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lobsternoob
02-06-2009, 03:04 AM
So 2 days ago i sadly lost my female firemouth, she got beat up badly, I wont go into specifics it was bad. I highly doubted her death was due to water problems seeing as i witnessed her being chased (and tested the water 2x it was the usual) by my male GT at the end and a little bit before too, but she was just being chased, never saw her caught. Typically the male Fmouth would protect her. He's acting really weird now and has been for a while. even before the loss of his mate.

I'm thinking now that the (my) GT's and firemouths WILL NOT work together, at least these particular ones or maybe my 50 is too small for them they feel crowded i guess. The biggest of the crew just broke the 3" mark, the male Fmouth. The fish are still all small, and the Gt's are both less than 2/3 the size of the fmouths. If you've seen a previous thread i made the GT's were sold to me as blue acara's. my BIG mistake for not looking and knowing better. The firemouths looked like they were mating and setting up a nest. the other night i went to the store, came back and saw a very badly beaten almost dead female FM couldn't save her. Odd to me because the FM are typically dominant in the tank. I don't know what the heck to do.

My water parameters are still great. I think the Male FM and GT are going at it, just so unexpected because the FM literally dwarfs the GT.

So now to the actual point of this giant post. The large male FM is acting really weird, he's putting his mouth right up to the front of the tank and swimming like crazy, it looks like hes trying to bust through the front of the tank, I have never seen this before, wondering if anyone else has?

I'm also thinking now, I'm gonna totally retool my stocking. This isnt working well at all, and i hate to see bad aggression and losses of fish, i interpret that as me doing something wrong. I had the exact same stocking in a 55 gal years back and never had probs.

I had plans to move them into a bigger tank i have stored now, but i don't know. I'm very discouraged now, because I have never experienced aggression like this before and i have had this same exact tank stock and setup in the past, just 5 gallons larger.

As always a huge rambling thread, sorry, but I really am not happy about this.

Gemini
02-06-2009, 03:49 AM
So sorry to hear about your loss lobsternoob!
Sometimes the male will kill a female if he wants to mate and she doesn't. Maybe now he's seeing his reflection in the glass and trying to fight it?

lobsternoob
02-06-2009, 04:02 AM
sounds very possible, It's an acrylic tank, that may or may not make any difference, but it looks almost like hes not trying to attack, but to swim through the tank wall. and he does it for about 5 minutes at a time till he wears himself out then goes and hides.

Gemini
02-06-2009, 04:09 AM
Does it look like he's playing with another fish?
Is he being picked on?

lobsternoob
02-06-2009, 05:18 AM
That's the reason i find it so odd, he is the master of the tank, he doesn't get picked on. When he does the swimming thing he just opens his mouth and seems to swim full force into the front of the tank, not from a distance either. he gets right up to the front, then swims full speed with his mouth already pressed up against the front. I've never seen behavior like this from any fish. I tried to get a vid, but any time i get close enough to the tank with my cam not to have glare he goes and hides, something he also never did before. Usually he
is all showy and begs for food worse than a stray dog.

also just tested the water again, no problems, 0 ammo, 0 nitrites, under 10 nitrates, the PH color is a bit in between 7.2 and 7.4 a tiny bit lower than normal, but not significant. The other fish aren't showing any odd behavior, other than seeming to watch him act weird when he does it.

He doesn't seem to be hurting himself in any way, but after the death of the female, I'm sure you could understand why weird behavior concerns me.

Gemini
02-06-2009, 05:20 AM
Is he liplocking his reflection? Or trying to?

lobsternoob
02-06-2009, 06:03 AM
That is very possible also, it just doesn't look the same as when i saw him liplock the female a few times. I can't describe it right i guess, and when he does it he doesn't flare his fins or gills, which he would do when liplocking.

Gemini
02-06-2009, 06:55 AM
I don't know about firemouths - are they a mongamous fish?
I would just keep an eye on him. If he eats, and seems ok otherwise then may be he's just in mourning or confused where she is.
Hopefully someone else will know more about them. I hope he's ok. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Lady Hobbs
02-06-2009, 01:27 PM
Firemouths are not aggressive at all and generally will bother no other fish but their own species and those they will just chase and puff up at. They are good with VERY mild cichlids or community fish but I would not keep them with a GT that is known for aggression.

Sharkman
02-06-2009, 01:58 PM
my firemouths try to swim through the glass too sometimes. I think they do it when they are spooked.

Northernguy
02-06-2009, 02:31 PM
My Oscars lip lock the glass all the time.I think its just a reflection thing.
Sorry to hear about your fish.
I have to agree with Hobbs here about the GT.:22:

Sharon
02-06-2009, 03:25 PM
I agree in regard to the GT as well. Maybe he's feeling trapped and wants to get out. He probably knows he's in a dangerous situation...

lobsternoob
02-06-2009, 05:11 PM
Ya, i think it may be the GT also. Although the firemouth really is the only fish I've really seen instigating any chasing really. I bought them both (the GT's, not the GT and firemouth lol) thinking they were blue acara's, that's how they were labeled at the store. Been trying to re home them since i posted a few pics a while back and people confirmed for me they were GT's, cause even if they aren't the problem they'll way outgrow the tank.

Sharon
02-06-2009, 05:16 PM
Maybe the store will take the fish back if they've sold them to you wrongly.That happened to me in early days. I bought an Oto and he turned out to be a CAE. I didn't ask...just took him in and left him with a staff member. I didn't ask for credit, as the "oto" was only $1.70, but I didn't leave them any choice in the matter.

lobsternoob
02-06-2009, 05:20 PM
Unfortunately they wont but there is another store a bit over an hour's drive away that will take them from me, and they'll give me some store credit for them, just haven't had a chance to make it out there recently.

Oscar_freak12321
04-18-2009, 08:44 PM
I'd get rid of him as soon as possible. Regarding the glass thing, perhaps he' missing his mate? Another possibility is the reflection thing...good luck and hope the weird behavior goes away!

troy
04-18-2009, 11:02 PM
I'd get rid of him as soon as possible. Regarding the glass thing, perhaps he' missing his mate? Another possibility is the reflection thing...good luck and hope the weird behavior goes away!
Old thread.

Oscar_freak12321
04-18-2009, 11:31 PM
Well I've seen older....hahaha....

ILuvMyGoldBarb
04-19-2009, 12:50 AM
Well I've seen older....hahaha....
Yup, and you keep dragging them up. Please change your settings to display newer threads first.

Oscar_freak12321
04-19-2009, 08:54 PM
Sorry bout that...still fairly new and haven't gotten it fully set up where it does that yet.