Need help with firemouth tank!

[Lady Hobbs]

This is always my problem tank as far as keeping it clean. I have tried to plant it but the firemouths threw sand all over everything and had it toally tore up in two days. I removed the sand so they couldn't throw it all around, added gravel and tons of rocks and wood. Now the darned pellets sink between the rocks and gets ucky and this constantly keeps my tank nasty and my nitrates too high. Every other week I take everything out of the tank and start over which is a pain moving all the rockwork.

I will need to go back to the floating pellets for sure!!!!!!!!! They can not even get to all those pellets buried in the rocks.

How in heck do you do it when you have tons of rock in your tanks like in a mbuna tank? Must be the difference of having fish that rush the food rather than those that hide for 5 minutes until feeding time is over and all the food is buried?

Right now I am considering more pvc caves and getting rid of the darned rocks.

[Gemstone]

Lady Hobbs....

My Mom and Dad severum do the same...tear things up...but when it is feeding time..no sign of them...damn elusive they are...except when they breed..then they are around...so now I just do the floating pellet thing..and some fresh cooked veggies..and that is about it...saves ME lots of time and energy..cos I can just scoop out whatever is left and saves on the gravel vacuuming as well...(have now changed to sand there as well...now with the move..so I don't know what they will be getting up to...YET..but the babies were in there for a few days and all has been well...mom and dad now in for day 3....)

[Lady Hobbs]

Since they prefer throwing sand around and the tank IS for them, I will most likely go back to sand and let them do their thing. I have just added expensions onto both filters and removed 10 big rocks adding more wood instead. At least they can get in and around the wood.

They run in their caves and hide at feeding time and by the time they stick their heads back out, the food is all laying on the bottom. Definately switching back to floating pellets!!!!!!!

[Gemstone]

:hmm3grin2orange: ....much less harassing to their servant..eh..Ms Hobbs?

[Tolley]

Do these pellets sink straight down? If not maybe change the flow on your filter so in a quiet spot they will sink right down then where you plan on feeding place a plate or bowl in the tank.

[Gemini]

Hi Nancyp
As this is a kinda old thread you would be better off starting a new post in the forum and people will respond. IT's never a good idea to thread jack a current thread with a new issue.
So write a new thread and the people in the know will be on to help.

[nanaglen2001]

Holla Hobbs

The feeding habit of FMs is to gulp in sand and chew it thru. FMs are no surface feeders. The best food for them are either slow sinkuning granulets or smaller tabs, like that stuff which is designed for smaller catfish.

Mhmmmm "European" FMs seem to be very different from "US" FMs:hmm3grin2orange: , at least mine dig not THAT much, the Sajicas are much worse, and they really find the most tiniest piece of food, my subtrate is pretty clean thru and thru.

What I really dont understand is why your FMs hide when its feeding time...

[concretephil]

you probably don't need that many rocks (depending on how many FMs you have) also, I just use regular flake food for mine because it doesn't float at the top out of their natural feeding zone, but doesn't sink so fast that it has time to get "lost". they do fine on the stuff, mine breed about 3 weeks after I got em home, and if you actually want them to breed, they even chew the flakes for their fry, which also seem to do really well on it.