I was wondering about red tigers aggressivness as compared to a jaguar are they similar? the same or what? they look kinda similar to me, an lfs around here has one on sale at 5" for 12$. I dont really have the space for one, but I would like to know a little more about them. there body shape looks the same as a jag, same mouth, eyes, n shape, are there any differences? like size? temperment? n tank space? any info would be appreciated. thanx - Salty
Red tiger, motaguensis
- Thread starter Salty
- Start date
color is about the only difference ive seen with ones ive kept but as usual you never really know til its in your tank unless its already dominating a tank at the lfs.
I've never kept a red tiger, but from what I've read they are a guapote, just like the jaguar and dovii. Most guapotes have the same body type and feeding habits, hence the similarities in appearance.
They don't grow as large as a jag or dovii..12" for a mota, and I have read they aren't quite as aggressive as the other two species. In my experience aggression is very dependent upon the individual fish so it all depends.
I'm sure they are territorial like the other guapotes. Females can be killed during breeding, so it is good to have a place for her to retreat if things get too violent.
I'm sure they will eat any thing smaller than them, and throw their weight around if they can.
As far as being stronger than other guapotes, I'm not so inclined to say. But I will venture a guess.
I would assume strength is strongly tied to size and natural habitat. Does the species live in slow moving placid water requiring less activity, or waters with strong current calling for more muscle? Being as they are smaller than a dovii or mang, I would guess at full size they would lose a heads up contest of muscle with a mature fish of either of the 2 other species. Just as a mature jag would be bested by a mature dovii. Size matters in nature 
Lovely fish. One of my favorites. Hope to have the pleasure of owning one or a pair someday.
They don't grow as large as a jag or dovii..12" for a mota, and I have read they aren't quite as aggressive as the other two species. In my experience aggression is very dependent upon the individual fish so it all depends.
I'm sure they are territorial like the other guapotes. Females can be killed during breeding, so it is good to have a place for her to retreat if things get too violent.
I'm sure they will eat any thing smaller than them, and throw their weight around if they can.
As far as being stronger than other guapotes, I'm not so inclined to say. But I will venture a guess.
I would assume strength is strongly tied to size and natural habitat. Does the species live in slow moving placid water requiring less activity, or waters with strong current calling for more muscle? Being as they are smaller than a dovii or mang, I would guess at full size they would lose a heads up contest of muscle with a mature fish of either of the 2 other species. Just as a mature jag would be bested by a mature dovii. Size matters in nature Lovely fish. One of my favorites. Hope to have the pleasure of owning one or a pair someday.
if you look at the jaw structure(i've had both) the motags is clearly thicker and has more muscle, the Motag is a river cichlid, Jags are not as much so, once cichlids geta foot and up, if you figure that most jags only get up to about 16" in the aquarium, 4" doesn't mean **** man, there is an older topic on this forum, made by a guy named mattimeo(or something close to that), and he is very very experineced with cichlids especially the hyper aggressive ones, motags are #7, jags don't even make the top ten. you really can't judge a cichlid unless you've had em'. 
Motags can exhibit aggression levels similar to Dovii and Umbee but they just come in a much smaller package. I have had some that were fairly docile but for the most part they show no mercy to weaker tank inhabitants.
Yeah, I know who mattimeo is. I used to be a member here long ago. Smart guy.
I was just relating what I've read. Like I said, never owned a motaguensis. I'll try to find the article I read and give the web address. It was written by a lady who raised red tigers. This was her opinion.
Didn't mean to pee in anybody's cheerios
I was just relating what I've read. Like I said, never owned a motaguensis. I'll try to find the article I read and give the web address. It was written by a lady who raised red tigers. This was her opinion.
Didn't mean to pee in anybody's cheerios
I didn't find the article I was thinking of. I read it about 4 years ago. But I did find one concerning mota husbandry on a site called cichlidae.com, by a gentleman named Vin Kutty. Good article. His fish were typical guapotes, very aggressive during breeding. The male ended up killing the female after being bonded for 2 years.
But on another forum(not going to name any names, the initials are AP's) someone talks about their mota's breeding in large cichlid community tank with midas cichlids and peacock bass with the tigers taking just a corner of the tank and being rather tolerant.
Just goes to re-inforce my belief that aggression is something that must be made on an individual fish by fish basis. You can generalize that all guapotes are aggressive and territorial by nature, but there are varying levels of aggression in certain fish.
And as far as jaw structure is concerned, I don't think motas have more teeth than other guapotes. From pictures, their heads don't look any more muscular than say a jag to me. I know all have pseudo-canines. Dovii look a little toothier to me than jags or motas. In the article by Mr. Kutty stated above, he claims dovii and jags are more piscivorous than red tigers. So if jags and dovii eat more fish, why would motas have stronger jaws? Moving rocks? Puliing up a little algae to eat with their fish? I find your jaw strength claim a little hard to validate. Where's National Geographics Dr. Brady Barr with the bite force pressure tester when we need him?
I don't want to start a war with anybody. I never knocked your poster fish Motag7. Just tried to state the facts according to what I've heard. And I don't care about what fish is badder. I think dovii, motas, and mangs are all beautiful interesting fish. My name is Mang-man because this is the only guapote I've been able to aquire up to this point. Montana is not exactly Mecca when it comes to fish
Just stating my 2 cents and trying to help people when I can. And while I'm stating my 2 cents, let me add in a little, "Let's Go Redwings!!"...Peace
But on another forum(not going to name any names, the initials are AP's) someone talks about their mota's breeding in large cichlid community tank with midas cichlids and peacock bass with the tigers taking just a corner of the tank and being rather tolerant.
Just goes to re-inforce my belief that aggression is something that must be made on an individual fish by fish basis. You can generalize that all guapotes are aggressive and territorial by nature, but there are varying levels of aggression in certain fish.
And as far as jaw structure is concerned, I don't think motas have more teeth than other guapotes. From pictures, their heads don't look any more muscular than say a jag to me. I know all have pseudo-canines. Dovii look a little toothier to me than jags or motas. In the article by Mr. Kutty stated above, he claims dovii and jags are more piscivorous than red tigers. So if jags and dovii eat more fish, why would motas have stronger jaws? Moving rocks? Puliing up a little algae to eat with their fish? I find your jaw strength claim a little hard to validate. Where's National Geographics Dr. Brady Barr with the bite force pressure tester when we need him?
I don't want to start a war with anybody. I never knocked your poster fish Motag7. Just tried to state the facts according to what I've heard. And I don't care about what fish is badder. I think dovii, motas, and mangs are all beautiful interesting fish. My name is Mang-man because this is the only guapote I've been able to aquire up to this point. Montana is not exactly Mecca when it comes to fish
Just stating my 2 cents and trying to help people when I can. And while I'm stating my 2 cents, let me add in a little, "Let's Go Redwings!!"...Peace