Convict or firemouth?

**Ticklemekevin10** · 01-10-2011, 12:00 AM

i guess i mostly wanted something to eat the fry cause i dont know how well you can sell or get rid of firemouth babies. suppose i can take the fry out and put them in my tank with ghost knife and rainbow shark and hopefully they will eat em! can i do a pleco with the firemouths then?

**Ticklemekevin10** · 01-10-2011, 12:01 AM

btw i think ive desided on firemouths if yall didnt notice haha thanks!

**KingFisher** · 01-10-2011, 12:05 AM

Yeah a pleco will be fine with them, I suggest a bristlenose.

**Ticklemekevin10** · 01-10-2011, 12:13 AM

Sweet I found some slate they sell at home depot for pretty cheap so I'm gonna make a little cave for the firemouths to lay their eggs and what not. I know it's off subject but what kind of silicone do I have to use, silicone I or II?

**Ticklemekevin10** · 01-12-2011, 04:14 AM

Hey those yellow ones look awesome but I don't think I've ever seen em at any fish stores. Anywhere online you know I can find em?

**toddnbecka** · 01-12-2011, 06:27 AM

You won't find oblongums in an lfs, they haven't been imported for years now because nobody knows where to find/collect them from. They're rare in the hobby, only place to get them is from someone who's breeding/raising them. I have 2-3" juvies available now, $5/each or $25/6 + shipping. They'll be pairing off in a few more months, then I'll be listing them on aquabid with a starting bid of $20/pair. They sold for $40/pair the last time I raised a batch. It's great when the fish pay for the hobby and actually allow me to upgrade tank sizes and setups.

**Ticklemekevin10** · 01-12-2011, 07:06 AM

Ya that's awesome man! I'll have to think about it. How many can I put in a 30 gal?

**toddnbecka** · 01-12-2011, 07:38 AM

You can keep an established pair in a 20, but I wouldn't keep more than that in anything less than a 4' tank. They're very mellow fish in general, even a breeding pair with eggs or fry aren't likely to do any harm to other species, but they are quite territorial regarding other oblongum. I started with 7 juvies in a 30L with some similar-sized BN. Two pairs formed, one pair took over most of the tank and spawned, and the 3 odd ones had to be moved to other tanks. One of those was missing half of his tail fin, but it grew back just fine. The second pair stayed at the opposite end of the tank and weren't actually harmed, but they didn't have enough space to establish their own territory or even move around much.
I swapped off 5 and kept the pair that was spawning in the 30. Those 2 were moved to another tank to allow their fry and the BN pleco fry (they kept eating the BN fry as they came along) to grow out. The fry were eventually moved into a 75, and when they started pairing off there were 3 pairs w/eggs and dozens of unpaired young ones all sharing the tank. With so many of them the eggs didn't last more than a day, but none of them got too beat up because the tank was large enough and they were so crowded.

**Ticklemekevin10** · 01-12-2011, 01:58 PM

Wow so I read a little from the other thread. The non paired ones I could put in my 90 gal community tank with a rainbow shark, bgk, few opaline gourami ect? You selling bn fry too? I can't find any here in Denver!

**toddnbecka** · 01-13-2011, 04:33 AM

I have more BN than I know what to do with. The smaller browns I have available now came from 2 red parents, and should produce some red fry if bred together. I have some larger, sexable browns that produce some albino fry, and a couple dozen 2" fire red juvies ready to go with plenty more smaller fry growing out. I also have a brood of around 50 oddball BN that are about 1" now. Males grow a little larger than the common browns, females are almost identical (to commons) in size/appearance, general care is the same.
The smaller brown juvies are $3/each, $15/6.
Larger sexed browns are $8/each.
The fire red juvies are $20/each, $100/6.
The oddballs are $5/each, $25/6.