Fu Manchu Dude

hello,
for the last 3 weeks ive noticed my male firemouth has become extremely nasty... whenever i walk up to the tank he flares at me and rams at the tank glass, hes being mean to his feamale counterpart chasing her occasionaly and they are constanly having flarng battles and rubbing each other. since ive added the serpaes they nip him occasionly and then he turns around and snaps at them, + he makes my 4 inch jewel pair look silly and never backs down to them plus he WINS all by himself !!! hes only 3 inches and the only thing that can stand up to him is the huge adult 5 inch lifalili jewel. he isnt breeding and is very active.... i havent seen any wounds or any stress on the other fish. is this just a weird firemouth because everyone says they are peaceful

p.s i no its a male and female as one has rounded fins and the other is pointed plus the male is better looking and larger

thanks anyone whos had an aggressive fm

Gouramiguy17

wow, I thought firemouths were wimps

btate617

Most are mostly show than anything else, however there is always that one.....
He is probably picking on the female going through the motions of breeding. He will harass her until she is mature enough to breed. Don't always count on the fins, I have seen some great looking females with pointed fins, the only 100% way to sex fish is by venting.

Just a note be careful if your jewels pair up, although he is pushing them around now, I wouldn't be surprised to see this reversed if the jewels breed.

Brian