Will the Red Devil Cichlids(Cichlasoma labiatus) be a suitable tankmate for the bichirs? I used to have a breeding pair and really loved the fish but they could be aggressive at times, especially the male.
Red Devils
- Thread starter cichlids4me
- Start date
breeding pairs of most any cichlids will be VERY agro from the momment they pair off, and will increase aggresion when there are eggs and fry about the tank, but IME, most fish ignore bottom fish for the most part, aside from some fiesty clown loaches. single cichlids are a different story, you never know if your going to get an aggresive cichlid, or a very passive one. but i'll bet anything you'll be much safer with a single devil and a bichir than with a pair. you should be fine
Fyi- the correct taxonomy and classification for labiatus is (amphilophus) not cichlasoma
Fyi- the correct taxonomy and classification for labiatus is (amphilophus) not cichlasoma
---XR---;1682710; said:
Thanks for the correction..found that name on a different website.
Yeah I had the pair with about 20 Africans(not knowing they were going to spawn). Found out I had babies when I came home from work and the male had killed most of them. Boy was I mad
until i scanned the bottom under my stump and saw hundreds of fry hovering under the female
Whats up with the white writing? Its impossible to read with the MFK Light skin,I thought you'd forgotten to write half the post!!
i wouldn't put red devils in with a bichir of any kind as they can be fine one minute and then (normally when your at work !) they attack, they are great characters though so maybe you can have 2 tanks !
David R;1683002; said:
I can see it just fine but I will take your thoughts into consideration on my next post.
I have a breeding pair of convicts in my 240gal with 3 bichers and 2 rope fish and for the most part they get along just fine. They were originally dropped in the tank with a dozen other adults as food for my Armatus but for some reason he let just these two survive. They are constantly breeding and each batch of fry provides a supplemental food source for my poly's for about a month. About a week or two after all the fry have been eaten I have a brand new batch of fry being led around the tank by their parents, foraging for food. Each batch of fry lasts about a month with a 2 week gap or so in between batches.
The convict parents do tend to get very protective and will do their best to fight off any attacks by my poly's but i've never seen them do any real damage. All they do is try to head butt them away and act all crazy like debo from 'Friday'...it's actually pretty amusing. The pair in my 240 actually breed way more often and consistently than the pair i have all alone in my 10gal.
The only fish in the whole tank that any of the Poly's have any real fear/respect for is the Armatus. He LOVES to flex on everyone just to be a bully but so far he has only eaten poly's under 6". All my poly's 8-9"+ he flexes on but never actually tries to eat or kill.
Coco
The convict parents do tend to get very protective and will do their best to fight off any attacks by my poly's but i've never seen them do any real damage. All they do is try to head butt them away and act all crazy like debo from 'Friday'...it's actually pretty amusing. The pair in my 240 actually breed way more often and consistently than the pair i have all alone in my 10gal.
The only fish in the whole tank that any of the Poly's have any real fear/respect for is the Armatus. He LOVES to flex on everyone just to be a bully but so far he has only eaten poly's under 6". All my poly's 8-9"+ he flexes on but never actually tries to eat or kill.
Coco
convicts are hardly devils though are they ? protective yes but they lack the dentition and power to do any real damage,red devils on the other hand don't ! your armatus wouldn't survive in with a single devil let alone a breeding pair
honestly i have no clue about red devils i've never had one...if they really are that aggressive then i guess it makes sense not to mix them.
i tried a single RD in with my polys lost 2 seg. RD was in for a day and very small
ive tried a few cichlids species always same result injured polys
ive tried a few cichlids species always same result injured polys