# Possibly Wanting to Breed Firemouths..



## hannahbanana199 (Jun 14, 2011)

Hi Guys!
I currently have one Firemouth Cichlid in my 20 gallon tank and am considering getting him/her a mate, buut.... I'm not 100% if she is a he or not. I think its a male, but I want to be sure. I'll put some pics of "Draco" below. 
Also, I'd love some tips on how to successfully breed and care for the babies. 
Thanks! =]


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

hmmm.. hard to tell from these pics. I'm inclined to say female, but I need clearer pics of the fins. The top pics says male, but the bottom says female


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## hannahbanana199 (Jun 14, 2011)

Ta da! It took some herding around the tank, but I think I got a decent pic. =]











also, he/she does this...










digs "nests" in the cave. I don't know if that helps any.


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## Hansolo (Sep 10, 2010)

20 gallon tank is borderline for being to small for breeding. It should comfortly house the pair but add 100 fry and you are almost guaranteed ammonia problems. After a few fry die and they will, they end up rotting and causing ammonia spikes as well as there bioload. Just make sure you have sufficient filtration. For breeding sponge filters are really where its at and you can buy a sponge that goes over your intake on most filters to prevent fry from being sucked up. The intake sponge will need to be rinsed out often or they plug up. The digging your fish is doing says female to me but I'm not guaranteeing that. Good luck.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

It's hard to pair adult firemouths....it's best to start out with a group of Juveniles and keep the best pair.


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## toddnbecka (Jun 30, 2006)

A 20 is really too small for firemouths, they claim a large territory relative to their size. A 33L or 55 (4' tank) is really about the minumum size for a pair, particularly if you want to grow out the fry in the tank with the parents. 
If you want a pair of cichlids to breed in a 20L I have several proven pairs of Cryptoheros cutteri available. Related to convicts, but much easier to get along with in general, males don't run amok and kill the females or other fish in the tank when they spawn. Excellent parents, each pair will produce around 150+ fry each spawn. I keep them in tanks with a Carapo knife fish and some small catfish that pick off the fry before they grow very much.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Still not ideal.. the pic is fine but the fins themselves have problems.... I'm still gonna go with female.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

It's very hard to tell......even I'm not certain, but I'm more swayed towards TOS's opinion.


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