# Shy Red Devil?



## vjayshutterbug (Jun 17, 2005)

Rescued a Red Devil from the orphan tank at my local fish store....beautiful dark orange with blue tips on it's fins. About 6 inches. Right now am keeping he/she alone in a 75. Water parameters are perfect. My question is: Are they always so shy? This fish freaks out and stays hidden in it's cave most of the time. He eats but dashes up really quick to nab a pellet than goes back to his cave. I didnt think this was normal behavior of an RD. I want a more personable and brave fish. Am thinking of taking him back for an oscar maybe....haha. btw...have had him/her for about two days is all....should I give him/her more time?


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Hi *vjayshutterbug*,

Give it more time.

Could you post a picture, sounds great looking.

Thanks,
Matt


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## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

For sure more time. If it is 6 in. already it is no longer that young. It is hard telling what it had been through before, overstocked tank, aggression from another tankmate, poor water quality, maybe all three. I would look at this like an abused fish. Give it sometime to get used to being cared for the way great fish like this should be and I believe the inner devil will start to come out in this fish. Could you post a pic?


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## homerl (Jan 6, 2009)

Make sure he/she is in a high traffic area,and if the tank is not near a window try keeping the light on a bit longer if your not already.


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## vjayshutterbug (Jun 17, 2005)

cage623 said:


> For sure more time. If it is 6 in. already it is no longer that young. It is hard telling what it had been through before, overstocked tank, aggression from another tankmate, poor water quality, maybe all three. I would look at this like an abused fish. Give it sometime to get used to being cared for the way great fish like this should be and I believe the inner devil will start to come out in this fish. Could you post a pic?


 I hope you're right. Yeah, I understand this lady had a bunch of these orange RDs with blue fins packed together....finally got too big for her tank so took them all in to the LFS. So over-crowding was an issue for sure.
Thanks for all the great responses! I will take all those suggestions and give the guy/gal a chance for sure. I am thinking also getting a few largish tetras might help too. Dither fish?


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## Brisco007 (Nov 23, 2009)

the tetras will die. fast


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## homerl (Jan 6, 2009)

The only fish I can keep with my red devils and flowerhorns are exodons.No casualty's ,been a few years now.


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## Blademan (Sep 20, 2008)

One of my Devils was shy when I put him in a big tank alone. He was about 6" then. I put him in my all male african tank, and within a couple of weeks he was much better. Now he is in a 120. Still a bit shy, but all the activity definetly brought him out of his shell.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

Here's what I'd do...

1) Make sure that the lights aren't too bright. Although RD's usually don't mind bright lighting, yours may be used to more subdued lighting. If you like your current lighting, just put a few floating plants in there---real or fake, it doesn't matter. You can remove them after the RD gets more comfortable.

2) Feed very small frequent meals...so he/she gets used to you.

3) Dithers. I am a huge advocate for them. They do wonders for shy fish. The trick is finding the right species that will work with a RD---there will be a lot of trial and error involved...just get only inexpensive species, and you have to be willing to consider them expendable. Personally, I'd start with a school of about 10 giant danios (if you can find larger ones). Your RD will either eat them, or he/she will mostly ignore them. It's hard to tell. I have a school of 20 with mine. My female RD ignores them, but my smaller JD trys to catch them.

4) Also like others have mentioned, decor and location also influence a fish's behavior.


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## LittleFrog (Jun 28, 2006)

My Red Devil used to be very shy. What I wound up doing was putting a mirror up against her tank and letting her flare at it, just for a minute or two, and then taking it a way as though she'd chased the fish off. It only took a couple of days of that to bring her right out of her shell and to start flaring at me and nipping at my fingers through the glass. After that, it was just a matter of reinforcing any outgoing behaviour with food. She's a true glass banger now.


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