should i add more?

[nate da fishman]

i have a 55g with a BP and a misc cichlid. someone said midas or red devil just becaue he ate all more dithers withing 24 hours. its wierd becaue the red devil is like the BP beotch. when the RD is coming by her tree stump cave she chases him out and shows a little aggresion. could i add more? and what size?
nate

[jm1212]

can you provide a pic?

[nate da fishman]

i do not have a camerabecase im only 15 and dont have the cash yet to buy one.

[nate da fishman]

so what should i get?

[Slevin]

If it is a red devil you probably shouldn't add anything else.

[ChilDawg]

You need to go to a cichlid site and just start looking through the pictures until you see something similar so that people can give a good answer as to whether something can be added.

[nate da fishman]

aright ill look but anyone got any sites?

[ChilDawg]

http://cichlidae.com/gallery/default.php

[nate da fishman]

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.elmersaquarium.com/image_fish/01cichlid_reddevil.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10cichlid_reddevil.htm&h=373&w=590&sz=16&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=I6A9VuCz1ZAo1M:&tbnh=85&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dred%2Bdevil%2Bcichlid%26gbv%3D2%26svn um%3D10%26hl%3Den

is the same thing but mine is orange and has neo orange around the eyes.

nate

[nate da fishman]

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/DanielMachado/Peixes/Labiatus10.jpg

that is actually exactly him exept not as big of a bump

[nate da fishman]

i might be upgrading my tank so what is a good size, i want a jd or gt to

nate

[mostlycichlids]

The Red devil will need a 75 gallon to himself. A jd and a blood parrot would work in a 55 Gallon. Red devils get extremely territorial and will destroy tankmates kept together in a 55 gallon. If they get along now believe me it wont last too long.

[nate da fishman]

then what other cichlids could i get with the bloodparrot if i get rid o the reddevil.

[nate da fishman]

maybe a small jd

[nate da fishman]

but the blood parrot is being the bully.
could it maybe not be a rd ot maybe a hybrid?

[jm1212]

is the blood parrot bigger than the red devil?

[nate da fishman]

yea about a half inch in length and an inch in height and wider.

nate

[mostlycichlids]

Well blood parrot cichlids are territorial. They are actually hybrids. Some say they are a mix of red devil and serevums or midas and serevum but is is still un clear exactly what. A jack Dempsey would be ok a convict would work as well. Firemouths or convicts would be your best choice likely. As far as the parrot being more agressive that wont last long. The RD will soon out grow the BP and dominate.

[nate da fishman]

between those three which wouldnot eat smaller fish? i would want to get a refund on them?

nate

[nate da fishman]

how about a green terror

[jm1212]

male GTs can get to like a foot long; to big for your tank.

the blood parrot is probably the king of the tank now because he is a bit bigger. once the red devil catches up and passes the BP in size, he may take over

[nate da fishman]

so could i get to firemouths or conivcts? maybe ill just geta JD then

[jm1212]

firemouths or cons could work, but you'd need to get the red devil out first.

both species (FMs and cons) are pretty tough fish

[nate da fishman]

no jd?

[nate da fishman]

and would the convicts or firemouths eat the danios and tetras . if so what other fish around the same price would take there spots. another cichlid?

[jm1212]

it depends on the danios and the tetras, but any tetras or danios that could handle their aggression shouldnt get eaten.

cons and Fms are a better choice because of space

[greenzfish]

i personally think that the convicts might eat the tetras, especially a male.... at the very least they will make their life very hard. i have two convicts on their own and they are reasonably aggresive towards each other... just my two cents... I am no expert.

[nate da fishman]

alright could i get two? firemouths that is or just one?

nate

[jm1212]

you could have a pair of firemouths

[nate da fishman]

ill try that and let you know in a couple hours when i get back

[Slevin]

JDs and Convicts get along pretty good usually.

[nate da fishman]

yea but i want some little fish in the tank top.


nate

[Slevin]

The little fish would probably get eaten or killed.

[nate da fishman]

well they pet store had no firemouths some guy bought 5 the day before and the only convicts didnt look so good. so i got got two one inch jds. ill tell you how it guys in about an hour after the acclaimate and such.

nate

[nate da fishman]

the bp isnt bothering them at all. they are swiiming nervously around but doing alright.
how much are jds? the tank said convicts but she said the didnt change it so i got them for 3.29 each

nate

[nate da fishman]

one of them is breathing very fast. is that becasue of the new home?

nate

[jm1212]

how did you acclimate them?

[nate da fishman]

yea fora bout 35 minutes but they seam to be a little better but still breathing to fast

nate

[nate da fishman]

they are good now. how fast will the jds grow?
nate

[nate da fishman]

anyone got any ideas?

[rmcder]

Depends on the water conditions, feeding, etc, but they grow reasonably quickly up to about 5" (this can be 5-7 months for some fish) and then slow down. I think I've heard 1" a year thrown around after that initial spurt.

[Squawkbert]

In good water, JDs can double in size every 5-6 months until they reach the 4-5" range, then things slow down a bit. In a 55g w/ a BP, I see one of two scenarios happening.

1) The JDs tolerate each other and setup territories at opposite ends of the tank. The BP will be OK until the JDs are about half his size. At this point, the BP will be, as you put it, the tank beotch and will be regularly nipped and harrassed by which ever JD he's closer to.

2) The JDs become a mated pair, establish a territory and defend it. If the territory is based at either end of the tank, the BP may be OK as long as he stays as far away from the JDs as he can. If they spawn in the middle of the tank, the JDs will kill everything else in there (yes, even if they're only half the size of the BP). If teh JDs are only an inch long now, you have some time before they start spawning (if you have a M/F pair).

Either way, make sure you have some structure in the tank so that fish have nooks and crannies in which to hang out. Personally, I think I'd have waited for more Firemouths to arrive, or I'd have looked at the Sevrums. JDs can be among the meanest FW fish on the planet.

[fish_chic]

ya i think i would have waited too (for the firemouths). personally i would just get rid of the BP and see how the jacks do together (mating wise if they are M/F). and do you plan on upgrading you tank for when the jds start getting bigger. bc that is something to think about

[Slevin]

I don't know, I have two JDs in a 55-gallon and both of them aren't very aggressive. The larger JD does pick on the smaller one but besides that he is fine with all the other fish in the tank (3 convicts). He usually just ignores them.

[Slevin]

Also male JDs can be very abusive to females that aren't ready to spawn. And if both the JDs are male it get pretty nasty too. Then again tons of people have 2 male JDs together with no problems, some Even have JDs in community tanks. It reall;y just depends on your individual fish. Every cichlid is different.

[nate da fishman]

im most likely going to get an 90 or larger but i have to work for it since im 15. also i have noticed the bigger of the two jds sorta pusing her swimming in circles seldomly though. also there always swiiming with each other. can they already start to mate at an inch? i so what do i need ?
nate

[nate da fishman]

would a 90 or 75 make everyone happy?

how big is a 90 wide and thickness?

nate

[fish_chic]

would a 90 or 75 make everyone happy?

how big is a 90 wide and thickness?

nate


i think a 90 should be okay. a 90 is 48 long and 18 wide. i would just make sure there are enough hiding spots for them

[rmcder]

But... The 75g is essentially the same size (48" x "18") and quite a bit cheaper (glass doesn't have to be as thick). Imo, 90g isn't an improvement over 75g unless you have fish that stay near the top. Cichlids typically don't.

[nate da fishman]

how abouta 125? i would probably get one used and ebay or craigslist.com has good buys, so what are the demensions of a 125? or 110 or some bigger tank
nate

if anyone in illinois is selling let me know

[rmcder]

Looking at GLASSCAGES.COM, you can see various gallon/dimension combinations. The thing to keep in mind is that the footprint (length times width) is the important figure for cichlids. Also, taller (last dimension) may mean more expensive since you may have to have thicker glass to handle the increased pressure (pressure depends only on height). Maximize the first two dimensions and keep the last dimension around 17-20".

[nate da fishman]

alright

[nate da fishman]

those are way to much out of my budget.