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I was looking at a FireThroat Cichlid today and I was wondering if it would be safe to put in the same tank with my Jack Dempsey they are both the same size and the only other fish in the tank is my pleco. Or will they start fighting in the future ?

What size is the tank?

At the moment its just a 10 gallon because they are only 1/2 inch long had my Dempsey now for a month and he hasnt really grown much at all, though he sure loves it when I feed him live crickets =)

Originally posted by starbringer
I was looking at a FireThroat Cichlid today and I was wondering if it would be safe to put in the same tank with my Jack Dempsey they are both the same size and the only other fish in the tank is my pleco. Or will they start fighting in the future ?

You'll definately need to upgrade from that 10 as these fish grow. They should be OK together as long as you keep two words in mind at all times: Hiding Places! It's the nature of both of these species (especially Dempseys) to hide in corners and caves, so if you supply them with rock formations, overturned flower pots, pieces of PVC pipe, etc. they should be fine together. If you're just going to stick with these two fishes and the Pl*co, I'd think a 29 gal or a 50/55 tank should do the trick; if you're planning on adding other fish, you would need to go larger.

Remember the two words: Hiding Places!!

--Mark:cool: