Bully Firemouth Cichlud

[CaptainAquatics]

Hi! So I may have mentioned this before but I have a bit of an issue right now. I have a large firemouth mouth cichlid in my african/South American cichlid tank and he has bullied out 3 of the cichlids and I fear a fourth one is on its way. I have managed to keep the bullied cichlids and they have done well in my 130 however my 130 won’t have room for me to just keep adding cichlids that get picked on. I was thinking about maybe putting the three that got bullied back into the african cichlid tank and moving the bully to the 130. I know the bully firemouth will not be the top in control, as my BP is the top dog in that tank and clearly shows it anytime there is a new fish (especially if they try to pick on him as I will assume the firemouth will try to do). Seriously one time I added one of the bullied fish to the tank and it tried to swim up to my BP and pick on him. He just turned around and literaly hit the cichlid with his back tail (sending him away a bit) and that stoped quick. I think the bully firemouth wouldn’t bother the fish in that tank but what do you think? Thanks

 

[JakeDfish]

Sounds good to me. As long as there is no significant size difference and the new boss will keep the other cichlid under control, I’d say that would work fine. Definitely test it out for a day or two. They will probably start fighting right away. Let the boss of that tank do his thing. Good luck!

 

[CaptainAquatics]

Sounds good to me. As long as there is no significant size difference and the new boss will keep the other cichlid under control, I’d say that would work fine. Definitely test it out for a day or two. They will probably start fighting right away. Let the boss of that tank do his thing. Good luck!

Well the bully firemouth is probably 4-5" and my BP is 7" plus. He never bothered the smaller cichlids though in the tank though. He pretty much puts them in their place then leaves them alone (unless of course they dare go in his nest).