Firemouth (T. meeki) Pictures

[5x5]

I caught my firemouths looking extra colorful today, so I took some pictures and wanted to share them.

These pictures are only of the largest male and female, which are showing a lot of the typical gender characteristics that people try to use when sexing them. The females dull breeding tube is also starting to protrude from the vent area. The male has a smaller and sharper tube sticking out.

Male:


Male:


Female:


Male:


Male & Female:


It's hard to get pictures of them alone, because they never seem to leave each other's side.

[bosk1]

Very cool. I've had mine for about 3 weeks, and they just unexpectedly spawned (didn't even realize I had a male/female pair). Just posted a thread in the breeding subforum to get some advice on how to feed and care for the fry. Re-post of pics:

[Greater-Ajax]

oh my so pretty! Always wanted a pair to go with my convicts... never been able to find one though.

[HUKIT]

I still say my fish can beat up your fish, but all joking aside the male is certainly one of the most stunning FM I've ever seen...even better than mine! It would be nice when or IF they finish what they've started.

[5x5]

Originally Posted by HUKIT

I still say my fish can beat up your fish, but all joking aside the male is certainly one of the most stunning FM I've ever seen...even better than mine! It would be nice when or IF they finish what they've started.

Well I treat him like a king and give him a bunch of pushover tankmates, so he better look pretty!

Your male looked nice in the pictures I saw. Must have been his stress colors since he was in a true monster's presence.

[5x5]

Originally Posted by bosk1

Very cool. I've had mine for about 3 weeks, and they just unexpectedly spawned (didn't even realize I had a male/female pair). Just posted a thread in the breeding subforum to get some advice on how to feed and care for the fry. Re-post of pics:

Do you have other tank mates in with the firemouths? I'd be interested in hearing how aggressive they are with them during spawning.

What kind of sand is that? It looks like it has a rather large grain size.

[bosk1]

I have another smaller firemouth and a pleco (can't tell you what kind of pleco because the LFS had them mislabeled and had no clue; they had it labeled as a rubbernose, but it's definitely not). Within a day of being in the new tank, they paired up and became somewhat aggressive toward the third firemouth. I created some good hiding places so he can get away and so that he is not always in their line of sight, and he seems fine. Since spawning, they are aggressive toward him AND the pleco if either comes anywhere near the babies. I haven't observed an actual attacking, but plenty of chasing.

I'm still undecided about whether to add any other tank mates or to just keep it basically a single-species tank with the token pleco for cleanup duty (and because they're just so cool). Down the road, I may add another S.A. cichlid species, or may add jewels since they seem to go well with S.A.'s. Although I would love a slightly more populated tank, it may be a bad idea if these guys are constantly going to spawn, since they'll always be in aggressive mode. But, again, undecided.
The sand is just basic pool filter sand. I've definitely seen finer sand out there, but this isn't very coarse at all. They love digging and picking it up and sifting it. The pieces of gravel you see are local to that one spot and aren't mixed into the sand in general, in case that's what was throwing you. I had gravel as my substrate until a heater malfunction while I was away on vacation cooked my entire tank. I decided to start over with a medium-sized SA cichlid tank, so I thought a sand substrate would be better. But I still had a good colony of bacteria in my initial substrate (since there was unfortunately a fair amount of cooked fish matter generating ammonia, my bacteria colony continued to thrive), so when I changed to the sand, I filled up the flower pot on the far left with gravel so as to not have to re-cycle the tank (I'm guessing you were probably also wondering why I had a flower put standing up instead of on its side). The firemouths can't resist digging in it every now and then and making a mess, so some of the gravel spilled out on the sand in that area.

[5x5]

Originally Posted by bosk1

I have another smaller firemouth and a pleco (can't tell you what kind of pleco because the LFS had them mislabeled and had no clue; they had it labeled as a rubbernose, but it's definitely not). Within a day of being in the new tank, they paired up and became somewhat aggressive toward the third firemouth. I created some good hiding places so he can get away and so that he is not always in their line of sight, and he seems fine. Since spawning, they are aggressive toward him AND the pleco if either comes anywhere near the babies. I haven't observed an actual attacking, but plenty of chasing.

I'm still undecided about whether to add any other tank mates or to just keep it basically a single-species tank with the token pleco for cleanup duty (and because they're just so cool). Down the road, I may add another S.A. cichlid species, or may add jewels since they seem to go well with S.A.'s. Although I would love a slightly more populated tank, it may be a bad idea if these guys are constantly going to spawn, since they'll always be in aggressive mode. But, again, undecided.
The sand is just basic pool filter sand. I've definitely seen finer sand out there, but this isn't very coarse at all. They love digging and picking it up and sifting it. The pieces of gravel you see are local to that one spot and aren't mixed into the sand in general, in case that's what was throwing you. I had gravel as my substrate until a heater malfunction while I was away on vacation cooked my entire tank. I decided to start over with a medium-sized SA cichlid tank, so I thought a sand substrate would be better. But I still had a good colony of bacteria in my initial substrate (since there was unfortunately a fair amount of cooked fish matter generating ammonia, my bacteria colony continued to thrive), so when I changed to the sand, I filled up the flower pot on the far left with gravel so as to not have to re-cycle the tank (I'm guessing you were probably also wondering why I had a flower put standing up instead of on its side). The firemouths can't resist digging in it every now and then and making a mess, so some of the gravel spilled out on the sand in that area.

What size tank are they currently in?

The PFS you are using looks a lot like some stuff I got last year. I didn't like it and ended up returning it and then picked up Aragonite sand from Drs. F&S online.

For a Firemouth tank, you can't go wrong with sand. They will sift through it all day looking for food. They have most of my rock caves completely covered in sand.

[bosk1]

I have a 55g, which seems to be good size for a small colony of fish this size. I had briefly toyed with the idea of maybe going with an oscar or two instead, but 55 seems a bit too small for an adult oscar to really thrive in. There are a few more rare S.A. species I also considered as well. But after my heater disaster, I decided to go with something hearty and inexpensive for now. Firemouths seemed ideal, and I have not been disppointed with them at all. Great fish.

Have you bred them before by any chance? I'm not really finding any info on expected survival rate for the fry. I'm hoping a good amount of them make it, but I've never bred them before, so between having novice parents and a novice owner, I'm sure I'll lose more than I otherwise might.