Preventing Juvenile Red Terror Savagery

[Serpentine]

I have an opportunity to get my hands on some genuine M. festae Red Terrors and have a bit of an odd dilemma.

I am not new to freshwater fish or SA cichlids, but this is my first time out with Red Terrors.

Aside from admiring their beauty and "cichlittude," I have a specific purpose for one... as a junkyard guard fish. I breed angelfish, dwarf cichlids and others along with inverts. I have a large industrial rack where tanks are being moved to save space. Problem is, cats and greyhounds keep molesting the fish and there isn't another room available (I have filled those up with snakes).

The idea is to put a single female in a 65 gallon tank right at pet eye level. Someone goes out of their way to harass the fish, someone gets a large fish with a mouthful of sharp teeth telling them where to go.

I can keep a single female in this setup, but not a male. The fish being offered are 1.5 inches and not yet sexable. So the idea is to get a small group of babies, raise them up just long enough to tell who's who, then keep a single female and sell the rest.

Question: How do I prevent piscine murder until they reach that stage? I have been told that they don't really develop major aggression issues until they reach about 6 inches, and if I'm not mistaken they are sexable at around 4 inches. True? Or do I separate right from the get-go? Can someone set me on the correct track?

 

[Deadliestviper7]

I have an opportunity to get my hands on some genuine M. festae Red Terrors and have a bit of an odd dilemma.

I am not new to freshwater fish or SA cichlids, but this is my first time out with Red Terrors.

Aside from admiring their beauty and "cichlittude," I have a specific purpose for one... as a junkyard guard fish. I breed angelfish, dwarf cichlids and others along with inverts. I have a large industrial rack where tanks are being moved to save space. Problem is, cats and greyhounds keep molesting the fish and there isn't another room available (I have filled those up with snakes).

The idea is to put a single female in a 65 gallon tank right at pet eye level. Someone goes out of their way to harass the fish, someone gets a large fish with a mouthful of sharp teeth telling them where to go.

I can keep a single female in this setup, but not a male. The fish being offered are 1.5 inches and not yet sexable. So the idea is to get a small group of babies, raise them up just long enough to tell who's who, then keep a single female and sell the rest.

Question: How do I prevent piscine murder until they reach that stage? I have been told that they don't really develop major aggression issues until they reach about 6 inches, and if I'm not mistaken they are sexable at around 4 inches. True? Or do I separate right from the get-go? Can someone set me on the correct track?

They can be sexed at about 4ish true
And they can be kept probably until 51/2, just provide enough visual barriers.

Just a note: many snakes get along with peaceful fish

 

[Serpentine]

They can be sexed at about 4ish true
And they can be kept probably until 51/2, just provide enough visual barriers.

Just a note: many snakes get along with peaceful fish

Thank you! I appreciate that. I don't expect there will be trouble selling the castoffs.

I have noticed that snakes tend to eat peaceful fish. I keep a tank full of platys for feeding fussy hognose babies, garter snakes... and eventually a Red Terror. You can rub tuna juice (packed in water) on a thawed mouse or rat and non-fish eaters will attack it with gusto. It's my ace in the hole for stubborn feeders. And even my little Hog Island boa looks wistfully at the subtropical community tank near feeding time, though she's a rat eater. Snakes rule the basement but Salome made it into the living room because she's a social butterfly who loves to people watch. And fish watch.

But... if I was to introduce a water feature into one of the large setups and keep a few small peaceful fish, I suspect you're right. The really big snakes wouldn't pay them any mind. That could actually be a really neat display.

 

[Fish on Fire]

Can't really prevent it. Best way is to have a decent sized group so that the aggression gets spread. Or you can get a few and split them with a divider so they can't damage each other, I had to do that with my pair in a 55.

Festae can get deadly from a smaller size. The pair I bought was only 3" when I got them but they had already killed 5 of their tankmates (4" peacock bass) prior to me picking them up.

 

[Serpentine]

Hmm. I purchased 6. Is that a large enough group to diffuse the tension? Everyone will have their own caves and hidey holes. I am cluttering the tank until there is only one occupant.

Sounds like the scales might still fly, so a Plan B for separation is in order.

While I acknowledge that Red Terrors' full-time occupation is killing other fish and making offerings of their blood to the death gods, I guess I'm just a wienie. I'd rather not have anyone hurt.

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

So your dogs and cats are messing with your breeding projects and your solution is to have a fish guard your fish against dogs and cats?

Do the dogs and cats have to go through the 65 to get to the other tanks? It's hard to visualize what you're trying to accomplish through text alone.

 

[RampageRR]

Not to burst your bubble, but festae aren't the most outgoing/interactive fish. I feel you could do a lot better for a "guard fish" than a female festae. They're fairly shy and not amph-like or glassbangers by any stretch of the imagination. Their "red terror" name is definitely not due to how they interact with their surroundings, but more with their conspecfics and other tankmates.

Edit: all of this is not to sway you from getting festae. They're amazingly beautiful fish and very rewarding to grow out and see their adult form. But, if your sole purpose is to scare other animals away from the breeding area, they may not work best here.

 

[duanes]

I agree with RampageRR, I have not found festae to that agressive outside of with each other, and to be quite shy at times, sometimes spooked at minor shadows. And as far as color, without a male around their colors tend to fade out.
Here is a female with a male in the tank.

now that same female when the male was removed

If you do get a group, some may last until you can judge gender, but expect casualties along the way, most often smaller, slower growing females.

 

[Serpentine]

Well, since the tanks are going on a rack and they mess with anything in easy reach, the idea was to put an aggressive, large-ish fish in the slot where they would normally approach to 1) startle them away and 2) eventually convince them that the rack isn't all that fun and interesting after all. But yes, they would come up against that 65 first as I have it planned.

I may have chosen unwisely for that purpose in a single female Red Terror, despite thinking I had done my homework. I love their color and scrappiness, but didn't realize the territoriality ended with other fish or that lone females fade. I wonder if that's the case if they grow up from 4 inches on without having a mate to remove from them? I certainly can't keep a male with her in that 65.

Maybe this plan will bomb. Nonetheless I do like festae for their own sake and think I will still enjoy having one. If not, I don't expect I'll have problems selling.

In the same situation with the same tank, what other "wet pets" would you recommend instead?

 

[philipraposo1982]

I am growing out a group right now. I got 8 of them and I believe 6 to be males. Biggest ones are surely the boss. But there is no major aggression. Small superficial marks show up almost daily from little scraps that go own.
I plan to keep them all till about 4-5" maybe 6" or until i notice major fights and hurt or scared fish.

They each have their own driftwood.