View Full Version : what cichlid is the nastyest?
like, even big fish are afriad of it when its a juvinile
Dragon_Lord_Tia
02-02-2004, 12:37 AM
aurautus are meen and will fight anything but theirs are lots and lots
NatakuTseng
02-02-2004, 1:42 PM
Auratus's are mean....but when Puma got a J. transcriptus (about 1/3 the size of the auratus at the time) the transcriptus killed the auratus. My opinon about the meanest cichlid is simply that it depends upon the individual fish. There is a difference between how strong and powerful a fish is, and being mean. You could have a Discus who was the meanest SOB anywhere, but they can't do much damage, if it pissed off an Oscar, the oscar would probably kill it, and not nessecarily be meaner than the discus, it just can dish out more damage. That being said though, attitude is 90% of the game. I've been told by one of the LFS owners here that he put some ghost shrimp in with his Fire Mouths, one of the shrimp lived, and the FM was actually afraid of it. The FM would come over and start acting like it was gonna make a snack out of the shrimp and the shrimp put his claws up, and rushed the FM. So the FM left the shrimp alone, even though it easily could have just eaten it. IMO its all a matter of the particular fish.
lee914
02-02-2004, 4:30 PM
I am just still trying to figure out what you are doing in that picture Hans!???
Depends on what regions (African, CA, or SA) are you talking about?
There are many cichlids that are aggressive. As Nataku said, it depends on the size.
Tightdog1
02-02-2004, 8:31 PM
yea it all depends on what size fish you want to deal with and what your water conditions will accept, my personal favorite, male umbee.
This past summer I had a half grown convict in the same tank with several full grown redbreast sunfish (aggressive in their own right) and an 8" largemouth bass. Don't ask me why I put the convict in there. Anyhow, he did a real good job of keeping the native fish (sunfish/bass) from killing each other. He bullied every single one of them, even though the bass was nearly big enough to eat him. He didn't care. Everyone was fair game.
i dont think keeping largemouth bass is legal. especially one that size ;)
LMOUTHBASS
02-03-2004, 3:44 PM
keeping bass -
yeah it's legal why not? you can take em' home n cook them - why not keep them - it depends on your states game laws -
by the way i prefer when ppl catch n release these beauties though!!!
Originally posted by LMOUTHBASS
keeping bass -
yeah it's legal why not? you can take em' home n cook them - why not keep them - it depends on your states game laws -
But 8" though? surely not a legal catch.
by the way i prefer when ppl catch n release these beauties though!!!
as do I, since bass are about 85% of my buisness hehe
daveedka
02-03-2004, 9:05 PM
As a general rule, any game fish legally caught of legal size is the property of the person who caught it. All laws aside from length season liscence etc. apply to the regulation of commercial sale, and trapping/ netting. For instance we often use Bluegill for Catfish bait, it is legal as long as we catch the bluegill on a rod and reel. we can't buy them, and we can't net or trap them. It is still always a good idea to check with your local DNR before taking home a native fish. Now back to the subject, if you are looking for a pure wicked nasty fish, my vate goes to the bluegill, they are very similar to most cihlids, but downright nasty, they will beat up bass, sunfish and even channel cats of similar size, they are as dirty as any cichlid ever bred, so be prepared to do lots of maintenace. I have seen several of my friends wreck really nice tanks with the addition of a bluegill. I am not suggesting you try it but if you want a nasty dude, go catch a bluegill.
jeffro426
02-04-2004, 1:46 PM
I know that some states have laws against transporting live game fish also
nothing is close to as nasty as arrowhead puffers. I've hear stories of them taknig out a group of piranhas.
http://www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/puffer_arrowhead_small.jpg
Dragon_Lord_Tia
02-05-2004, 12:50 AM
theirs plenty of fish that can kill piranha
DarthV
02-05-2004, 8:12 AM
The nastyest cichlid would be Nandopsis beani.
lee914
02-06-2004, 11:39 AM
I am sure this fish is not a cichlid but the snakehead is nasty! Will even attack people. Once they outgrow tanks or the cost to feed them people will even feed them small rodents, mice, rats or even rabbits. Some serious teeth can do some damage to almost anything.
riftlake_kid77
02-07-2004, 12:10 AM
imo the meanest cichlid by far is Parachromis Dovii (wolf cichlid) these fish can reach 27" and r killers. large mouth full of big teeth.
close seconds r Nandopsis Umbriferus, N. Haitiensis, N. Beani. these fish r incredibly aggressive. they will attack u through the glass. and with out a doubt in my mind these cichlids would destroy any other cichlid out there.
the meanest rift lake cichlid imo and ime is Neolamprologus Brichardi. i have heard stories of them killing groups of Neetroplus Nematopus. meanest riftlaker and maybe all of africa.
the meanest african cichlid is Hemichromis Elongatus (5 spot jewel) these fish only get 4.5" but r EXTREMELY AGGRO!!!!!.
but u r right Dean, none of the cichlids can compete with the arrowhead puffer (tetradon suvattii) those guys r STRAIGHT KILLERS!!!! they can kill red bellies and other pygocentrus piranhas, but it would be fare game for a serrasalmus piranha like S. Rhombeus (black piranha) which no cichlid not even the dovii can hang with the black piranha imo.
these r just my opinions from personal experience and with talking to other fish keepers.
jpmroane
02-07-2004, 7:56 PM
A peacock bass could K.O. any cichlid any day.
Harry Tolen
02-08-2004, 1:02 AM
I hope that the subject of this thread was not created with the idea of fostering in-tank aggression. Caveat poster.
NatakuTseng
02-08-2004, 12:23 PM
Peacock bass I believe are cichlids (think I read it somewhere) anyway, I don't think a peacock bass could stand up to a Dovii (isn't it ironic that their scienctific name means "Peaceful Dove" lol thats a riot) Doviis get almost as large as peacocks, and have a mouth full of teeth, and a lot more attitude. Though not a cichlid I think a Muskellunge would put all these guys to shame, and of course there is always the African Tiger fish.
Tightdog1
02-09-2004, 8:27 PM
yea dovii or a umbee would prob beat the heck outta a peacock bass,
and piranhas are not cichlids.
sumoschro
02-09-2004, 11:31 PM
a malawi eye-biting cichlid......saw it in one of my aquarium books, looks reallllly nasty.
2qik4u
02-10-2004, 5:49 AM
i would say the wolf cichlid is aka Dovii its hard to keep it with other fish seeing as they just kill for the hell of it, i have a 7cm one and it killed my jag witch was 12cm and had its fangs comeing out as well, the fish was made to kill the only other thing i can think of witch might kill it is the murry cod, but it gets to 150cm thats why.
kevinfishboy
02-21-2004, 1:40 AM
I think that the nastyest fish that I have seen would have to be a GT And by the way the Peacock bass is a Cichild I have a bluegill and he is a very peaceful one but of course it all depends on the fishes attitude
1tankneverenuff
02-21-2004, 1:53 AM
My Pike Cichlid was ruler of my tank. I had to remove him because he was so aggressive that no fish would move from the corners of the tank. Extremely fast and powerful...
SnakeIce
02-21-2004, 1:57 AM
depends on the physical atributes of the particular species and the personality of the particular fish... one of a species may be laid back and another would be ready to kick a**
odo, or beani are my picks by a long shot.
My votes in for the Angelfish! ;)
jpmroane
02-23-2004, 10:06 PM
grammodes are so volitile they rip fish to shreds. They are fast as well so they can win almost any battle.
I have a killer Gourami that will wrap her barbels around any fish out there and drag it to the botom of the tank to an early death.
GOURAMI'S RULE!
Marcus
02-23-2004, 10:58 PM
Mo, I have a little male guppy that would do your gourami in overnight. He's so horny he basically goes after anything relentlessly. He's so relentless that other fish don't stand a chance...
peifc
02-23-2004, 11:05 PM
Originally posted by Marcus
He's so horny he basically goes after anything relentlessly. He's so relentless that other fish don't stand a chance...
Even the other fish is male?! :D
lee914
02-24-2004, 5:05 PM
Pike cichlids are so cool to watch hunt there prey in the tank, the way they move, like a stealth jet. Snake heads are still the meanist fish around. No other fish eats people for no reason, Pirhanna are just wimps unless they are in a school and it is dark. How about a fish off? I guess that would be fostering fish fighting...
Bruno
02-24-2004, 11:22 PM
I dont know if its a Cichlid or not, but in my tank, and still no one believes me on this one, the meanest fish I have are my 2 Loachs, the Bengal (As I saw it named at my LFS) and my Clown. The Clown is the smaller of the duo, but the meanest. Weighing in at only 1 inch, today I watched it chase my school of Neons around the tank for a good 2 minuets, than move on to my Blue Zebra Danio's, before going for a nice jog with one of my Dalmation Molly's.
The Bengal, isn't all that agressive, but seems to have a temper, it thinks it owns one of my pieces of drift wood, and he defends his castle, has chased every fish in my tank, including the Pl*co off of it.
Now than again, thats in my tank, I am sure my little Clown Loach would be nothing more than a light snack for most fish.
If anyone wants an over aggressive, unshy, and very ballsy Clown Loach!
Tyler
2qik4u
02-26-2004, 12:09 AM
there not cichlids, we had 4 of them and they lasted 2 days, to bad cause i liked them, my RD ripped them to bits
My Sunset Gourami rippped the dorsal fin off of Red Devil. Backed him into a corner and jumped on hi like a rabid dog.
Marcus...your guppys a wimp.;)
1tankneverenuff
02-26-2004, 10:12 PM
Many fish do have a peculiar behavior of their own. Out of all the Jelly-Bean Parrots I've had...one of them was psycho and attacked every fish he could until I was forced to move him to a friends larger tank where he wouldn't cause so many problems. You just never know...
roliva
02-28-2004, 7:42 AM
Yes I would have to agree that the 'Dovii' or wolf cichlid is by far the meanest in temperament. Yes they obtain a huge size but even small ones pack a punch. One time I had a 12 inch Oscar who was raised in a 75 gal for 3 years, I then put a 4 inch female Dovii in with the oscar and had to take the dovii out in less than 2days because she was so mean. I should have known better because my oscar had such a nice, calm temperament.
Also had a male Dovii once, indeed very hard to raise. He didn't like anyone, not even me. Always slammed against the tank went I looked at him and even went after my hand and arm during a gravel change (had to wear long gloves)!! Truly a mean, hard specimen to raise...definately not for a beginner aquariast.
2qik4u
02-28-2004, 8:18 AM
this isnt a cichlid but it is the most meanest fresh water fish out there..the murray cod, it reaches size of upto 5ft, they are common down here but only found in one part of aust, its mouth would could take a dovii with no probs and it would tear apart any other fish you put in its tank.