Darrylsr

I Have a 55 gallon tank I have 2 parrot fish, 2 jack dempseys,2 fire mouths and 2 algy eaters. What other community fish would be a great edition to the tank. The that I have get along pretty well. Except my female fire mouth is missing a Fin on the left side how do I find the Attacker.

sirdarksol

Welcome to Fishlore.

So far, you've got two parrotfish (I'm presuming you're talking about the cichlid, not the marine fish), which can grow to 10" apiece, two jack dempseys which can grow to 10" apiece, two firemouths which can grow to 6+" apiece, and two algae eaters which can grow to 11+" apiece.
This gives us a total of over 70" of fish in a 55g tank. There is a general guideline that suggests no more than one inch of fish per gallon of tank. So by this guideline, you are already pushing the bioload in your tank.
However, it is only a guideline, and fish that are particularly small or particularly large, and especially if they are wide or "tall" for their length, don't follow the guideline. I think that all of the fish you have grow large enough that they don't fit the guideline anymore, which means that you are pushing the bioload of your aquarium even more. This isn't to say that such a tank cannot work, but it is far more likely to develop problems.
It sounds like you've got a good selection of fish in the tank already. I would enjoy those that you have rather than risking the destruction of an already tenuous balance.

As far as the fin-eating culprit, any cichlid may have done it during breeding, as they can get pretty uppity. The Jack Dempseys are usually peaceful, but can become belligerent when pressed for space, as they may be feeling right now. The algae eaters have a reputation for attacking large fish, but I've never heard of them eating fins. Rather, when they attack (and they don't always, there are a few members around here who have adult algae eaters that have left the other fish alone), they latch on to the side of the fish and suck on the slime coating and scales.

Darrylsr

My Parrot fish in size are 3inch and 6inch Jack dempseys are 1and a half inch and 5in Fire mouths 1and a half and 2inch algys 1inch and 2inch. Their really not that big I had the two parrots first and bought the dempseys and firemouths at the same and all the same size about 1inch, but one of my dempseys trippled in size in 4 months while the rest is slowly growing any idea why.

sirdarksol

Different fish grow at different rates. Perhaps we could get some cichlid folks around here to help figure out how quickly these breeds of fish generally grow.
When figuring the bioload for your tank, you want to figure it based on the adult size of the fish rather than their current size. Many people get pacu or arrowana because they look cool, only to find out that these fish eventually grow to be huge, no matter how small they were when they were purchased.

MudHog

Darrlysr,

I know what your saying about the fish are small right now. I too went through the same thing your doing. I seen this big 39G tank with only 12 small (1" long) tiger barbs and thought, I got all this extra water and can put alot more fish. Then I came here and seen the 1" per gallon motto and realized my limitations.

I've realized what thats far and you just have to think way out in the future. Your fish will grow if your planning to keep your fish through out their life. If you start filling it with fish, you will have to start taking some out in the future as each one grows and your tank becomes way overstocked.

I haven't been in this for long (since Feb. '07), but I've come to realize what the meaning is behind that motto. A tank with a few fish is way more beautiful than a tank that's stuffed with fish.

I have a Leporinus that can grow 12"+ in it's life in a 39G tank that is 12" wide. That tells me that as it grows, I either have to get a new tank for him or part with him to someone who has a larger tank. It's those types of things if you start overcrowding your tank, you will have to part with some fish. Not to found like a PETA person, but if you stuff a tank with alot of small fish, they all start growing, you will have to weed out fish and they may or may not survive. Kinda like planting a garden with a bunch of seeds and weeding out some so others can grow larger.

In the end, I suggest staying like you are and work with your decorations in the tank or get another tank for some additional fish. I'd say live plants, but your Jack D's will likely uproot your live plants.

Sorry for the long post, but I know exactly where your coming from.

COBettaCouple

hmm.. that tank is pretty full right now and a 90-120g tank is probably something to plan for within the next year if you can get one. The fish are younger now so the tank looks a little empty, but when those fish all get to full size, the tank is actually going to look a bit cramped and I'd expect those cichlids to start showing a lot aggression as they all try to establish territory.

The lost fin is probably due to a territory issue.

I'd recommend keeping a real close eye on the water chemistry with an API master FW kit and as they get bigger, increase the frequency of the partial water changes and substrata cleaning.