Red Devil Cichlid Still Shy After 1 Year

[dwsdarius]

Okay I know you guys must get a question like this every week; this is my third time now asking the same question! I have a male red devil cichlid that is very shy! He's been shy when I bought him, and he stills shy at 9 inches today! I keep him in a 75 gallon tank, with diy LED lights so they are not that bright and currently he is with a female about half his size and a school I 6 giant danio for dithers! Now I've been experimenting with him to see what makes him click and it seems like he wants to be in a community tank...I added him to my 210 gallon tank with my Oscars and cichla and he was very active and soon began to show that red devil personality that I here everyone talking about, but he's too aggressive to the other fish in the tank! Now that I have him back in the 75 gallon he's back to hiding, only eating when I'm gone! What should I do? He's a beautiful fish I just wished he was more comfortable! If I add him to a community of similar sized fish, he's too aggressive, and anything else he's too shy!

 

[Manu8__too]

He really is a beautiful fish. Are your tanks in high traffic areas where a lot of people walk by? If not, that might be the reason.

 

[Tyler_Wentworth_150]

That's a great point made by Manu8_too. I noticed shy behavior when I had my old 150 in my bedroom. Once I moved the fish after selling the aquarium they all became great wet pets.

 

[Tyler_Wentworth_150]

Also, gorgeous specimen. Hope he tums it around for you soon.

 

[ehh]

He is really cool.
I would ask the same question as manu.

 

[convict360]

I've also found with fish, that if i move them from my 90 to my 52, they become reclusive; I'd go along the lines of the previous posters that its possibly due to low traffic, but a part of me also can't help but think it must be a shock to go from a much larger space, to something more relatively confining possibly.

At either rate, its a shame to hear; does he breed with the female? If not, perhaps he is uncomfortable with her

P.S beautiful red devil, those markings are superb

 

[dwsdarius]

He really is a beautiful fish. Are your tanks in high traffic areas where a lot of people walk by? If not, that might be the reason.

I guess that's the issue, he's in my basement fish room, and not to much traffic as other places in the house! For now I have no other places to move him so I'll just see if I can be more active down there or if I could maybe make some fake dummies and see if that work (although I doubt that works because these fish are very intelligent) but its worth the try!

 

[convict360]

I guess that's the issue, he's in my basement fish room, and not to much traffic as other places in the house! For now I have no other places to move him so I'll just see if I can be more active down there or if I could maybe make some fake dummies and see if that work (although I doubt that works because these fish are very intelligent) but its worth the try!

Haha good luck to people going down to your basement, they'll think they've walked onto a horro movie if they see dummies

 

[Manu8__too]

I guess that's the issue, he's in my basement fish room, and not to much traffic as other places in the house! For now I have no other places to move him so I'll just see if I can be more active down there or if I could maybe make some fake dummies and see if that work (although I doubt that works because these fish are very intelligent) but its worth the try!

If you're really hoping for him to become interactive, confident and assertive, it will probably be necessary to move him upstairs. The perpetual sight (and sounds) of people will help him become accustomed to coexisting with humans. Once that happens, he will begin to develop more confidence and interaction. At its current size, your Amph should be attacking the glass and pissed at anything that approaches the tank. I have one of similar size, and doing weekly water changes has become a fight club of man vs fish.

 

[convict360]

Can't beat that amph personality, easily the best type of fish to keep interactive wise; even more than Oscars IMO