Name: firemouth

Scientific Name: Thorichthys Meeki

Family: Cichlidae

Origin: Central America and Mexico

Maximum size: Female get to about 6” but some males will make it up to 8”

Tank size: 30g min

Tank temp: 23-27C

Tank setup: They like lots of cover but also need a flat surface if you want them to spawn something like slate would work great.

Tank compatibility: Can be very aggressive when spawning and males are very territorial with each other but when not breeding anything to big to be eaten is normally left alone.

Ph: 6 -7.5

Feeding: Will do fine on flakes and pellets but enjoys meaty foods and some veg.

Sexing: Males will be bigger but females will be rounder. Males will also have a deep read through which they can flare to warn off other fish, females sometimes have a red throat up it is a lot lighter colour.

Breeding: They will clean of a piece of slate, wood or even clear away the substrate down to the glass and spawn on this are. The females can lay 50+ eggs. They will guard the eggs and fry aggressively so best kept in a tank of there own. Once the fry have used up there yolk sacs they can be fed on crushed flakes and pellets of small live foods such as brine shrimp and micro worm.

Comment: A stunning cichlid especially males but due to aggression need to have carefully selected tanks mate. They are a fairly easy cichlid to breed and are normally fairly easy to sell on although a lot of the rarer Thorichthys such as Thorichthys ellioti and Thorichthys aureus make a much better price and generally more peaceful.