Yellow-cheek firemouth

Care at a glance

Overview

The yellow-cheek firemouth is a firemouth relative kept singly or as a single pair, since it pairs off and defends a patch at breeding time. It stays low, sifting sand and grazing, and settles best in a planted tank with cover. It is mostly peaceful and rarely does real damage, relying on a bluff display of flared gill covers, but choose tankmates with some care and avoid pushy cichlids that will stress it, since Thorichthys are sensitive to poor water. Feed sinking pellets, frozen bloodworm and brine shrimp, and some vegetable matter. A tank of around 250 liters or more with sand, plants, and wood suits a pair.

In the wild

This cichlid lives in weedy, clear rivers and pools on the Atlantic slope of southern Mexico, over sand and among plants. Recreate that with a soft sand floor the fish can sift, planted margins, driftwood, and some flat stones for spawning. Keep it warm at about 24 to 29 C in neutral to hard water, with the pH sitting around 7.0 to 8.2. Thorichthys react badly to nitrate and stale water, so steady filtration and regular water changes are important.

Good to know

Thorichthys helleri is a cichlid reaching up to about 17 centimeters, coloured lemon and turquoise with a red-edged dorsal fin. Its genus name comes from a Greek word for leaping. Like all firemouth relatives it spreads bright, dark-spotted gill covers in a threat display that looks fierce but rarely leads to biting. It is a biparental substrate spawner: a pair cleans a surface, lays eggs in the open, and both guard the fry, and it is of moderate difficulty to breed.

Did you know

The whole firemouth group settles disputes by bluff: a fish flares its gill covers to show off large dark eyespots, making its head look far bigger and more threatening than an actual fight would prove.

Common questions

Related species

• Callolepis firemouth

  Thorichthys callolepis

  Freshwater

  6.7 in (17 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–84°F (24–29°C)
• Yellow firemouth

  Thorichthys affinis

  Freshwater

  6.7 in (17 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–84°F (24–29°C)

• 

  Blue flash firemouth

  Thorichthys aureus

  Freshwater

  7.1 in (18 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–84°F (24–29°C)

• 

  Ellioti cichlid

  Thorichthys maculipinnis

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Firemouth cichlid

  Thorichthys meeki

  Freshwater

  5.9 in (15 cm)30 gal (115 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
• Blackgullet firemouth

  Thorichthys pasionis

  Freshwater

  7.9 in (20 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–84°F (24–29°C)