Tank is 80 x 26 x 28. 250g. I currently have 7 male red devils ranging from 9 to 10 inches. I have two small RTMs, male and female, around 3 inches in size in another tank. Planning to move them to the 250 once they get to around 4-5 inches. Do you think this will work long term ?
RTM with 7 Red devils in a 250g, possible?
- Thread starter qguy
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Nope, because you will end up with a breeding pair, whether it's the RTM that paired off or a Midevil that pairs off with the RTM. The breeding pair will kill off the other fish or force them to stick within 24" of the aquarium. When that happens whoever is stuck in the 24" will fight for space.
I agree I think the breeding pairs will mess it up. Perhaps just the male RTM with all-male red devils would work out.
My lfs tried this with one of their display tanks,it was a 6 foot 180.The last time I visited there were 5 10-12" middevils in it.When I went there today,a pair remained.The owner said a pair formed over the course of a few days and massacred the others over night.
The 250g used to have 19 devils, 7 males and 12 females, I had several spawns in the tank, some even happened at the same time, so far no deaths.
19 is quite a bit, so overcrowding worked for that time frame. You have less in the tank now. Bring up back to 20+ fish.
I have no experience with large CA cichlid community tanks.From what i've seen they are a hit or miss.A public aquarium I visited a while back had 20+ red devils in a 300g .
Too much fish, The RD were totally covering the tank decors, it was starting to look like a pet shop tank 
I will slowly add more fish in a different color, like Green terror and Texas cichlids and eventually the RTM
I will slowly add more fish in a different color, like Green terror and Texas cichlids and eventually the RTM
There are differing schools of thought on this, on one hand the overcrowding does certainly prevent deaths because the fish are all so distracted, and nobody gets singled out. On the other hand, the water will become pee soup very quickly, and it is not a very natural way for the fish to live, crammed like sardines and unable to swim full speed without running into each other. I guess it depends on what your goals are for fishkeeping- do you want to put as many fish as possible and have them not kill each other, or provide more comfortable home for fewer fish. Like
Rocksor
is saying, you kind of need to go completely for one setup or the other; completely packed or only a few. Trying to go somewhere in the middle will not provide enough distraction and fish will be singled out and killed especially when there is breeding in the tank. When we are talking about agressive fish like amphilophus.
Rocksor
is saying, you kind of need to go completely for one setup or the other; completely packed or only a few. Trying to go somewhere in the middle will not provide enough distraction and fish will be singled out and killed especially when there is breeding in the tank. When we are talking about agressive fish like amphilophus.