposition. Which means, when it grows bigger, that your Firemouths are in trouble. Even before it becomes significantly bigger than the Firemouths, that combination is a recipe for trouble unless their home is large, and the Firemouths have a bolt hole where the Oscar can't reach them.

Plus, given what I said above about the propensity of Firemouths to launch into a dispute first and ask questions later if they think their property rights are being trampled on (and when breeding, this tendency is likely to be hair-trigger sensitive), if they do this with the Oscar, they're in trouble, because the Oscar will slap them down in no uncertain terms. Once the Oscar puts on some body mass, it's going to be capable of destroying the Firemouths with little effort.

As a matter of some urgency, and from the standpoint of giving these fishes the care that intelligent, highly developed fishes such as Cichlids deserve, I would move the Firemouths to their own aquarium (likely to be the easier option as their space requirements are considerably less than the Oscar's) and leave the other tank to the Oscar, unless the other tank is a small one. In any case, if you intend keeping the Oscar long term, you're looking at large quarters for it in order to do it justice, and you're looking at a decade's worth of commitment to its welfare. However, if you give it the quarters it deserves, it can become a real pet - I've even heard of Oscars being trained to ring bells for food!

Remember that you are dealing here with fishes that have complex social instincts, highly developed behaviours, and which know what they want. If you don't give it to them, that's when the trouble starts. The venerable William T Innes, in his famous book, suggested way back in 1936 that the best way to be successful as a fishkeeper was to think like a fish, and ask yourself what would the fish want. This applies with especial force to Cichlids, because Cichlids are intelligent and know what they want. If you try and fob them off with inferior quarters, they'll soon turn round and make you regret the decision. Trust me, you can NOT overestimate the capacity of these fishes to make a fool of an unwise or unprepared fishkeeper.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

They are all pretty small and being kept in a ten gallon tank at the moment from what I read on another thred. In this small of a space if your fire mouths end up breeding you are going to end up with some dead fishes one way another. There is not enough room for them to set up territorys in such a small space. And if they breed the oscar isn't going to be able to get out of their "territoruy".

whhoo,a ten gallon tank,im surprized there still ok,just 1 oscar on its own needs a 75gal,and a pair of firemouths i think need 55gal,you really should be trying to get them in something bigger mate,that tank will end up being filthy in no time...