Will these firemouths breed?

I have 5 firemouth cichlids in my 55 gal tank 4 male and only 1 female of coarse this is not by my choice. I live in a very small town so I have to order my fish online and the company I ordered from or any other company I found online do not sex firemouths prob cause very hard to tell them apart when real young. So i end up getting 4 males and just 1 female and i notice the males chase her around she even has some fin damage. Is there any chance they will breed?

IMHO, you should separate three of your males from the group. See if you can't swap a LFS for some other types of SA Cichlids. If she gets really beat up I would recommend setting up a hospital / QT / and perhaps some day - fry tank. A 20 long would be great, but a 10 would do... I used to have firemouths and kept them in a 55g with about 30 others... Neat fish! If you going for breeding though you could still add 5-6 others just to brighten your day... Lots of peeps here on "The Box" ship livestock relatively priced! I am not one, but I know many others are.

Dabula wrote:

IMHO, you should separate three of your males from the group. See if you can't swap a LFS for some other types of SA Cichlids. If she gets really beat up I would recommend setting up a hospital / QT / and perhaps some day - fry tank. A 20 long would be great, but a 10 would do... I used to have firemouths and kept them in a 55g with about 30 others... Neat fish! If you going for breeding though you could still add 5-6 others just to brighten your day... Lots of peeps here on "The Box" ship livestock relatively priced! I am not one, but I know many others are.

Been thinking about getting a divider i have never used one before

A divider would also cut the mustard for now. However, if your fish breed as prolifically as mine do you reach that point in time where you will wish you had a 20L already cycled...

Again, I would like to say that this all just my own opinion...

Furthermore, if your 55G will be located somewhere for viewing you won't appreciate the presence of the divider, plus they tend to get really brittle over time. I use a DIY divider, which is cheaper than any LFS, and will last a lot longer. But its hidden out in the fish shed... Anyways Bud either way you go, just enjoy it!!!

You can see others Do-It-Self dividers in that section of the forumn. Best of luck and keep us posted!

what do u have in the bottom of the tank gravel or sand we have sand in all of our tanks adn they breed like crazy

Y E S !!!!! Given the right conditions ( just by them looking at each other) they will breed like rats!!!!!