Aggression question

[gspille]

I'm not a big time cichlid guy, so I told him I'd ask the experts.

A coworker has a 180g tank, 6x2x2, and he is wanting to have 2 oscars, a red devil, a red terror, and a green terror. I told him that when they get bigger there could be aggression issues IMO.

I suggested maybe the 2 oscars, a JD, and either a GT or 2 Sevs. It seems he's bent on having at least one of the RD or the RT. What would you suggest he try?

 

[ctenopoma]

the rd or the rt won't work with this set up they're simply to aggressive , the set up you suggested seems perfect. in that tank he should put 2 sevs 1 oscar , 1 jd , and 1 gt the rd or rt might do fine a first but when it reaches the 11" mark it will probably go on a murderous rampage.

 

[BlueKiller82]

I agree, I had a 180 with 2 Oscars, 2 Dempseys, and two severums. The only problem I had was the oscars ended up not getting along which is very common. RD is out of the question unless he partitions the tank when it gets bigger.

 

[gspille]

I showed him the responses so far. I think he's still trying to figure out how to work in the red terror, though. He's good with going with only one oscar. I'm going to show him the red colored sevs, since he's stuck on having a red cichlid.

 

[Donny417]

I see nothing wrong with what he's asking. Just filter the water very well (turn the water 9-10 times an hour), feed them well, and give them lots of attention and they'll all be fine.

Here is a small sample of my collection in about the same size tank:

I'll start:

 

[terrors r us]

IMO, the red terror will end up killing everything including the red devil...
If you don't get the red terror then the red devil will do the same thing....
It's not enjoyable seeing all your fish with shredded fins in the top corner of your tank
trying to escape the bully and then either getting diseased from stress or ripped apart....
Get another tank for a single rt or rd...................................good luck.....

The above pic's show jaguars and pikes with the rt....these fish grow allot
bigger and are much tougher than oscar's, severums or green terrors.....

 

[gspille]

This is his first big tank, he has a 55g and a 30g I think he said. I think he and his wife are going to go with the oscar, GT, JD, and sevs, with a pleco of some type.

 

[Highwaydemon]

Down the line the RD and the RT might bump heads but as for now they will grow and be familiar with each other. They will begin to build their own natural pecking order and the fish will know their places. It will also be dependant on the fish's personality since I have seen some pretty wild setups on this site with people housing a bunch of aggressive fish with no problems at all. So far it seems like everyone who has responded has overreacted to how everything would be dead once they hit the water lol. But in all honesty the rd would probably out grow everything so i would just ditch it since it would cause the most problems.

 

[gspille]

Down the line the RD and the RT might bump heads but as for now they will grow and be familiar with each other. They will begin to build their own natural pecking order and the fish will know their places. It will also be dependant on the fish's personality since I have seen some pretty wild setups on this site with people housing a bunch of aggressive fish with no problems at all. So far it seems like everyone who has responded has overreacted to how everything would be dead once they hit the water lol. But in all honesty the rd would probably out grow everything so i would just ditch it since it would cause the most problems.

I relayed this, and now he's back on wanting the red terror. I told him to give it a shot, and if something needs to go then make the moves at that time. Temp's differ so he may get lucky with them getting along.

One last question he's asking, should he try to go all female? All male? Will it even matter?

 

[croc 2-3]

The key would be having the fish grow up together from an inch or so so they develope a pecking order without death being involved. Honestly if he is set on the red terror & red devil I'd get 1 of each these 2 may be able to balance each other as the others might just be to submissive invoking a solo red devil or red terror to kill them. the tank Donny417 has, has fish that won't just flee & probaly 1 can't to become to dominant. so basicly get the oscar,dempseys, GT, & severums 1st let them get established for a week or 2 . Then get the RD & RT at the same time as these 2 species will be the one more then likely to attack any new comer added after them. Get the 2 aggressive species at the same time is the catch if the red devil or red terror get established they will make it hard on any new fish after them. yet these 2 may present just enough of a stand off that the other doesn't decide to just kill everyone.