# red devil



## fourortwowheels (Jul 29, 2006)

im a total newbie to fish. i recently bought a 10 gallon tank @ walmart. initially i had ~8 smaller fish in the tank. most of them died. so my friend recommended getting a green terror and red devil. the terror died after 3 days. but the devil is fine amd healthy.

now after browsing around on here, i know my tank is too small. what size tank do i need for my devil? i want to get a few more fish as well, another terror, a dempsey and black convict. whats the smallest tank i can get away w/.


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## bryangeles (Jun 5, 2006)

im not exactly the cichlid expert here but im pretty sure with those listed cichlids you have you're gonna need a substantially large tank with probably them and ONLY them in there. with a pair of red devils i would say maybe a 55 gallon would suffice? but im not exactly sure...one thing is for sure...those are some pretty big cichlids that you were saying. i would go for a small species of africans like a mbuna or something. sorry if this is all wrong...but i was interested in some of those myself but i only have a 26 gallon


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

I dont recommend you put those together, because youd need a Huge tank. You could get a 75 gallon and have the red devil with maybe some non agressive fish. Large american cichlids always need room, especially more aggressive ones like terrors and devils. if you cant afford a setup that big, but you want to do cichlids, you could return that red devil and get a 30 gallon with some perlmutts, hongis, and yellow labs (all are very peaceful). Or for americans, you could do a pair of conicts in the 30 instead, but you wouldnt be able to any other fish in there.


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## fourortwowheels (Jul 29, 2006)

thanks for the quick reply. well now i know i need a larger tank!


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

MUCH larger. Theres not much in the way of cichlids you can keep in a 10 gallon. If your going for only a pair of red devils you might be able to get away with a 55, but if you want any other fish youll need a 75, and im not even sure about that.


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## Guest (Jul 29, 2006)

also, it sounds like you don't know about cycling a fish tank. Your tank is new and there is no beneficial bacteria to take care of the ammonia from the fishes' waste. This is probably why your fish died. There is a pinned thread around here somewhere made by a user named Ron V. Read up on that to learn more about it. That is the first thing you need to know before you can care for fish.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

yeah, If you put fish into a brand new tank there is a high likelyhood that it will die. I recommend that you read as much on cycling as you can, buy the 55 or 75 or whatever, then use the red devil to cycle it. but thats just my opinion.

EDIT: Heres the link. http://www.fishforums.com/forum/general-freshwater/7125-nitrogen-cycle-basics.html


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## judya (Jan 23, 2005)

And maybe not ask your friend for more advice either! You can google all of these fish and get a feel for their adult size. Healthy cichlids will usually grow well in a tank. Besides needing space to accomodate their adult size, cichlids need a lot of territory and can be very aggressive. However they also will recognize you and some can be trained to take food from your fingers.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

yeah, they do have alot of personality when trained. Feeding my cichlids broccolio from my hand is one of the highlites of my fishkeeping career


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## MyOwnZoo (Aug 1, 2006)

I have a devil that's 14 inches long. Think a 55 gal is about 12 in wide? Not much turning room. And I wouldn't house anything else with it either. They can get mean, hence their names...I walk away from a tank cleaning with scratches all over my arms and hands, and they actually bleed(I know get gloves)....
When mine was about 4 inches I had him with an Oscar the same size, and a spiny eel in a 55 gal.(I had a 125 gal in my sights) They got along fine, best of buds; Till the 55 sprung a leak, had to rush out, figured I'd buy a 75 for the price. Ended up having to make a divider because they were beating the cr** out of each other. Never did find the eel either. They were probably restaking their territory. Now, I have to scrub the algae by hand, because he won't even get along with a pleco, and the snails aren't cutting it. 

Just my 2 cents.....


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## Gump (Aug 2, 2006)

A red devil will require a 75 min by it self if you have a pair look into a 125. if it turns out to be a male and it grows up to a 12"+ id get a least a 100 gallon. as for tank mates your going to need a 125+ for a male to get along with anything.


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