I own em. Now one named Birtha and she is about 9 years old & about 27" or so & wants to eat people. 12" Red devils are dessert for her.
I started with a Trio about 3-4" from a wild shipment I brought in. They were in a 350 galllon (24") wide. Within a year they were about 18" & ate about $1000 worth of Cichlids. I had a custom tank made for my hatchery at my shop.240gal 4x4x2. The trio dd good & eventually paired. I tried keeping 10" Male fronts, & shell dweller & they ate them all! How they got that occe out of the shell is a mystery to me. Next day it was opposite corner of tank empty. Then pair turned on Birtha over night & it looked like a pit bull attacked her. Took a long time to heal her up. The pair dropped their tubes a couple times but no eggs or fry ever came of it unless they ate them after they laid them? Then time passed the big boy decide he wanted to kill the mate & she end in her own tank as well. Eventually offed the pair because tying up to much tank space needed for breeding raising other stock.
Birth is our store pet & has Won best Tang in class plus Memorial Trophy in 08 show.
She is like my pet dog & bites the hand that feeds her. Last time she nailed me she drew blood. Fastest damn fish I have ever kept & the meanest. I have Dovi, Gramodes etc. that do not compare to her but I never put these with her. She has killed numerous fish I tried to put with her. Only a large pleco or syno that keeps out of the water column & in its corner or pot will be okay. She killed a 3 foot catfish not to long ago.
Awesome fish & a great pet if you can provide a decent tank or pond for. The new Deep Dimension tanks by Marineland that are 3 foot from to back would house one okay.
Me Dave
I started with a Trio about 3-4" from a wild shipment I brought in. They were in a 350 galllon (24") wide. Within a year they were about 18" & ate about $1000 worth of Cichlids. I had a custom tank made for my hatchery at my shop.240gal 4x4x2. The trio dd good & eventually paired. I tried keeping 10" Male fronts, & shell dweller & they ate them all! How they got that occe out of the shell is a mystery to me. Next day it was opposite corner of tank empty. Then pair turned on Birtha over night & it looked like a pit bull attacked her. Took a long time to heal her up. The pair dropped their tubes a couple times but no eggs or fry ever came of it unless they ate them after they laid them? Then time passed the big boy decide he wanted to kill the mate & she end in her own tank as well. Eventually offed the pair because tying up to much tank space needed for breeding raising other stock.
Birth is our store pet & has Won best Tang in class plus Memorial Trophy in 08 show.
She is like my pet dog & bites the hand that feeds her. Last time she nailed me she drew blood. Fastest damn fish I have ever kept & the meanest. I have Dovi, Gramodes etc. that do not compare to her but I never put these with her. She has killed numerous fish I tried to put with her. Only a large pleco or syno that keeps out of the water column & in its corner or pot will be okay. She killed a 3 foot catfish not to long ago.
Awesome fish & a great pet if you can provide a decent tank or pond for. The new Deep Dimension tanks by Marineland that are 3 foot from to back would house one okay.
Me Dave
