Firemouth and acara

[Dyl123]

These 2 fish are normally great tankmates.

As you are experiencing, all cichlids have their own personality and sometimes things just don't work.

Can you post a video or at least explain more of what is going on? Is the Firemouth nipping at the fins as well as chasing?

My experience with Firemouths is that they flare up their gills and try to look big and mean, but are more bark than bite.

Doesn’t look like there’s any nipping it’s just wherever the acara goes the Firemouth chases, when the acara goes to one cave the FM follows and claims the cave and has done this in multiple caves in the tank, the acara has decided to wait up near the filter to avoid the Firemouth.

 

[Colin_T]

rearrange the tank and add some more ornaments.

 

[Dyl123]

rearrange the tank and add some more ornaments.

I have rearranged the tank and I’ll try adding some more ornaments, thanks for the advice.

 

[Metalhead88]

the acara has decided to wait up near the filter to avoid the Firemouth.

Yeah, you may need to step in here. This is the "no where to go" scenario that I mentioned earlier. The fish is heavily stressing at the moment.

 

[Dyl123]

Yeah, you may need to step in here. This is the "no where to go" scenario that I mentioned earlier. The fish is heavily stressing at the moment.

I’ll see what the situation is in the morning, the man at my LFS has already said if I have any problems he will take the Firemouth back so it might have to be done.

 

[Metalhead88]

Can you post pictures of the fish and whole tank?

 

[Dyl123]

I’ll see what the situation is in the morning, the man at my LFS has already said if I have any problems he will take the Firemouth back so it might have to be done.

Firemouth’s hard to see but it’s just underneath the wood

 

[FishkeeperLinz]

Firemouth’s hard to see but it’s just underneath the wood

Hi. I'm no expert, but to me, they both look stressed.

Could you post a pic of the whole tank?

 

[FishkeeperLinz]

Yeah, you may need to step in here. This is the "no where to go" scenario that I mentioned earlier. The fish is heavily stressing at the moment.

I agree.

 

[Dyl123]

Hi. I'm no expert, but to me, they both look stressed.

Could you post a pic of the whole tank?

 

[Dyl123]

The tank is newish so I am still in the process of adding decor but wasn’t sure about the live plants as I know BA tetras eat them and the cichlid can uproot them

 

[FishkeeperLinz]

The tank is newish so I am still in the process of adding decor but wasn’t sure about the live plants as I know BA tetras eat them and the cichlid can uproot them

Yeah, that tank needs a lot more decor for cichlids, or any fish, really - especially 2 different species of cichlid. They need their own territories, and territorial boundaries. How big is the tank? Plants, really or fake, more driftwood, more rocks, brand new, unused terracotta plant pots, coconut shell halves - any and all combinations of the above. And you need them soonest.

I'd recommend removing one of the cichlids.

 

[Dyl123]

Yeah, that tank needs a lot more decor for cichlids, or any fish, really - especially 2 different species of cichlid. They need their own territories, and territorial boundaries. How big is the tank? Plants, really or fake, more driftwood, more rocks, brand new, unused terracotta plant pots, coconut shell halves - any and all combinations of the above. And you need them soonest.

I'd recommend removing one of the cichlids.

Ok Thankyou I’ll work on getting some of these as soon as possible, do you think it would be ok if I replaced the Firemouth with another acara?

 

[FishkeeperLinz]

Ok Thankyou I’ll work on getting some of these as soon as possible, do you think it would be ok if I replaced the Firemouth with another acara?

Depends how big the tank is. If it's large enough for potentially 2, separate territories, then perhaps, but to me, it doesn't look big enough.

Like I said though, I'm not really familiar with either of those species, so see what others say.