Oscar/Jack Dempsey/Red Devil
impala82
I have a new tank with one oscar, one Jack Dempsey, one Red Devil, and one
Pleco. They are all juveniles (except for the Pleco). So far, the pecking
order goes like this: 1) Oscar 2) Jack Dempsey 3) Red Devil. I'm
interested to know others thoughts on this combination. Will they be
compatable when they get bigger? How big of a tank will I need for them in
the future?
Pat Draves
"impala82" <impa...@email.msn.com> writes: > I have a new tank with one oscar, one Jack Dempsey, one Red Devil, and one
When they get older, the red devil may brutalize his tankmates.
They may be compatible up to sexual maturity, but then watch out (!).
If you want to keep the red devil, get rid of the oscar. Replace
him with something a little meaner (texas cichlid, jaguar, or green
terror maybe). If you want to keep the oscar, get rid of the red
devil and replace him with something a little nicer or smaller (pink
convict, synspilum, nicaraguense, or maybe even a pike cichid). As
far as tank size, a 75 gallon would probably be good if they are growing
up together, feeder fish are at a minimum, filtration is good, etc.
This is IMHO, I'm very far from being an expert so hopefully others
will contribute.
KristinSue
Impala82 writes:
>
>I have a new tank with one oscar, one Jack Dempsey, one Red Devil, and one
>Pleco. They are all juveniles (except for the Pleco). So far, the pecking
>order goes like this: 1) Oscar 2) Jack Dempsey 3) Red Devil. I'm
>interested to know others thoughts on this combination. Will they be
>compatable when they get bigger? How big of a tank will I need for them in
>the future?
>
>
>
I'm thinking that the Oscar may very well get picked on very soon, as the Devil
and Dempsey get bigger. Oscars are extremely docile while they're small and
juvenile...Devils (particularly) and Dempseys, on the other hand, are very
aggressive, even when they're faily small. Just keep your eye on them and make
sure the Oscar isn't getting his butt kicked.
Dempseys and Red Devils usually do wonderfully housed together in one tank!
Good luck!
You'll need a MASSIVE tank if you want to keep the Oscar for a long time! They
get enormous. Very cool fish, though, and can be trained!
The Devil and Dempsey should be okay in 55 gallons or so as they mature. What
size tank do you have now?
Kristin
Waterbabi9
Actually Pat here has the right idea. Your Oscar CAN get an attitude when he
wants to, make no mistake, but he's a slow mover compared to the Red Devil, and
an ANGEL in temperment as well!
The Red Devil and Jack should be fine together; hopefully they are around the
same size....Most likely there will still be fights here and there, but if
you're lucky they wont be too one sided...(there's been just as many cases of
Devils terrorizing Jacks, as there have been cases of Jacks lording over the
Red Devils).
But the bottom line is that you'll have to make a choice between your Oscar or
your Red Devil... :)
Good luck
<')))><| Julie |><((('>
Mark A. Stone
I think this combination will work out great if the aquarium is 75 gallon
or larger, and there are plenty of hiding places. The key is that they
are being introduced as juvis. God help any other fish added after these
Cichlids reach adult size, however! --Mark
--
The OSCAR Study Page is at: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9202
Mark A. Stone --cichl...@juno.com
The ".Edu" meens i are smart.
CWASSAA
Um . . .
Oscars and Red Devils grow to the same maximum size - about 13 inches. Dempseys
aren't far behind, at 10 inches. I would actually plan on putting them in at
least a 90 gallon tank if you plan on keeping all 3 of them.
___________________________________________________________________
semper pisces
___________________________________________________________________
spambots will enjoy : los.a...@fbi.gov
invisigoth
okay, time to set this thread straight: oscars are TOTALLY UNSUITABLE
for tankmates as red devils. anything less than a 6 foot tank is too
small for a mature, adult red devil if you want other fish. a 90 gal
is fine for a single red devil. another thing people don't seem to
realize is that red devils get *incredibly* more viscous and territorial
as they get older. the difference in aggression between a 6" red devil
and a 12-15" adult red devil that is a few years old is amazing. for
instance you never see young adults ramming their heads against the glass
trying to bite _people_ that walk by the tank. if you don't give an
adult devil enough room to establish its own territory, it will in most
cases try to kill any other cichlid in the tank. IF you have enough room,
appropriate tankmates for red devils are managuense, festae, trimaculatum,
dovii, grammodes, motoguense, haitensis, etc... dempseys are by no means
*unaggressive*, but in most cases - there are always exceptions - they
are a far cry from the fish i listed and therefore i would use extreme
caution keeping them with devils as adults.
to the original poster: if you want the red devil, ditch the oscar and
dempsey and get yourself something like a jaguar or a red terror. if you
want the oscar and dempsey, ditch the red devil and get yourself something
like a firemouth or a convict.
--
+--------{invisigoth: nvzi...@ix.netcom.com}--------+
Pat Draves
This is very good advice. Ever noticed that you see juvenile red devils
and jacks with oscars, but you never see adult red devils with jacks
and oscars? There is a reason for it.
Piranha
impala82 wrote:
>
> I have a new tank with one oscar, one Jack Dempsey, one Red Devil, and one
> Pleco. They are all juveniles (except for the Pleco). So far, the pecking
> order goes like this: 1) Oscar 2) Jack Dempsey 3) Red Devil. I'm
> interested to know others thoughts on this combination. Will they be
> compatable when they get bigger? How big of a tank will I need for them in
> the future?
Your Devil will probably kill the Oscar and the Dempsey when he gets
bigger. I've never heard of somebody keeping Red Devils successfully
with any other fish. Good luck.
PT
Piranha
impala82 wrote:
>
> I have a new tank with one oscar, one Jack Dempsey, one Red Devil, and one
> Pleco. They are all juveniles (except for the Pleco). So far, the pecking
> order goes like this: 1) Oscar 2) Jack Dempsey 3) Red Devil. I'm
> interested to know others thoughts on this combination. Will they be
> compatable when they get bigger? How big of a tank will I need for them in
> the future?
Oh yeah...I almost forgot...I DO know somebody that has successfully
kept a Red Devil and a Green Terror successfully in a 55
gallon...everybody seems to agree that Dempseys are tough enough as
well.
PT
Thai Ton
In article <6j5b99$q...@bgtnsc01.worldnet.att.net>,
dra...@worldnet.att.net.death2spam says...
>
>This is very good advice. Ever noticed that you see juvenile red devils
>and jacks with oscars, but you never see adult red devils with jacks
>and oscars? There is a reason for it.
>
LFS had a large dempsey in with several red devils in like a 125gal.
The demsey was fine...until the LFS added a VERY large red-tailed catfish.
Apparently, the catfish was hungry.
--
* Do not send advertising material to this address. I don't have any money. *
Dale Bryant
IMHO, I would recommend 5 gallons for every 5 inches of fish you have...it's
a good rule of thumb...and you might wanna watch that Red Devil....I had one
that took out a Piranha...so we know that a Dempsey or Oscar might not be
able to hold their ground later...
And as long as the Oscar is at least twice the size of the Dempseys you
should have no trouble
impala82 wrote in message ...
Pat Draves
>
> LFS had a large dempsey in with several red devils in like a 125gal.
> The demsey was fine...until the LFS added a VERY large red-tailed catfish.
> Apparently, the catfish was hungry.
>
The LFS here in Tampa has a catfish that is at least 24" long. They
keep it in with full grown oscars. It is truly a terror and a wonder
to behold, and splashes water all over the tank when it feeds. You
can hear the sucking noises at the other end of the store when they
feed it. Yikes.
Mark A. Stone
Pat Draves (dra...@worldnet.att.net.death2spam) wrote:
> The LFS here in Tampa has a catfish that is at least 24" long. They
> keep it in with full grown oscars. It is truly a terror and a wonder
> to behold, and splashes water all over the tank when it feeds. You
> can hear the sucking noises at the other end of the store when they
> feed it. Yikes.
Sugarlips, my monster Pleco, has reached 18" (which is still a half foot
short of her adult size) and rules all the aquariums -- even the ones
she's not in. The Dempseys and Oscars hide from her -- At night, when
she's active, she sometimes wakes up the household with splashing and
sucking noises.
Glenn A. Davis
I agree. Watch the red devil as he gets older. They can be somewhat
"sociable" when young and the occasional oddball stays that way when they
get older, better chance when all have grown up together. Usually, however,
once the RD grows to a certain point, the armed truce will be over and he
will turn vicious. Oscars, like typical bullies, usually only have any fight
in them when they are several times larger than their tankmates. Otherwise
they are easily harassed. Since they grow faster and larger than the
dempsy's, and are less "bottom oriented" then they are as well, it is not
uncommon to see a large Oscar and a smaller dempsy get along in a large
tank.
Mixing cichlids is part science and part art. You can't change instinct -
you can only cooperate with it. On the other hand, personality variances
sometimes make strange bedfellows work out when no one thinks they will.
But watch that cute Red Devil - the name means what it says.
CWASSAA
I once had a 2 inch jewel cichlid ATTACK a 10 inch oscar ! !
Cichlids are capable of nearly anything, including some pretty stupid things .
. .
the jewel was EATEN nearly as quickly as it decided to attack . . .
With cichlids, be prepared for the unexpected, and something even stranger will
probably happen 8-)
Keith
WULVIRINE7
>IMHO, I would recommend 5 gallons for every 5 inches of fish you
>a good rule of thumb...
I think you mean 5 gallons for every 1 inch of fish.
jason
PieNaple1
>>IMHO, I would recommend 5 gallons for every 5 inches of fish you<BR>
>>have...it's<BR>
>>a good rule of thumb...I think you mean 5 gallons for every 1 inch of
>fish.jason
It depends on the fish Jason. If your statement were true I could only have
two mbuna in my 55 gallon tank. 6 mbuna in a 150 gallon? There is no rule
here, IMO. The one inch of fish per gallon rule is I think something to help
newbies gauge their stocking levels. Eventually you just go by the type of
fish, how often you do water changes, tank levels used, etc.... And although
there would be far less than one inch of fish per gallon if you had a 16 inch
oscar in a 40 gallon tank, common sense would tell you that he still needs to
be able to turn around.
Candi (PieN...@aol.com)