My New Babies! First Time Cichlid Owner

[MemnochsKat]

Well I did some moving around in my tanks and I completed the stocking of my 29g with 2 GBR. They are the most adorable little fish to watch.

I am fairly certain that I got a male and female, spent WAY to much time at the LFS picking them out. So far they seem to be doing very well in my tank. Swimming around, investigating, eating, playing tag. I was a bit worried when I first brought them home. Between the LFS and my house, the F lost almost all of her coloring, even after acclimation she was still very pale and not anywhere near as active as the M. However this evening, she has colored back up and looks fantastic!

The M seems to chase the F around a bit. Nothing to overly aggressive, but I'm keeping a watchful eye. At other times they swim side by side quite peacefully. They occasionally take a dive at some of the shrimp in the tank, but otherwise leave the rest of the inhabitants alone.


Here's a slide show for you to watch. The pictures aren't really all that great, and certainly don't do justice to the rams, especially the ones of the F. These little guys just don't sit still!

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[Big Vine]

They look nice, congrats.
FYI...a lot of cichlid folks refer to firemouth cichlids as "FM's," so you might wanna just stick with "F" for 'female' to minimize any confusion that might arise.

Good luck with them---I hope they turn out to be a true pair and produce fry for you!

BV

 

[Helena21]

Good looking rams. The female looks kinda fat....maybe with eggs! As BV said, hopefully they will pair and give you lots of fry.

 

[Unexpected]

You have a male and female alright. *thumbsups I just hope those are not one of the ones mass produced in asia and injected with horomones which make them sterile. They don't seem to be though. Where did you get them?

 

[silver dollars]

Nice looking rams! Hope to see fry pics on here!

 

[MemnochsKat]

FYI...a lot of cichlid folks refer to firemouth cichlids as "FM's," so you might wanna just stick with "F" for 'female' to minimize any confusion that might arise.
BV

Thanks for the tip BV, I fixed the original post.



The female continued to color up, she's looking really stunning now. The "pair" seem to have staked out a territory beneath the wisteria on the left side of my tank. They hang out together towards the back of the tank. The female who was at first kind of skitish, now comes to the front of the tank whenever I walk up. The male who was at first very active and very curious, now hangs back in his little territory and will slowly make his way out to say hello. They sleep side by side, it's so cute. They're amazingly fun to watch. I'm very glad i was able to get them!

 

[Big Vine]

The "pair" seem to have staked out a territory beneath the wisteria on the left side of my tank. They hang out together towards the back of the tank...They sleep side by side, it's so cute. They're amazingly fun to watch. I'm very glad i was able to get them!

Sounds like they have definitely paired-up...that's awesome!
They are really fun fish to watch---I spent a good half-hour studying a nice-looking group of them at the LFS a little while back. Was gonna pick up a pair for my 20 gal., but then decided to pass on them because I was having such a hard time sexing them. It sucks, because they were really stunning specimens---if only I had seen Helena's pics/explanations before then...alas...

Anyway, keep us updated...I have a feeling you might see eggs in there before too long.

BV