How to Care for a Firemouth Fry

The firemouth cichlid (Thorichthys meeki) will breed in the home aquarium. If you can raise the fry to about 2 inches in length, you can sell or trade it to a local fish store. To breed this species of fish, you need an aquarium of at least 30 gallons with plenty of hardy plants, soft sand substrate and stacked rocks to provide hiding places. The water's pH should be 7.0 and the temperature should be around 73 degrees Fahrenheit. The fish may spawn several times a year if well-fed and the water is kept clean.

Things You'll Need

  • Breeding pair of firemouth
  • Sponge filter
  • Submersible heater
  • Baby brine shrimp
  • Tubifex worms
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Instructions

    • 1

      Set up the aquarium properly to encourage the firemouth to breed. The water parameters should be set to the ideal range and the water should be free of ammonia and nitrite. Keep nitrates low by changing 20 percent of the water with fresh, dechlorinated water every few days. The female will lay around 300 eggs on a rock or in a cave.

    • 2

      Add the submersible heater and sponge filter to the breeding aquarium. You can't use a typical hang-on-the-back filter in the breeding tank as it may suck in the fry and kill them. A sponge filter works by slowly drawing water through a large sponge. The sponge filters out particulate matter such as leftover food and provides a harbor for beneficial bacteria.

    • 3

      Let the parent fish take care of the eggs. Like some other Amazonian cichlids, firemouth will tend their young. The male will guard the area and the female will attend to the eggs. When the eggs hatch several days later, the female will deposit them into a hole dug in the sand.

    • 4

      Feed the fry live baby brine shrimp, tubifex worms and crushed flake food. Live baby brine shrimp will swim in the water, which will stimulate the fry's natural feeding response. Mix crushed flake food and frozen tubifex worms with the live shrimp. This will help train the fry to eat prepared foods. Feed the fry and the parent fish two or three times a day.

    • 5

      Change 20 percent of the water with fresh, dechlorinated water every day. The intensive feeding will cause the water to spoil very quickly. Make sure the pH and temperature of the water you add are the same as the aquarium water.

    • 6

      Separate the fry from the parents after two and a half weeks. At this point, they should readily eat prepared foods and no longer require live foods. Let them grow to about 2 inches in length before offering them to a local fish store.