At what size to Devils/Midas turn into glass bangers?

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H

HybridGS

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 3, 2010
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England
Hi, i bought a just under 7" Devil today (probably a Midevil but looks more like a Labiatum)

He is in my 4ft 100g with a few fish i couldnt catch when i rehomed my stock (a few yellow labs,blue hap and a pink convict)

He seems really chilled out, is not bothered by anything in the tank which shocked me...everything else is only around 1.5-3"

Will he become the glass banging pet that i want when he gets bigger? or is there a chance he will always stay a very chilled out fish?

In the lfs they had him in a 5ft weir with other fish (a jag, syns, geo brasiliensis and a frontosa) and they were all very beaten up and they said he was mean!

(not that i want him to kill the other fish etc....i just want him to be a robust entertaining glass banging monster pet)
 
If you just introduced him to your tank it may take a few days for him to try to establish any dominance and show any interaction with you. But if he does start to come out of his shell, your other fish may pay the price. Not all RD/Midas will be aggressive. Some can actually be great as tankmates with the appropriate sized tank and stock. Then there are the many that can only be kept alone like mine. Sometimes they will show their aggression right away and then there are times when you wake up one morning to scaled and half-eaten fish. Only time will tell what you have.
 
Its the interaction I'm after, dont wish any harm on the poor lil fish left in there, they were just impossible to catch (without dismantling), so what will be will be for them lol.

Also at 7" what will his growth rate be like? say i feed him twice a day on hikari cichlid gold pellets and occasionally blood worm, krill, prawn, earthworms, peas, how long am i looking at for him to get to a full chunky adult size?

He is very long at the moment but very thin with a small hump on his head and big fat lips lol.

(this is the first devil i have ever seen, let alone kept...can you tell? lol)
 
They grow pretty fast. My Midevil was 2.5-3" in October and he is now 7" and growing. After a few weeks of good food and steady water changes your RD should start to pick up weight. Take pictures of it now and about every two weeks beyond that. Then look back on the pictures in a few months. You will be shocked.
 
cool cool :) thanks for the advice :)

Can i see a picture of yours to see the comparison with mine? (since they are around the same size....mine is 7"TL, 6ish" without tail)
 
Will being in my 4ft stunt him at all? because i want to keep him in it for life (the dimensions are (48"x19"x24")

this is the best picture i have of mine so far, he is very shy of me right now, so hard to get a picture

DSCF0374.jpg
 
HybridGS;4893585;4893585 said:
cool cool :) thanks for the advice :)

Can i see a picture of yours to see the comparison with mine? (since they are around the same size....mine is 7"TL, 6ish" without tail)
Click to expand...
I took this picture a few weeks ago. It's not the best quality photo. I got him from Petsmart in Oct.
[
CIMG0022-1.jpg
 
Your tank sounds like a good size for life. I agree with Gruff, your other fish are probably going to be killed. Devils rarely tolerate anything else in their tank, especially a 4-foot one. It takes a lot of gallons to mellow out a Devil.

Diet sounds good. Make sure pellets are the basis for his diet, and supplement with live/frozen foods maybe a few times a week. You might look into a few more pellet types for him (New Life Spectrum, etc.) It's always good to have variety. Unfortunately, I only have one cichlid right now (a convict) but I rotate four types of pellets and three types of frozen foods for him, and it seems to really help with general health and coloration.

As Gruff said, growth rate is about 1" per month. Since yours is already 7", I'd expect him to grow at a rate of 1" per month until he reaches 10" or so, then slow down dramatically and start putting on chunk. Have fun!
 
thanks for the info guys, Gruff your Devil looks just like mine with a bigger hump and a bit darker orange, beautiful :)
 
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