Unexpected Present

[Vitaliy]

Long story but I ended up with three baby fish... Buttikoferi, Red Devil, and Jack Dempsey. I ran home and stuck them in my empty 55 gallon tank. Now all three of them are just little over an inch and I know that they are all very aggressive and especially need a lot of area. I was just wondering if 55 gallon is not enough for them, at this size how long can they stay in it and what would be an ideal size for those three when they are adults?

This will also give me an excuse to buy another tank in the near future. :D

[Vitaliy]

bump

[CaptainMorgan]

From my experience the Red Devil is very aggressive. I had a Red Devil, Red Terror and a J.D. together, and the Red Devil beat up everyone, got up to 6 inches very quick, while the other 2 stayed small. He became too aggressive so I had to take him back to the pet store, he was put in with 4 bigger red devils, he killed them all within a week.

My 2 cents

[Reiner]

I don't think anybody can tell you how long they can stay in the 55. The 55 is certainly a big enough grow out tank but always keep an eye on it once one of them starts to get aggressive towards the other 2 then it is time to move them. If you want to keep all 3 together the Dempsey is probably going to have a hard time since the other 2 are usually more aggressive. For all 3 you are probably going to need a 180 gallon 6 foot long tank down the line.