Juvenile Red Devil Question

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

RajaRojoDiablo

Exodon
MFK Member
Dec 25, 2010
63
0
21
Lansing, MI
Hey all,

I have (5) juvenile red devils and it seems (3) are about a month older than the other (2). The (3) are all around 2" to 2.5", light orange in color with a few black streaks here and there.

The other (2) are very dark and have vertical lines and are 1.5".

I am basing the ages, because of size and color difference.

The biggest red devil is the boss of the tank already at 2.5". The (2) smaller ones constantly stay in hiding except feeding time. When I do feed, all (5) focus on the food and not each other.

Well on to my question...this morning when I turned my tank light on, one of the smaller red devils and one of the bigger red devils (not the tank boss) lip locked and were tugging back and forth. The (2) proceeded to lip lock at least (5) times in a span of (15) minutes.

I know this is normal behavior for cichlids...but I did not expect this so early.

Is this normal at the size described above? Are the red devils too small to injure each other?

Thank you for the input!

DJ
 
they could very well injure each other and fight even at small sizes, especially aggressive species like RD's
 
This isn't uncommon. RD can and will injure tankmates/siblings even as juveniles. It helps to keep them in large aquariums, small confines make aggression worse. But even as adults RD will typically be aggressive to others. Having a large aquarium and by growing them out with tankmates can reduce aggression in many cases.
 
I have them in a (90) gallon tank. I do 25% water changes bi-weekly and have plenty of aeration and a FX5 filter.

I also have a (55) gallon tank that I could set up for the (2) smaller red devils.

I planned on raising the (5) to a length of 4" or 5" before keeping a solo or pair.

Should I monitor behavior before moving the (2)? The other (3) red devils just watch the (2) go at it the whole time.....
 
There's no way to be sure without trying it. You could put the two smaller ones in their own tank and then one of them could become dominant and go after the other one. But if you keep one alone for several months it may not tolerate tankmates anymore. Then your efforts to introduce a mate will be very difficult. These cichlids will fight and establish a pecking order. It may take several tries of different combos of RD to find the groups that work well together. It should not take them much longer to reach 5". In about three more months they'll reach the size that you want. You just have to find a way to keep them alive in the meantime.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom