Sexing firemouth cichlid

Question
I have a firemouth cichlid and i cant sex it i was wondering if you knew of any sites with pictures 4 comparison also i have organge gourami 2 albino oscars and a 13'' silver arowana male i think i was wondering could i add a female arowana 4 breedimg i have been told that arowanas are solitary and would kill a new 1 bt i have seen tanks with several arowanas the help would be much appreciated also how would be the best way to introduce the new arowana

Answer
Hi Nikkita,
 A 13" arrowana is still a youngster.  An adult is over 2 feet, so I doubt if you will get any breeding for quite some time.  Plus, I would only consider this in a very large (300+ gallon) tank.  

 As for firemouth cichlids, males are more robust, particularly in the chest area.  There isn't a single thing that you can point to and say "it has that, so it is a male".  Sexing them requires looking at a lot of them.  

 Do you have all those fish in the same tank?  I suspect that you will find that the oscars will one day make your firemouth "disappear".  That is what oscars do.  Same for the gourami.  

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