Texas and Red Texas Cichlids nice additions

[V227]

Haven't read much discussion about the Texas Cichlids since joining A.A. thought I would throw this thread out there. Maybe more knowledgeable Texas C' s keepers can add more. I
originally posted in July of my Red Texas pickup at Petsmart. At that time he was 3" long, now more like 5". The so called standard Texas i mentioned turned out to be not so standard. In the last few weeks both cichlids have colored up. I believe the standard Texas might be the Carpintus variety. He has grown only a half inch, to just under 2" long. I've learned that the Red Texas is 50% true Texas, 25 % Red Devil and 25% Red Parrot or some other red new world. As pictured the Red Texas still has similar markings to the standard but a definite shape difference. The one compelling aspect of both fish besides the color is the ability they have to
ward off bigger aggressive fish. Both fish are relatively passive unless provoked, then all
#$%# breaks loose. Pictured is the Red Texas swimming peacefully with a couple of Red Terrors. Even the little Texas dishes it out when need be to cichlids 4x it's size and comes out on top. Both fish were lucky impulsive buys.

 

[HUKIT]

There is always someone coming onto these forums boasting about their "peaceful and everyone gets along" mixed tanks. But what they don't do is follow up later when the tank implodes due to aggression problems. The problem is aggression is that it isn't always a slow process, it's you wake up and everything is dead! Good luck...

 

[V227]

Hukit, the last two lines of your reply were very constructive and will probably be beneficial to future readers of this thread. Regarding the first paragraph, I hope I'm not that "Someone" you've evidently classified me to be. I hope that my exchange of experiences and ideas don't come across as " bragging". If so it wasn't intended.
I'm a member of several aquarium forums. There is always that "Someone" who has seen and done it all and though their replies are usually logical and based on experience, they tend to be narrow minded and abrasive. Don't be that someone you are too talented a fish keeper. I follow your post and look forward to reading them.

 

[HUKIT]

She killed everything in a 180g tank in less than 4 hours overnight including the male who was 3 times her size...

He killed everything in water...

He had to live on his own for the rest of his life...

He didn't play well with others either...

This is just a handful of the dozens of hyper aggressive fish that things went south with. The point I'm trying to make is people read these forums and think well I can mix Africans and New Worlds together but rarely do they work out so it's best not to try in my opinion. Even properly stocked tanks go south as that's the nature of the fish but it can be minimized when the proper fish are kept together.

 

[V227]

I think you made an excellent point. Things can and will go South occasionally. As for mixing old world and new world cichlids I'm not a big fan. I stocked a group of various juvenile male Africans in the display tank at the time i stocked a group of juvenile RT's. Primarily to act as distractors. Africans = reef, New Worlds = jungle streams. Although i found they can coexist, its awkward. During the past year I've gradually moved The majority of the Africans to my other tanks. I've kept a Dragon Blood, Williamsi Blue Lips and two Red Top Hongis "Which I cannot net" in the main tank. I will be transferring the weaker less colorful Festae to other tanks or LFS, when they get a little bigger. The Texas Cichlids are working out well so far. They are far too small to be much of a threat and I like their fearless personalities.
I enjoyed your photos. Don't think I'll ever try a Midas / Red Devil.

 

[V227]

H. Just one more note: I have also experienced similar unexpected fatal new World cichlid aggression. My favorite RIvulatus grew up together with a beautiful male Jack Dempsey and were housed together for four years. The JD was much larger and always the most aggressive, regularly picking on the smaller GT until " that" morning about a year ago. The GT stopped running and suddenly turned on the Jack. I've never seen anything like that fight. Scales and decor were scattered throughout the tank. The GT killed the JD in less than a minute. I snapped a picture of the end result and will post it for information purposes. It's not very graphic.
I've had no such aggression prior to that incident and none since. I credit the lack of fatal or even damaging aggression to strategic hardscaping, lower temps, hard water and not allowing nesting. As Dalto posted "It works until it doesnt".