Red Devil Snapped

[Aquanero]

I'll comment here, the first is if you want to see the Red Devil that has alluded you for all these years go to the media forum and look at my picture of Physco then you will have seen it. Make no mistake there is nothing plesent about his additude but he is the coolest fish I have ever owned, (I got my 1st aquarium about 35 yrs ago, so that's many fish and a few years back) I've had him since he was just under two inches long and is only about 15 months old, he hasn't even hit his stride yet.

We always hear people say "could you imagin what a convict would be like if they were bigger", yes they would almost be Red Devils with out all the nasty teeth.

It isn't about one fish vs another, it is about temprament, most Festae will accept tankmates most Devils will not unless they are in an extreamly large tank. Once fully grown/mature Devils are best kept by most fish keepers as a solatary wet pets. This is not due to there size it is due to there aggresive terratorial behavior. As mentioned by VRWC pitbulls are dog aggresive Devils are fish aggresive. That's all there is to it.

I don't love and enjoy them so much because I have them, I have them because I love and enjoy them so much and there is a differance. For me there is nothing like an Amphilophus anything, I happen to like Labiatus and Trimacs the best. My two cents.

 

[seel1990]

i have had a slightly larger male festae and a red devil in a comm tank. the devil wouldnt stop harassing the festae so i had to move him out

 

[Gruff Master]

Ive been keeping festae & spawning them long enough to know the difference...and in all honesty, full grown mayans are just as mean as any red devil or festae. Festae & mayans can be kept in communities, red devils cant.

Dont worry though...Once you have kept fish for a while, youll learn that there are always exceptions to the rule.

Also...try and find a thread or threads of murderous festae compared to the amounts of them about murderous red devils. They are few and far between, if there even are any.

I have to back VRWC on this. He has threads displaying the Festae that he has kept. They are not Mayans for sure. He knows the difference and is one of several members who helped advised me when I first bought my Festae. I am one who has seen the not too elusive aggressive Red Devil. In general they are really territorial and unforgiving towards tankmates. Their territory seems to extend beyond their tank as most RD keepers can verify. For every dozen stories of murderous RDs there will also be one about a very docile one. This isn't a disagreement that can be resolved by prolonged arguments and insults. There are too many scenarios that can alter the behavior of fish. Every fish is different to a point and so are their keepers. The vast majority will agree that RDs are very aggressive cichlids. I still agree with that but I also understand that there will be some RDs around with behavior that challenges this thought.

 

[chefjamesscott]

I have an 8ft 300g community tank which has 6 red devil in it as well as other fish.

I have found that the trick I use is the way I have designed the tank with it inhabitants and the decor.

Recently I did a rescue of some piranha and some pacu out of a tank and had to put the pacu in this 300g so I upped the wc regime. I should have homes for the pacu in the next week so that will solve that.

I will take a couple of pics of the tank and the fish for ya to show it. I have very little agression in the tank and the only casualty have been the smaller african I purposefully put in for a dinner date.

 

[JacobWhitley]

im just saying from the fish i have had the most aggressive was a Festae and i had a Red Devil and a Mayan but Red Devils are Mean don't get me wrong but i just think a Festae is a beast

 

[Batboi3000]

I have 125 gallon that housed 2 red devils, 2 texas, and 7 salvini for awhile. It is a bit of a grow out, and weed out process. Well now the tank holds 1 red devil, 1 texas, and 4 salvini. I got rid of 3 of the salvini myself. The one red devil got rid of the other texas himself. I still have the 2nd more dominant devil for the moment but I had to put him in a quick 10 gallon set up last night before he killed his second texas. For some reason the salvini are not bothered and they are half the size of the devils. But the tex kind of had it coming as he was egging on the devil bout every day. I am learning the true nature of these fish the hard way too. Good luck with your situation! Heed the advice.

 

[SemperFish]

From what I understand a red devil will kill any other male red devil unless they have alot of room. I also heard that given two females, a male red devil will kill one and "keep" the other. Anyone know if this is true?