FishProfiles.com Message Forums

What is the most aggresive type of cichlid, i have a large spare tank and i was looking for a very aggresive/ aggresive school of fish. I already have a jewel cichlid, so anything other than that really which will take live food. I have no problem feeding live food as i have a tank set up for breeding guppies and other fish. Any suggestion would be great

I've seen this question asked hundreds of times and what I've come to discover is that there is no cichlid that can be called "the most aggressive". aggressiveness is relative and there are a lot of factors that can affect how aggressive a cichlid is. tank size, water temperature, diet and genetics all play a part in how aggressive a cichlid will be.

for your situation assuming you have at least a 75 gallon tank, a good cichlid might be a red devil/midas, oscar or jaguar cichlid. all of these can be aggressive and will eat live foods. just a note though is that these fish require a balanced diet with good quality prepared foods (pellets, food sticks, freeze dried foods and frozen foods) as well as live foods such as worms, crickets, fish and crayfish. just feeding these fish feeders will not give them the proper nutrition they need and could lead to HITH (Hole in the Head) disease.

i understand about feeding habits and that and some fish need a balance diet of live, pellets and even green food occasionally, i am not looking for something like and oscar or red devil, beacuse i have always seen them as placid fish, however yes they can be aggresive, i am looking for a partical fish, like a jewel, which is always aggresive and not a community fish.

red devils are far from placid fish. perhaps the ones you've seen have not matured yet, but once a red devil or midas reaches around 6-7" in size, their aggressin level will increase dramatically. I have a mostly white red devil that would charge at me through the glass the day I got him at only ~2". I've seen a video of someone who had their barred midas jump out of the tank to bite their finger. I had the same thing happen with my trimac, which is a fairly close relative to a midas.

a jewel cichlid, imo, is no match aggression wise for a red devil or midas. again, a jaguar or a motaguense are also very aggressive. other choices still are texas cichlids, green terrors (some much more so than others), and even convicts. there are a ton more...I'm just trying to think of some of the more commonly available species.

Is there really a fish that can be guaranteed 100% aggressive, all the time? I think someone will always find an exception.

I had a firemouth less than half the size of my GT, had no fear and the two locked jaws more often than I liked So another factor is tankmates...don't get me wrong, I do not suggest or condone setting up a tank just to watch aggressive, fighting fish.

Fish are individuals, individual personalities. That same GT absolutely hated every fish that crossed its path, with the exception of my female blue acara. They actually spawned a number of time; how many books, websites, and experts would suggest that could happen?

Jacks, Texas...my Cuban was particularly nasty...I've heard a lot of common names for this one Cichlasoma uropthalmus...dovii, trimac...hmmm, that's all I can think of right now

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Petenia umbriferum
http://www.jef-b.com/Cichlids/

i don't intend to have it fighting any other fish, this will be in a tank of it owns, apart from feeder fish/lunch. I the jewel i have is very aggresive and will not hesitate to try and launch out of the water to attack a net or a hand which it thinks might have food for him. He has successfully spawned twice however he got very aggresive to the female so i was forced to give her to a friend.

deoending on the tank size, but peacock bass if u can house one is a cichlid that looks agressive, what about a FH as some are very aggressive(without the hybred remarks)

but i agree with jason, a full grown male i was looking at and was very aggressive towards me and i was standing a good 2 feet away from it.

Texas cichlids can be a pretty nasty fish along with the dovii.