Why are my dovii's so scared of a jack dempsey??

[PredatoryFishRocks]

It is not about size or power with Cichlids it seems to be more about confidence - I have seen little tiny cichlids that wouldnt even be capable of jaw locking another cichlid but have been chasing others much much bigger than them.

9/10 a Dovii will be to much for a JD but you never know - your JD may retain its early confidence and always be dominant over the Dovii. It could happen you never know, in theory it won't happen but there is always a chance.

It really is to do with confidence - look at breeding pairs how aggressive they become when protecting their fry. My pair of JD's would easily be able to drive off an RD with that kind of aggression - brought about by adrenaline and confidence. But normally they would just lack confidence in doing that.

You would be surprized My smaller dovii's was cornered in the tank from the dempsey so he turned around and nailed the dempsey in the eye. the dempsey is fine but still is chasing. the larger dovii is actually flaring at the dempsey more often I have a feeling there will be a big fight!!!

 

[Cookie*]

I think the cichlid's personality is or from their aggressive nature..

If they weren't aggressive, they wouldnt have much personality.

So not true. Cichlids just have so much more personality than a tetra and many other fish.

My H. Temporalis dances/flashes in front of the glass at feeding time, recognizes me and shy's away from strangers. The fish also moves rocks around, digs pits around the tank, and even carries the rocks and places them on top of stuff in the tank. He changes colors with his moods just like a chameleon, and shares his tank and gets along with a 2" Botia Striata loach that has buddied up to him. There are some behaviors/personalities found in cichlids you won't find in other fish. If any of my fish from my two 30 gallon community tetra tanks dies, I could give a crap, I'm only concerned about the money spent on that fish. Any time I've lost a cichlid, I've missed that fishes presence and could give a crap about the money spent.

 

[PredatoryFishRocks]

So not true. Cichlids just have so much more personality than a tetra and many other fish.

My H. Temporalis dances/flashes in front of the glass at feeding time, recognizes me and shy's away from strangers. The fish also moves rocks around, digs pits around the tank, and even carries the rocks and places them on top of stuff in the tank. He changes colors with his moods just like a chameleon, and shares his tank and gets along with a 2" Botia Striata loach that has buddied up to him. There are some behaviors/personalities found in cichlids you won't find in other fish. If any of my fish from my two 30 gallon community tetra tanks dies, I could give a crap, I'm only concerned about the money spent on that fish. Any time I've lost a cichlid, I've missed that fishes presence and could give a crap about the money spent.

Thats what I was trying to say...lol

 

[rmcder]

I think the dempsey knows he's going to get his butt handed to him a year or so down the line and is trying to get his licks in while he can!

 

[Sarah88]

yeah JDs are smaller fish and so mature at a much smaller size than doviis do, so though he is still small he is larger than the doviis and more importantly is more MATURE than them, once they start to mature he wont stand a chance, but yeah like others said with a lot of cichlids it really does seem to be more about confidence and attitude than actual size otherwise convicts wouldnt be able to own entire tanks like they do when they breed and they are the smallest fish in the tank

 

[fishguts]

my 5.5-6 inch male dovii is meaner then a s.o.b. at first he was afraid of the female dovii but now only lets her lay eggs then i have to remove her because he would kill her if i left her in the tank. i tried a larger koi with him thinking since its not a cichlid he wouldnt mind. wrong he killed the koi overnight but he is still afraid of me. if he notices im looking at him he goes and hides maybe because he knows im the one that sticks the net in the tank and snatches the female out.anyway thats how fast mine went from being picked on by the female to wanting to downright kill her. that happed about the 5 inch mark for me. good luck

 

[PredatoryFishRocks]

yeah JDs are smaller fish and so mature at a much smaller size than doviis do, so though he is still small he is larger than the doviis and more importantly is more MATURE than them, once they start to mature he wont stand a chance, but yeah like others said with a lot of cichlids it really does seem to be more about confidence and attitude than actual size otherwise convicts wouldnt be able to own entire tanks like they do when they breed and they are the smallest fish in the tank

well, the dovii's are 4 inches now, and actaully to tell if a cichlid is mature it to see there minimum size they can breed. Dempsey's can breed at 4 inches, dovii's breed at 4 inches too, it's not really about full size. anyways the larger more colorful male dovii killed the DEMPSEY, and nearly mualed a jaguar cichlid, all I have is a little red devil(1 1/2 inch) 2 dovii's(both males) they are both 4 inches, one may be a tiny bit bigger. What I dont understand, why is my smaller dovii chasing the larger one? the larger one is the real bully but, somehow the little guy is more dominate or atleast he owns 3/4's of the tank?