Puppypower

Hey Guys

We had a Red Devil (15cm) not long ago in with Oscar (1 ft) & our Black Shark (1 ft) all of which are the most aggressive of there species i've ever seen lol, constant fights. Our oscar was boss because of size, but also becuase we had to isolate our black shark to stop it from killing the oscar. The oscar fired up, we put the black shark back in & all was good again.

The Red Devil was only half the size of everything else & started to go everything, even our hands lol, he made me bleed lol.We also had to get rid of him because our black shark was just hoverring over his cave & the Red Devil just kept on biting him, so the Black Shark was stressing because he could just relax as he'd like lol.

Has anyone ever had experiance with these bugger's before ?

Do you have a good red devil story ?

Marty

ahuwood

well no one ever replied but i have a story. I had a red devil my whole life, my father had him four years before i was even born. He lived to be around 22 or so years old. He died of a strange sickness causing a hole in the head i believe. Anywho, my father had many fish with him before but that bugger ended up killing all of the other fish!!! They are extremely aggressive and even tried to bite my dad when he was trying to fix something in his tank. I loved that fish a lot, they are great fish, but he lived a lone once he killed the other fish, and he was very happy being alone! lol.

Linda B

Hi we were given a red devil chiclid (about 6 inches long). We truly enjoy our fish. We feed him chiclid pellets, tried krill-doesn't seen to like it. We put goldfish in for feeder food, about one a day die (seems to be sick). We tried two different catfish (one died-probably too stressed out) and the other seems to be O.K.We put a broken clay flower pot in the tank for him-seems to like it. The ph level is right-from what I read. My questions are: What type of food did your Dad feed his fish? We are thinking about getting a bigger tank(he is in a 30 gallon now) and perhaps mating him. Good idea? Should I put a water treatment in the water when changing it 50% to kill parasites and bacteria? We are going to get another Channel Catfish to go with the one we have now. What I am reading is that some Tiger Sharks, Gouramis, Barbs and Plecos may be compatible with "Taz". Any thoughts on that? He is an agressive fish, when we put our hand in to straighten up a decoration, he does bite our hand. He tries to nip the catfish, but he is too fast for "Taz". Plus he pecked Taz on the nose one time. Is the Red Devil an African fish, American bred or South America fish? Please ask your Dad these questions since his fish lived 22 years. I put these questions on fish lure.com I had 20 people read my post, but no-one answered me. Hopefully you will. Thanks for any help!!!!!


Linda B.
www.lb799@yahoo.com

Dino

They are Central American fish.

It is best not to feed them goldfish, as a constant diet of them will cause the devil to stop metabilizing vitamin B, which leads to hole in the head disease.
You should try to find another source of live fish that are healthy and disease free.

These fish get big. Fish over a foot in length are not uncommon.
The channel cats get even bigger.

I personally would not place any fish in a tank with a red devil.

You do not need to add a water treatment to kill parasites and bacteria.

Breeding is usually only done in much larger tanks set up so that the females ( which are generally smaller) can get away from the males.

Again, my personal opinion, I wish these fish were not available to the public.
Their requirements for a healthy full sized adult fish are just more than the average fishkeeper can deal with.

Barbrella

Linda, you'll need a much larger tank to house your Red Devil - at least 55 gals and preferably 75. And this is with no tankmates.

Though they are carnivores, they do need a varied diet including vegetables like spinach, peas etc.

As Dino said, certain setups are needed for breeding to avoid the female being killed, so unless you're ready to set up more huge tanks for breeding, growing up fry, and refuge for the female, I would just keep your one Devil alone as a pet in a very large tank! These intelligent fish are very interactive and entertaining.

Agree with Dino, though. Some species of fish should not be sold in petstores.

Allie

I hear ya, pacus, midas, clarius catfish and piranha. Too many people get fish without realizing they get huge. Datnoids can get up to 2 ft...but our we're 1.5" in the petstore when we got them. They are slow growers.
People need to research the fish before buying.