i'm trying to compromise with the mrs is it possible to keep fire mouth and convicts together i know they get terrortorial when breeding but if we got the same sex would it be ok?? also how many could i keep in a 40 gallon tank

in my opinion they can be kept together but you will probably suffer teritorial fighting they are both from the same area and like the same type of water but the firemouths require almost as much water as an oscar ,and i dont think you have enough room for that ...you would probably be better keeping jewels and convicts...what measurements is your tank ????? L X W X H...we can better tell the numbers you can keep as the footprint of the tank is important... but maybe the others have some ideas or combinations for you

40" long 18" depth and 15" high

thats not a bad size for probably four or five 3"-4" fish without getting into trouble with water problems....if you have a good external filter you could probably push 6 fish of that size.......what do you think about jewels????? and what filter are you using???/

i'm using a eheim 2234 the tank i have is a fluval duo 1000 if you want a better view of what the tank is. i'm going to have a look at jewels on google now

if you go with convicts, id be sure to get only one, or be sure to pick 2 of the same sex. the females are easy to spot because even as babies, they have that red patch on their chest. they will breed if you have a male and a female. and in a 40 gallon tank, you dont want territorial issues. besides that, both firemouths and convicts are quite peacefull. id go with 3 or 4 fish because a male convict can get to be about 5'' and female about 3.5. firemouths are said to get 6" but ive never seen them that big. maybe 1 convict 2 or 3 firemouths? i think anymore and youll be sure to run into huge territorial issues somewhere down the line, unless of coarse you have a tank to rehome them

if i stuck to just 1 of the species how many would you recomend then?

Think i'm going to go with convicts not to sure if i want to breed them as its going to be hard to off load them how many would you recomend in my tank its about 40g

the tank you have has a realy good footprint and 45 galons is a good ammount of water for the smaller fish....also with 40" of length and 18" of depth its actually a great tank for the fish you talk about .....also you have EXCELENT filtration so i beleive you could keep 4-5 fish at first and wach your nitrates for a few weeks ,if they are slow to rise and you dont mind waterchanging weekly add one more to the mix ..........did you like jewels??? or what about the dwarf cichlids ...theres loads of species and sub species with masses of beautifull colours and you could keep quite a few of these in your tank ..and after all they are cichlids...shame your about 10 galons short for an oscar!! cant you add a 10 galon sump it would only cost you £20 and get an O...... or you could get a blue acara,jade eyed sijica, a convict and a jewel, thats my choice for your tank then later if parameters check out ok get a chocolate cichlid ..google the fish i mentioned !!!!!!!!!! they would make a great display and all mine have personalities just like the 0,s they all eat out of my hand and let me toutch them and pat them without swimming away!!!!!!!!

yeah i liked the jewels but i think i will have to go with convicts i used to keep kribensis in a 3'community tank before but as i wanted a bigger tank i would like bigger fish. What is a sump and how do i go about it

necros the sump man on here !!!!!!!!!!! i dont use one but others will tell you more !!!!!!!!! basicaly its a small 10 galon tank sited under yours that is filled with water and media ,,,,,you run the water out of your tank and into the sump.... just like your external filter but instead of the body of the filter holding the water and media the 10 gallon tank hold the water and media ......simple you then place a powerhead in the sump to take the water back into your main tank..the sump can even be a plastic storage box from the diy stores (B+Q) OR INSTORE they are about £5 you put some dividers in it made from perspex with holes drilled in them for dividing media and to let the water flow through inlet one end outlet the other(powerhead) and the middle full of scrubbies ...these are the plastic woven scourers for washing the dishes you can get a big pack for £2....the ammount of water the sump holds adds to the capacity to the tank ...a 15 gal sump which is quite small and can be concealed in your cabinet..will make your tank 15 + 45 = 60 gal OSCAR SIZE
POST A THREAD IN THE DIY SECTION ASKING FOR A SIMPLE 10-15 GAL SUMP IDEA im sure you will have some great help ...pictures and a step by step if you are serious about it..... its also the BEST WAY TO FILTER A TANK and very very easy and cheap to do....you could leave your external running as well AWESOME FILTRATION!!!!!!!!!!!

in a 45 gallon tank you might consider a jack dempsey with a few cons. jacks grow to a fair size and are more than capable of dealing with the aggressiveness of convicts. i think you are right about not having a breeding pair of cons in your tank because they get fairly aggressive and the fry are rather difficult to get rid of.

as for a sump i have posted a thread in the diy section with step by step insruction on their construction. sump filters really come into their own on larger tanks where multiple canister are needed for adequate filtration however if you want one it can be done and on a small tank they can be made for relatively little money.

hope this helps