I bought a fresh water fish ?

Question
QUESTION: I bought a fiah and was told it was a cichlid for my 35 gallon Tru Vu tank. I have a piguin 200 for the filter. Anyway I have tried to put 2 clown loach's in with it and almost a month Latter they were dead, kinda broke my heart? So basically he has been by its self. I asked the feed store when I finally saw somemore in what kind of fish it was and they told me it was a Firemouth Cichlid. I looked it up and couldn't find anything like my fish? Is there a site I can go to that has more on there to compare or can I send you a picture of him , or her???

ANSWER: Hi Bob,
 A firemouth cichlid has a scientific name of Thorichthys meeki.  They come from southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize.  The key characteristic of that fish is that when they get aggressive they flare out the gills which can have a lot of red on the lower surface, hence the name "firemouth".  

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your reply, but I have 2 more questions for you.# 1 is I would like to send you a pictuer of him- her? # 2 is who will he get along with? Friend of ming gave me a B- Shark ,that is what he called it.it looks like an eal .the reason he gave it to me was it ate one of his other fish. He is just starting his tank again, 200 gallon and it is awsome!Anyway I got a medium sized pocostumise ( alae eater) and I would like to know if the will be all right in the tank for now? I do plan on getting a larger tank later.

Answer
Hi Bob,
  Fish like firemouth cichlids in general do not get along well with other fish, particularly in a smaller tank.  The plecostomus should be fine, provided it has some places to hide.  In general, the more hiding places there are in a tank, the less likely fish are to fight because the weaker fish always has a place to go and hide.  You can create hiding places by adding what I call "structure", which can be wood, rock, plastic or real plants.  

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>