What have you successfully kept with a Red Devil Cichlid?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
T

TheEelKing

Piranha
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2010
596
131
76
Earth
What have you successfully kept with a red devil cichlid in a 300 gallon tank long term?

My stock:

5x clown loaches from 6-8 inches each
1x clown knife at 7 inches
5x adult silver dollars
2x bala sharks at 10 inches each
2x endlicheri bichirs (one is 14 inches the other around 18 inches)
2x ornate bichirs (one is 13 inches and the other 15 inches)
1x 6 inch red-tail shark
2x gold severums (one is 6-7 inches and the other 9-10 inches)
6x adult filament barbs (6 inches each)
1x 8 inch african featherfin catfish

I am growing out 3 small bala sharks, a small datnoid and a small leopard ctenopoma to add to the tank. Once I do that, I want to remove the silver dollars as I'm tired of them. I was thinking once the bala sharks and datnoid are big enough to add to the 300g, I could get a small red devil at around 5" to add to the tank last and let it grow in there. Since it will be smaller than the clown knife, severums, datnoid and leopard ctenopoma, it will probably be peaceful and hopefully stay peaceful with my fish as it grows up (maybe chasing the bala sharks and barbs from time to time). What do you guys think? Do I have a good chance of making this work out?
 
I'm going to say possibly; 60-40 odds...lol. I've owned several midas/red redevils and their personalities have ranged from raging mad to fairly mild. In most cases they tend to be more aggressive towards similarly shaped fish/cichlids and leave other fish alone. Though with that being said I've had a midas kill a pleco... I'd say try it, but be ready to remove the red devil if things don't work out.
 
I have a midevil that won't even touch guppy fry. Sometimes when he gets upset with other fish he'll kind of gently push them with his head but that's as aggressive as he gets. It's really funny watching him try to nudge fish out of his cave. He's still young about 6-7" hopefully he stays a pacifist.
 
FriedFlowerHornFillet said:
I have a midevil that won't even touch guppy fry. Sometimes when he gets upset with other fish he'll kind of gently push them with his head but that's as aggressive as he gets. It's really funny watching him try to nudge fish out of his cave. He's still young about 6-7" hopefully he stays a pacifist.
Click to expand...

Lol I love how cichlids have greatly varied personalities, this being a perfect example.

You'll be envied by me anyway if he stays peaceful into adulthood, would love to keep many types of cichlids together, but getting docile personalities is harder than utter monsters though haha

Sent from my Nexus 5 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
I would suggest if you do get one and want to try for a more peaceful one, to plan to sit in front of the tank at the store observing for awhile. This has served me well with several fish. First was a JD - I liked them but many people said they weren't friendly and just hid a lot. So I watched the tank and noticed that one specific one was always at the front of the tank. When I put my hand near the tank the others would run for cover, but not that little guy. So I got him and he is still as friendly and interactive as I could wish for.

My my second was with my Midevil - what drew me to her was not only her looks (many RDs I just don't find that attractive, but I love how she looks) but the fact that as I watched her in the small tank at Petsmart I noticed she was pretty tolerant of the other smaller RDs in the tank. They stayed out of her way, but even though she could have easily bullied and dominated them she didn't seem to want to. So I bought her. And knock on wood, so far she has been pretty peaceful. She still chases a fish here or there but overall she minds her own business and let's other mind their. She is only about 5 in right now, so time will tell. But for now despite being one of the bigger fish in the "grow out" tank she doesn't really bother anyone, including Oscars, Severums, etc.
 
My red devil has been peaceful to my other 2 rd's, trimac, green phantom pleco, and four line catfish until now. Him and one of the females are about to spawn. Now they have the tank to themselves.

Sent from my SM-G900P using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
There's no telling. Just no telling. I"ve seen peaceful fish flip after 2 years of ZERO incident. I've seen the 2 most peaceful fish in the tank suddenly decide to hate each other, like they're fighting to see who is the most peaceful. I've seen what I thought would be vicious killers get in the tank and be completely dominated by a Synspilum. Most of these fish change their attitude, usually for the worst, at 6-8 inches. I've tried the whole "grow 'em up from juveniles" theory, too. That works great until it doesn't. And I have a very big tank, so that theory is kinda suspect, too.

They're cichlids, they fight. Bigger they get, the more serious the injuries, too. Keep meds around. :)
 
ragin_cajun said:
There's no telling. Just no telling. I"ve seen peaceful fish flip after 2 years of ZERO incident. I've seen the 2 most peaceful fish in the tank suddenly decide to hate each other, like they're fighting to see who is the most peaceful. I've seen what I thought would be vicious killers get in the tank and be completely dominated by a Synspilum. Most of these fish change their attitude, usually for the worst, at 6-8 inches. I've tried the whole "grow 'em up from juveniles" theory, too. That works great until it doesn't. And I have a very big tank, so that theory is kinda suspect, too.

They're cichlids, they fight. Bigger they get, the more serious the injuries, too. Keep meds around. :)
Click to expand...


This^^^
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom