Baby Red Devil

[robertmarda]

Yesterday a friend and co-worked (Rodney) gave me a baby fish called a red devil. It is about a half inch long. I chose this fish because it might not grow as large as a tiger oscar (depends on what book or online fish site you refer to) and yet you can train them to eat from your finger.

I put the fish in my 20 gallon tank and gave all but one of my guppies to Jose (a friend who lives in our apt building). I don't want the red devil to eat any fish ever and know that guppies are very vulnerable. The guppy I kept is the same length as the red devil and seems to pester the red devil continuously. He follows it around and even seems to nip at the red devil. After observing this my thought ran along the lines of "are you crazy?" Doesn't the guppy realize that red devil will grow and is aggressive. I am surprised the red devil has not struck back.

The thing I really like about the red devil is that every time I put my face close to the aquarium to watch it, it comes close to the glass where my head is and watches me too. Once it is about an inch long I will be able to move it to the 55 gallon tank with my other cichlids.

Right now he looks similar in color to a convict cichlid. My friend said that sometime between 9 months and a year the color of this red devil will change to red. I want to learn more about this. Where can I get info on baby red devils and details about their color change?

 

[discusdoodie]

i found some info in www.liveaquaria.com hope thats helps!

 

[Electrobes]

what are the other cichlids in the 55g that you want the red devil in??? Thise guys are super mean... it may not seem so now.. but the devil lies within them when they get a bit bigger!

 

[robertmarda]

The red devil is going to become part of my ongoing experiment to mix aggressive and community fish. This experiment started 17 Jan 2002 when I bought a one fourth inch convict cichlid and put him in my 55 gallon tank.

My 55 gallon tank now has 3 convict cichlids (2 have paired off and actively defend the right bottom fourth of the tank), 1 firemouth cichlid, 1 rainbow cichlid, 1 salvini cichlid, a number of tiger barbs, mollies, one diamond tetra, 1 pleco, and 1 turtle.

My thoughts on maintaining the peace are as follows:

1. Raise a fish with a mix to help him adjust to community life (similar to raising a kitten and puppy together).
2. Feed more than recommended to keep fishes mind from thinking of eating other fish.
3. Provide enough fish so that no one fish gets targeted enough that it gets hurt.
4. Provide enough hiding places in case of need.

Now, before anyone thinks I am watching my fish kill each other and enjoy it, I don't. I started keeping these so called incompatible fish together because everyone says it can't be done. If I run into a problem with one fish then I find it a new home or tank before things get real bad. In the case of the red devil I am prepared to move all the smaller fish to other tanks at the point they become bite size for the red devil and the red devil seems inclined to go after them. Any fish that gets terrorized to the point they always hide out gets moved to another tank. If needed I will divide my 55 gallon tank, get another tank, or whatever.

Please forgive the long answer, I just wanted to explain what I am doing.

 

[karlseith]

I'm a big supporter of trying new things and trying them for yourself, so I would like to wish you luck with your tank. I personally have never had a red devil but like everyone else I've been told of there vicious mentality, maybe thats why I never got around to getting one.

What kind of turtle do you have in the tank? I was considering adding one to my 75 cichlid tank, but didn't want to add a slider due to there size and anything smaller is Illegal in MD.

 

[robertmarda]

You won't like my response then. I have a red eared slider. He is about 6 inches long now. I know they will grow to about 1 foot long. At the point he gets to big for this tank I'll need to get a larger one or get one just for him. Thankfully, this shouldn't be a problem since the turtle was a gift from my wife. She'll have to allow me to get something better when the time comes.

I have heard some stories about the red devils, but I am going to see if I can tame him down a bit. And if he resists then I'll separate him from the other fish. I plan to feed him from my fingers and hope that this will help keep him from picking on other fish. Time will tell. I figure in about 4 to 6 months I'll know better.

 

[robertmarda]

Back to my original question. Where can I learn more about the red devils color change? Has anyone here raised red devils and seen them change color from grey with black stripes to red? I checked the link posted by discusdoodie. It has good info about the red devil, but I didn't find info about their color change.

 

[robertmarda]

I think I have discovered why the guppy is pestering the red devil. I realize this will sound crazy. The guppy is a male. I'm guessing that the red devil is female. On many occassions when the guppy approaches the red devil it extends its rod like anal fin, then it zips near the red devil and touches her with it. If this is what is going on what I don't understand is how this male guppy came to think that the red devil is a guppy.

Any thoughts?

 

[robertmarda]

Yesterday, I placed the pesky guppy in a breeding net to separate him from my red devil. The red devil was hiding among the plants to get some peace from that guppy. The frustrating part was that the red devil wouldn't pay much attention to me because she was always worried that guppy would find her. Now, every time I look into the tank, she comes near and watches me and goes straight for the food once I put it in the tank.