Red Devil + Bottom Dwellers

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cholile

Members
I'd like to get a RD (a pair?) and some bottom dwellers for my tank, which is a 48" 95G bowfront. I plan on purchasing a RD that is smaller (3"-4") and having it grow in the tank.

Ideally I would like a large group of smaller fish, such as the SA/CA equivalent of syno. multi/petricola/lucip. If there is no such option that can work well with a RD, then I would be open to one larger pleco or catfish, but I would want s/t that actually moves and adds something to the tank, rather than a large pleco that just sits there and poops ;)
 
MonteSS

MonteSS

Members
I RD/Midas will have to be kept alone in that small of a tank No other cichlids or cat/pleco will survive.

Better of with a JD pair with Cons, barbs, and BN pleco

....Bill
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Bill is probably on the right track, but you may be able to have some other fish while the RD is growing out. I keep clown loaches in my 180 with some bigger, meaner centrals and they do fine. I also kept pictus cats with them for a while, but spawning convicts were eventually too much for the cats.
 
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cholile

Members
I'm not the biggest fan of the JD. Are there other possibilities? I wanted the RD b/c, from what I read, it made a great wet pet with a lot of personality and I liked the look.

I was under the impression that, while hardly a given, I at least had decent odds of it working out if I bought the RD as a juvie.
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
I think it all depends on the fish. I have only kept a few of the amphilophus species and I think you would be okay until they hit around 8", then all bets are off. I know there is a guy on MFK who keeps tetras and a betta with his RD, but there are many more stories of the RD going nuts and killing everything in the tank. You could give it a shot, but don't be surprised if you only end up with the RD. There is nothing wrong with keeping a single as a wet pet. They are very engaging and would be a lot of fun. If you really want more than one fish in the tank, get a pair of smaller growing fish or just divide the tank.
 
verbal

verbal

CCA Members
I think one Red Devil would be great for a wet pet in a tank that size. You probably need a 6 foot tank if you want to keep a pair.

If you want to keep other fish in the tank, you probably want to look at Green Terrors or the Vieja species. The Red Bay Snook is another big CA cichlid that should work with tankmates(that it can't eat).
 
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cholile

Members
Thanks. And just to clarify, I do want the RD to be the one and only cichlid in the tank. If I could suspend the laws of nature then I'd like to have countless small tetras, which would give almost a background of movement to the tank and would highlight the disparity in size between the dozens of small fish and the large RD. Since that's not possible, my goal is to see if, within the laws of nature, I can find a set of fast moving bottom dwellers that will provide background movement and highlight the disparity in size. I have syno lucip/petro now and they have barbs which prevent even the more aggressive african cichlids from wanting to take a bite out of them, but I realize that the RD may be a whole different ballgame so I am looking for possible alternatives.
 
UNCLERUCKUS

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
cholile said:
Thanks. And just to clarify, I do want the RD to be the one and only cichlid in the tank. If I could suspend the laws of nature then I'd like to have countless small tetras, which would give almost a background of movement to the tank and would highlight the disparity in size between the dozens of small fish and the large RD. Since that's not possible, my goal is to see if, within the laws of nature, I can find a set of fast moving bottom dwellers that will provide background movement and highlight the disparity in size. I have syno lucip/petro now and they have barbs which prevent even the more aggressive african cichlids from wanting to take a bite out of them, but I realize that the RD may be a whole different ballgame so I am looking for possible alternatives.
Click to expand...
i agree the petricolas will be food but maybe the larger pictus cats would work for you. these guys hardly keep still and keep the bottom CLEAN. if they survive with parachromis then i think they will be ok with a rd.
 
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cholile

Members
Though I've read a little about CA/SA this will be my first time venturing into them.

I did a quick google search and I see one kind of pictus cat (Pimelodus pictus). Are there others? If not, my snyo lucips/petricolas are the same size (around 5") and have the same sharp barbells so I'm confused why the pictus cat would be better, except that if I stuck driftwood into the tank, as I want to, that might not be so great for the african catfish.

Also, are there any good places to buy CA/SA + larger pictus cats in, or around, the greater washington area (ideally in Montgomery County, MD)? Or any regular sellers of these fish on CCA?

Thanks again!
 
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rich_one

rich_one

Members
I would check out HOT (House of Tropicals). I think it's in Glen Burnie? And maybe post what your looking for in the marketplace. Could be a club or forum member can help you out.

-Rich
 
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cholile

Members
Thank you all. I will post in the marketplace about my interest in a RD or Midas Male and a trio of pictus cats. It sounds like the max for pictus cats is 6", which should work very well in this tank with just one Midas or RD.
 
C

cholile

Members
Thanks for the suggestions. I actually found a RD pair that supposedly have behaved well together for a long time and hopefully will continue to do so. They are now in my 95G bowfront. Today I finally located and bought a half dozen pictus catfish.

The problem is that the catfish are around 3" long while the male RD is 7"-8" and, of course, every added inch of length comes with some added girth too.

So my question is when should I put the catfish in the main tank?

On the one hand I'm wondering if it makes more sense to put them in now while they are small enough that the RDs won't view the catfish as a threat and maybe get used to them.

On the other hand, of course, maybe they're so small that the RDs would try to eat them? If the latter, how long will I be waiting for the pictus to reach a size where they can go in the tank? They're currently in a 15G tank so they can't stay there forever.
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Put a bunch of PVC in the tank and put in the cats. They should be able to hide out from the RD's if there is any trouble, although if the RD's spawn, all bets are off.
 
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