# female red devil in a 55



## iknowjack (Apr 5, 2010)

like the title says will a female red devil work for life alone in a 55 gallon tank.


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## wpk22 (Jan 17, 2010)

how long do you want the life of your fish to be? i wouldnt reccomend doing a red devil in a 55. from what i have heard the glass can even break if they are glass bumpers. imo it is a little cramped.


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

I have kept red devils. That fish will have plenty of room in that tank. Too think that a red devil can break the glass I would not believe it without proof.


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## RaizedWICKED (Feb 10, 2010)

wpk22 said:


> how long do you want the life of your fish to be? i wouldnt reccomend doing a red devil in a 55. from what i have heard the glass can even break if they are glass bumpers. imo it is a little cramped.


cramped I agree with, I am a believer of 75g minimum for any large cichlid. But this is just my opinion. 8)

But breaking the glass not likely, pardon my ignorance, but I have never seen or heard of fish smashing tank glass, other than a story of a pacu that did crack a tank. But those are monster fish. I am sure it has happened, however I have never seen it.

My Oscar at feeding time smashes the glass tops he is so excited, and this is to the point that the lid almost stays open. This is much thinner glass and my O hits it with alot of force, never had one break.

Red devil, should be fine in a 55G but bigger would be better IMO 

Good luck I would love to see a pic of the RD

RW


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## zoyvig (Oct 27, 2006)

If you already have the 55 and you want a female RD, go for it. They are too much fun!

I have had RED DEVILS (A.labiatus) for 45 years and MIDAS (A.citrenellum) for about 35 years. I have maintained them in 20,40L, 55,75,90,180, and 300 gal tanks.

I will tell this story again! I got my first RD while on vacation in 1965 about 90 miles from home. Upon arriving home I only had one empty 20H with an awful purple plastic flower arrangement in it of my wifes. (The room had 20 20H Tanks that my wife insisted on decorating - UGH!!) The 5" RD (Fireball) adapted rapidly and I added a flowerpot. Approx one week later I took the flower out and Fireball immediately sank to the bottom and laid there for ten days without eating. My wife kept after me to put the flower back which I reluctently did. Fireball immediately started swimming and eating. I moved her to a 180 and the same thing happened. Again into a 300 with the same results. Like most females, she knew better tha me as to what she wanted.

Fireball lived in her 20H with her awful purple flower for approx 8 years. She was only 8" and in a 20H, but I am sure she was satisfied with her life. I've kept fish for approx 60 years and she was the one I have missed of them all.

I prefer 75/90 tanks for my RD/Midas, but I wouldn't hesitate keeping them in 40L/55


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## FIN01 (Jan 19, 2010)

I think you could get by in the 55, especially since it's a female. I plan on a 75 for my rd/midas, but I still need to get the tank. If you already have the 55 and you know it's a female, then don't worry about it.


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## homerl (Jan 6, 2009)

N0 problem with a 55g


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## iknowjack (Apr 5, 2010)

well i dont think im gonna get a red devil, i like red devils alot, but i would rather have more than 1 fish. so how does this sound 1 jd, 1 con, 1 sal, and either a blue acara, cutteri, fm. keep in mind the tank is a standard 55


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## alfadog (Dec 18, 2009)

I have a 6" female RD In a 100 gal. I also have 2 jd's the female jd holds her own against the rd. RD dos'nt bother the male. also I have two pairs of convicts in which she stole one of the males and bred with him ( I now have a bunch of fry) but the rd dos'nt bother the convicts to much its not to bad. so go for it :thumb: :thumb:


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## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

I would never go with 4 different cichlids in a 55 gallon tank (unless you are talking about dwarfs). The reason being ideally you will need a territory for each on and that tank will not supply that much room. Plus with a con being one of the 4 cichlids you run a high probability of it pairing off with another species.


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