How bad are Red Terrors?

[Kribensis]

I have a 125g tank with 3 black striped and 3 pink convict cichlids. They were born in october. A friends red terror cichlids just had babys and the fry are not ready to be separated yet. But I have done some reading and have learned that the Red Terrors are real mean. Should I add one or 2 to my tank or are they so terrible. I cant have any other fish in my 125g tank? We like keeping our fish fr there whole life. Not watching how naturs food chain works ( survival of the fittest ).

 

[bud29]

Red terrors are some of the meanest, most aggressive cichlids out there. HUKIT has a red terror that is, well, a terror! He cant keep anything with her, she is so mean. They look beautiful, but they don't play nice at all.

 

[phishfriend]

I would Think that, at first they may be ok. When they hit adulthood they would most likely kill anything not as big or bigger then them in the tank. Now, each fish is different so I could be wrong but I would only keep a pair in a tank by themselves.

 

[Kribensis]

I guess that fish is a no go. Wow

 

[HUKIT]

I guess that fish is a no go. Wow

Not necessarily but keep in mind the possibity that there will be problems, this is true when keeping most large and aggressive new world cichlids. I've had 2 large females now, one of which has killed over a hundred differnet fish including her male she spawned with and my current female who is aggressive but hasn't killed anything yet.

Tankmates must be chosen wisely to be aggressive enough that they can potentially take a beating but at the same time not enough to kill the festae. This will always be a chance a fish keeper is willing to take but the rewards far out weight the negatives.

Here is one of them when she was guarding eggs and one when she's relaxing, you can see the transformation which happens within seconds based on her mood.

 

[Kribensis]

I know 125g is not a real large tank. But os there any other fish that can love with the guy? Or does he perfer to own the entire tank. I was thinking a red devil or a jagwire cichlid maby.

 

[phishfriend]

God! She is awesome!! I so wish I had a tank big enough for a pair. Sigh.... Some day.