I have some Jack Dempseys and some Convicts living in a tank. Was wondering, I heard that Red Devils are very aggressive. Can I put a couple of Red Devils with my Dempseys and Convicts?
Can Red Devils live with Jack Dempseys and Convicts?
- Thread starter Red_Belly_Pacu
- Start date
I did a bit of research into this and if you look on youtube you can find some videos of people housing Red Devils with Jack Dempseys. The thing I noticed every single time was that in all the videos they got along - but the Jack Dempsey was full grown and the Red Devil was not even an adult yet.
Then in the comments the person who posted the video said in every video that when the RD grew up it beat the Jack Dempsey up quite bad and had to end up with a Red Devil specie only. So from that - I would say don't risk a Jack Dempsey. They are big and strong and good fighters and possess limited aggression but Red Devils are just crazy. I was also in my local store last weekend and saw a male Rd 6 inch had been brought back as it was beating up other Red Devils and it was housed with a huge shark. This shark was really big ( can't remember the name) and it was picking on that.
As for convicts they would be okay with JD's but not with Red Devils. I wanted to have a Jack Dempsey and RD tank and was shot down and now realise why - its not worth the risk long term when your JD looks really nice.
Then in the comments the person who posted the video said in every video that when the RD grew up it beat the Jack Dempsey up quite bad and had to end up with a Red Devil specie only. So from that - I would say don't risk a Jack Dempsey. They are big and strong and good fighters and possess limited aggression but Red Devils are just crazy. I was also in my local store last weekend and saw a male Rd 6 inch had been brought back as it was beating up other Red Devils and it was housed with a huge shark. This shark was really big ( can't remember the name) and it was picking on that.
As for convicts they would be okay with JD's but not with Red Devils. I wanted to have a Jack Dempsey and RD tank and was shot down and now realise why - its not worth the risk long term when your JD looks really nice.
I would say yes you can house them together, but only in tanks that are 300 gallons or larger. Red devils are so much more aggressive than JDs and convicts, and it puts them at risk to being killed. Devils do tend to mellow out a bit when they have several hundred gallons to swim in, but it's still a toss-up. Some devils are mean no matter the size of the tank, and JD and convicts just can't defend themselves properly.
i tried to keep an 8" red devil and a 6" dempsey together and the devil would always beat up the dempsey so i had to get rid of the dempsey....i think my problem was that the devil was in the tank first and for about a year so it didnt want any intruders.
i would say NO but it all depends on the individual fish itself. my current rd is about 9 inches but he killed off his breeding mate that had been sharing the tank with him for a couple of years. i had to take out the pleco after watching him literally chase him around the tank so needless to say he is by himself now. they are naturally a very aggressive fish so be wary
RD's arent' known to be community fish, they're usually killers. A convict would have a better chance IMO....what size tank are we talking about?
balton777;4547581; said:
What? My RD is very sweet he's always trying to kiss me through the glass, I can hear him!
Aquanero;4547605; said:
Put your face up there and give him kissy-face back....I bet he'll try even harder.
I have heard of people having convicts in with devils as a dither fish/toys and they do okay. But again, like it was said, it depends on the individual fish as every fish is different. I have a red devil in with salvini right now in my 125 and he leaves them alone. I am guessing because he doesn't see them as a threat. However i am sure he was the hitman on my texas that eventually died in a hospital tank, and also pounded on the other red devil in the tank and almost killed it. Luckily I caught it in time and treated him. If you try either I would also recommend using cons as I think they'd have a better chance, otherwise save your time, money, and fish.
No that's ok but thanks for the suggestion, last week I did a water change in his tank and he got so friendly with the vacume tube he broke a piece off the end............haha.